Powder post

I have a really nice gunstock frame that I am storing inside of a pole barn. I don't have the money to put it up right now; however I noticed this summer some piles of powder on some of the beams. I really like this frame and hope to live in it someday so I would like some advice about what to do about the bugs
Any help would be great
Thanks
Raymond friend

Raymond,
What species of wood is wood is it? I'm assuming some sort of hardwood like beech or maple, if it's powder post?

It is pretty much all beech

Beech seems to be the most attractive to them. You might try a treatment with a borate. You might also be able to tent off the frame and have it fumigated. High heat like a kiln will also kill them. They need about 15% moisture to survive so the drier the better. If you can get rid of the current bugs try oiling with linseed oil generously. This should make it less palatable to them in the future. Good luck with it. I've seen a lot of old beech barn timbers in my area destroyed by them. Here is a link with some nasty chemicals which might help.
http://www.pestmall.com/powder-post-beetle-control-products/

Thank you

Good info.

rfriend, I am not experienced with this but I do not think fumigating will work if the pieces are stickered so the fumes can get to all wood surfaces. If the pile is packed tight, heating the pile in place might work, you just need to keep the heat on for weeks and you do not want to introduce moisture. Somewhere I heard that a temperature of 190 degrees will kill the little buggers. De-humidification might work, slowly. Oiling the timbers would permanently change the color. An old farmers trick I have heard of is to "paint" the timbers with turpentine. I do not know if this would change the color permanently and the obvious fire danger. I knew that putting a coating like paint or varnish on wood keeps these beetles from being able to lay their eggs in the wood but something I learned from the above link to the pest control site is that the coating will also keep pesticides out of the wood!

Were did this frame come from? I rarely see any beech in Maine.

Highland, where are you?

good luck;
Jim

Hello,

That little worm that gets in there when the eggs hatch loves beech, and will destroy it in short order eating right through to the other side. I'm surprised to see beech used for building for just this reason. Here, its eating away some old molding planes out in the workshop right now, the good ones I put in the freezer for 4 weeks. The enemy is moisture, so maybe better to put the wood where it can get a bit of wind blowing through and stay dry. Storage always seem to be risky with wood. In storage it will get infested where it otherwise would not. To me that says there is a connection to the bug life and a static condition. I suspect moisture.

Greetings,

Don Wagstaff

Jim,
I'm in Western New York. In my area there are quite a few beech/maple frames from the mid to late 1800's. Both species get the powder post pretty bad, beech worse. All the nicely crafted frames around me are pine and hemlock.

This frame is from southern Ohio.

All of the beams are inside the only moister would be from humidity. If I sprayed the beams with a borate would that work

The humidity of the static inside air is just what you have to guard against. Good air circulation is needed and so if you can store it on an upper level that will improve the matter. I have used borax powder dissolved in water and brushed on and also something else just bought ready made that gets absorbed more redily, also brushed on. My impression is both are equally effective, at least in my mind. With your old dry beams any solution will absorb well so water is as good as a petroleum extract as a vehicle. My sawyer sprays it on like you mention with a garden sprayer. An open sided shelter located to catch maximum wind with a good roof would be the ideal storage I would think.

Greetings,

Don Wagstaff