Something's eating my firewood!

   / Something's eating my firewood! #1  

BXmark

Bronze Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2001
Messages
81
Tractor
BX2200
Something\'s eating my firewood!

I cut down several dozen live trees early this spring and stacked the useable firewood in a pile. The trees were all Osage Orange, Slippery Elm or Honey Locust. The logs are now covered with hundreds of little piles of saw dust and you can actually hear the wood being munched on. Any idea what it might be?
 
   / Something's eating my firewood! #3  
Re: Something\'s eating my firewood!

Are the holes on the underside of the logs and about the size of a pencil? If so, maybe carpenter bees.
 
   / Something's eating my firewood! #4  
Re: Something\'s eating my firewood!

Powder Post Beatle
 
   / Something's eating my firewood! #5  
Re: Something\'s eating my firewood!

Environmentalists????
They say only cut what you can use!!!!
 
   / Something's eating my firewood! #6  
Re: Something\'s eating my firewood!

Carpenter bees.

I used to live in an apartment where they had got into the wood around the window-frame of my bedroom. I remember many nights laying there when the power went out after a thunderstorm (so the fans were off) -- and listening to that noise ...

munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ... munch ...

... it gets to you after a while.
/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
   / Something's eating my firewood! #7  
Re: Something\'s eating my firewood!

We have a grub that we call a sawyer. It's a grub with kinda white body and a black head. The body is very soft but they have some mean pinchers to gnaw the wood.

When I was a boy we would go around where they were cutting trees and listen for the munching sound and chop the tree up to get the grubs for fishing. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif They were excellent bait so we caught lots of fish using them /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif . It was a lot of work but we were kids and didn't care.
 
   / Something's eating my firewood! #8  
Re: Something\'s eating my firewood!

Up this way they call them Bore Beetles, they like pine the best. If pine is to be used for lumber they cut in in the cold months and try to get it sawed before it gets too warm and gets infested with the beetles. For some reason they don't bother lumber much, they like fresh cut trees with the bark still on.
 
   / Something's eating my firewood! #9  
Re: Something\'s eating my firewood!

BXmark,
When you start splitting the wood, you will surely come across a few of the critters....what ever they are.
There were a few small piles of very fine sawdust around some BlackJack oak pieces I split yesterday. Infested with ants. Small red ones and large black ones. Lots of eggs. I knocked as many loose as I could, but...way too many remained.
I would spray the wood pile, but I don't know if pesticide sprayed firewood is such a good thing. At least they should be dormant in the winter when the logs go the the fireplace.

OkieG
 
   / Something's eating my firewood! #10  
Re: Something\'s eating my firewood!

if it is very fine power all in a small pile if you look above the pile and find a small hole about 1/32 of an inch. than i would also say they are power post betles. if the whole is larger about 3/8 than i would say it is carpenter bees
hope this helps.
 
 
Top