Wood Boring Beetle Control

Using treated wood, or treating wood during construction is a good idea. Sometimes lumber, flooring, or cabinets can come with larvae and/or eggs already in them – which take years to emerge. Pre-treating will control existing beetles, and provide protection against future infestation. If active beetle evidence is found, there are a few options abailable. Replacing infested wood members is one method. This is may be necessary anyway, if damage is extensive or the beetles are associated with rot-damaged wood. Treating with borates or residual pesticides is another. These can be either surface sprayed, or injected. Beetles stay near the surface, so surface sprays are usually adequate. However painted, covered, or hidden areas may have to be drilled and injected to penetrate into the wood. Fumigation is effective on beetles, but may be cost prohibitive unless the infestation is widespread. Fumigations must be done on the whole house, which may be too expensive for a small area. Another option is Hydrex Heat. Heat is effective at eradicating beetles, and can be used to treat only the areas neceassary. Items such as furniture which are infested will probably have to be placed in a fumigation or heat treatment. If practical, furniture such as dressers can be treated from the unfinished insides. Most borate products will penetrate through the wood from the inside far enough to provide protection. Discrete holes can also be drilled to treat via injection. If hardwood floors are to be treated, they have to be drilled from underneath, or have the finish stripped off to allow the borate to absorb into the wood. In many cases fumigation or heat is the best option for treating floors. Subarea’s, and attics usually contain exposed framing and are relatively easy to treat with borate sprays. Be aware that borate sprays do take time to work, and some adult beetles may emerge in the future. However new damage will be prevented.

Things you can do to help:

Beetle evidence found in furniture, flooring, cabinets, or structural parts of you home doesn’t always mean there is a live infestation. It is common to have some old beetle holes in your home, which should not be of concern. It is important to learn to distinguish active evidence from old evidence. New frass will be lighter in color, and as it ages will clump together and turn yellow. Find a way to mark existing holes, so new ones will be obvious. This could be filling them with wood filler, using a marking pen, or even a piece of tape. If nothing new ever appears, chances are the beetles have already emerged and moved on. Not all beetles will reinfest the same wood they came from. Keeping your home sealed, painted and screened is particularly important to avoiding a wood boring beetle attack. This will discourage eggs from being laid on the surface, or in cracks. It will also help to keep beetles from getting into your house, subarea, or attics where they can find other exposed framing or beams. Firewood can contain beetles in various stages of life, and should be brought inside only when needed. Try to store firewood away from your house, and only bring in enough to use that day. Furniture and other wooden items that are brought into the house should be inspected. Look for small holes, or piles of frass. If any evidence is found, they should be treated before they are brought into the house to keep any infestation from spreading.