preventing woodborers

[Badgerland]

I've some pippy field maple headwood that I milled through and through last weekend and have the heavily burred stem yet to do.

 

My issue is I want to prevent wood borers laying their eggs on the bark. I have problems with longhorn beetle in the yard that tend to hit anything with bark left on, but I don't want to have to debark the maple. Apart from anything else, I've stickered and stacked it under cover already.

 

As far as I can tell they only lay their eggs in the bark so what I really want is something that I can paint on the bark. (I would much prefer painting it on rather than spraying it as I can control it better.)

 

I've heard various products mentioned, such as boric acid, wykabor etc, but what do other people use? I've got some Boric acid powder but have no idea of dilution rates. With any of these treatments are there any safety issue with working the timber post treatment?

 

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Edited March 14, 2018 by Badgerland

[Macpherson]

Hi, I had a similar problem with larch and woodwasp larvae, 1 kg of this mixes into 5 gallons of water, I now brush it on any timber that I mill and let it dry before I stack it, mainly to protect against blue stain which works great but it's also got insect repelling properties, I don't know about longhorn but once the timber is stacked It would be real easy to retreat the bark as much as you want and it costs next to nothing..... cheers.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Borax-Sodium-Tetraborate-Decahydrate-99-9-Lab-Grade-500g-1KG-2KG-5KG-10KG-25KG/321094621563?hash=item4ac2bb197b:m:mpNzfokOBvQTL1AwYsJjjnQ

[Badgerland]

Thanks for that Macpherson.

 

Do you use it as a one-off treatment, or do you just keep reapplying it every so often a until the risk is minimised? If the latter how long do you leave between treatments? In the case of woodwasps, do they only lay their eggs while the bark is still green or will they keep trying even after the bark has dried out totally?

 

Are there any safety issues with using the timber afterwards that you know of? It's unlikely that the wood will come into contact with food but wondered if there are any issues with the dust etc apart from the usual ones associated with working with wood dust?

[Macpherson]

Hi, just once to prevent mould / blue stain, I also recon it's important to brush off any dust first as that goes black quickly.

 

As far as the wasps are concerned there attracted by the resin,  mostly to spruce / larch and douglas up here. Although they're to be seen around stacked timber I think they're probably laying in the logs before they get milled if they lie about too long.

 

It was info from other folk on here that put me onto this stuff in the first place..... and although It pays to be cautious when using any substance.... eye protection / gloves... I'm not qualified to dish out safety advice but there's loads of stuff to read online about it...I prefer to brush it on or dip if practical rather than spraying......Lovely maple boards by the way.  Cheers

 

https://www.borax.com/markets/wood-protection-biocides/ 

 

 

 

 

[Forest2Furniture]

I've used borax for a few years now, it protects against most insects but not against long horn, the only way I've found to stop that is to remove the bark. Bit of a pain if you've already stacked but it's that or potential risk of timber infection.

They lay their eggs in the bark and when they hatch they'll eat anything in it's path. We've found the larva as far as 2" into Oak, they tend not to get much further then the bark of Beech.

[Macpherson]

2 hours ago, Forest2Furniture said:

I've used borax for a few years now, it protects against most insects but not against long horn, the only way I've found to stop that is to remove the bark. Bit of a pain if you've already stacked but it's that or potential risk of timber infection.

They lay their eggs in the bark and when they hatch they'll eat anything in it's path. We've found the larva as far as 2" into Oak, they tend not to get much further then the bark of Beech.

Yeah, had to google longhorn beetles, I don't think we get them here......very similar mo to woodwasp... the larvae get all through the sap wood so in a log of say 18" diameter  4 - 6" can be lost, the last larch I milled was riddled with 1/4" burrows and hadn't been down for very long.

 

While I'm happy with the way that borax cheaply acts as a pesticide and prevents staining and mould.....if applying it topically I can see that it probably wouldn't have much impact on any pest that manages to get past the surface...or is already in there,  having said that, I don't think any of my milled timber has suffered after it's been stacked... cheers.

 

 

 

 

[Rough Hewn]

Longhorn beetles are very common in Brittany, France.
Big problem.
I've cut up oak trees 4 feet in diameter, and the larvae have been throughout.
Big buggers too, like a maggot as big as your middle finger.
They eat the heartwood for up to 8 years before emerging as a beetle.
The beetles will emit a tiny but audible "scream" if prodded.
Before you put your boot over it.
If customs find a live larvae or beetle in a shipment, they quarantine and then burn the lot.

[Macpherson]

3 hours ago, Rough Hewn said:

I've cut up oak trees 4 feet in diameter, and the larvae have been throughout.
Big buggers too, like a maggot as big as your middle finger.

So are they attacking the living tree when it's healthy.. or as it ages and perhaps has damage / rot.. or once it's felled ....and do they go for milled timber that's stacked ?

 

I'll stick with the wasp, I'm pretty sure it can't push an egg through the bark unless it's soggy, ...they love Sitka....soggy weeds 

 

 

[Rough Hewn]

So are they attacking the living tree when it's healthy.. or as it ages and perhaps has damage / rot.. or once it's felled ....and do they go for milled timber that's stacked ?
 
I'll stick with the wasp, I'm pretty sure it can't push an egg through the bark unless it's soggy, ...they love Sitka....soggy weeds [emoji4]
 
 

They attack living mature oaks.
On infested trees you can see the exit holes. You can put you finger in them.
No worries for cut timber, but do watch out for "pin worms" ( I think) they will chew your timber.

[Badgerland]

14 hours ago, Forest2Furniture said:

I've used borax for a few years now, it protects against most insects but not against long horn, the only way I've found to stop that is to remove the bark. Bit of a pain if you've already stacked but it's that or potential risk of timber infection.

They lay their eggs in the bark and when they hatch they'll eat anything in it's path. We've found the larva as far as 2" into Oak, they tend not to get much further then the bark of Beech.

Thats what I was afraid somebody would say! On the sweet chestnut or and oak I use it's not a problem to remove the bark, but with this particular field maple the bark is very tight and removing it could be a real bugger. For most species I use the drawknife or barking iron but I don't want to risk damaging the wood with this timber as I'll probably want to use the live edge for furniture. With straight clean timber it's not a problem but as this is very burred and gnarly it's not so easy.

 

Anybody any thoughts on best (read easy!) way to remove the bark?

 

The make of longhorn beetle I get here is a plain brown sort and also the 3-banded buggers. These are only about an inch long including their antennae so thank god not as bad as the ones Rough Hewn mentions. All the same they are a right royal PITA and will go about 3/4 inch into most timber.

 

Thinking laterally, does anybody think if I painted the bark with varnish it might deter the little sods?