I know it's some pest, insect. The splits above the small piles in the pics have very fine holes in them, on the bottom of the split and above the fine sawdust/powder. I never ever see anything, except the occasionally black ant that would not fit into the fine holes. What pest is doing this, and what if anything should I do to stop it?
Most likely powder post beetles. Most every wood burner gets them. They'll move on once there's no moisture left. If the powder bothers you, get out a leaf blower!
I've never seen this before. The wood is from an new and untested source. And I'm planning to leave the stacks there for another 16 months. I hope these bugs knock it off and go away soon.
Nothing to worry about. I get them in certain stacks in assorted species. Make sure the powder doesnt get wet or it cakes up.
Very prevalent in hickory. Even when I cut virgin hickory rounds and stack it quickly, the powder appears months later. Let hickory lay on the ground for a few months and the pests go wild on it. I sell a lot of white oak and one of the best attributes of it is that it doesn't attract pests. Seems ants love red oak. Stacking off the ground and top covering greatly helps keep the pests away.
Sorry for not answering right away as I was offline for a bit. This is from PPB. Notice how fine the dust is and compare it with your picture. I might add the picture doesn't give the real story but you will understand when you see it on wood. It is amazing how fine the dust is.
And after I posted the above I moved some wood into the barn. Yes, there is a lot of dust in it. They attacked some soft maple and elm. It will still heat our home.
The particles in my pics are not as fine as this. Which points to carpenter ants. I'll watch closely to see if I can spot any of them. The unusual thing is the holes on the underside of the wood are much smaller than any ants I have seen so far.
IME experience carpenter ants like hollow logs and will leave once the wood is dry. I used to torch them when i found during the splitting process. The only time ive found ants is when the stack isnt covered and they nest in a void or under loose bark.
I've had carpenter ants and powder post beetles in stcaks of red maple. The beetles tend to be in the tops of the stacks and the carpenter ants tend to be in the bottom of the stacks. You could always split a piece open if they are still active and see what you got. Although with the ants all it often takes is moving a piece and exposinng where the sun didn't shine.
x2 The hickory borers hit Honey Locust also. There are a few other borers around as well. Like others mentioned, they go away after moisture is gone. I've had them so bad in some stacks that I had to restack to get the powder out so the air could flow through the stack. I girdle my HL now so the borers are mostly gone when I drop the trees to process them. Then I don't have to deal with the pests or the powder.
