My message was a bit confusing. I was talking about the locust borer when I was mentioning they don’t like dry wood. Then I switched gears and said I’d eaten termites. I know termites build clay tunnels and will devour dry wood. We lived in Zimbabwe (which is where I ate them), and our yard there was overrun with termites. If you’d go out at night into the orchard, you could literally hear them eating away at the dead leaves and stuff on the ground. I also helped make brick in the village there from the huge clay “houses” the termites build in that land.
Possible Termite Problem?
- Thread starter Hexa Fox
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Just found these few logs in a wood pile away from the house. This wood was lying there for several months:
![[Hearth.com] Possible Termite Problem?](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_5719-webp.326682/ "[Hearth.com] Possible Termite Problem?")
![[Hearth.com] Possible Termite Problem?](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_5716-webp.326680/ "[Hearth.com] Possible Termite Problem?")
![[Hearth.com] Possible Termite Problem?](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_5718-webp.326681/ "[Hearth.com] Possible Termite Problem?")
Looks like some wood eating insects - wouldn't want to bring any of them to the house! Will really need to find something to spray on the wood I buy, otherwise very high chance to get something nasty and God forbid they get into the house...
Looks like some wood eating insects - wouldn't want to bring any of them to the house! Will really need to find something to spray on the wood I buy, otherwise very high chance to get something nasty and God forbid they get into the house...
It's fine. Just split it, stack it under cover and let it dry out. By the time it's dry, the insects will be gone. There's no need to spray.
So these Locust Borers have been an absolute nightmare. When I carry the wood in everything is fine for a day or so but then, absolute hell ensues. I have been looking at products to spray but according to Google the chemicals that are effective for them are for outdoor use only. I came home from work the other night and must have sucked up at least 100 of them in one go with my Shop Vac. It was like a literal nightmare. I put a new bag in my Shop Vac recently and can literally tell the difference in weight from all of them that I have sucked up.
Bring the wood in just as you plan to use it. Keep it in a rubber made tub.
There’s a reason they don’t want it inside where you’re more apt to come in contact with it.
There’s a reason they don’t want it inside where you’re more apt to come in contact with it.
I've found that none survive a trip through the stove or at least I've never seen any live ones in the ashes.
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