Bugs in the woodpile

[Little]

Just laid up a bunch of real hard wood, cherry, soft oak, hard maple. It won't be ready till next winter, even if then. One cherry had a vein of ants ten feet long, and they are still there. I have a very buggy yard (marsh), and yes I do know how to stack wood. But I have never seen a bug problem this bad.


I do not like using chemical anything in my yard, but I am not a fanatic, and I can only see this as multiplying a big problem.
Some Sevindust? Something a little stronger? I googled wood pile, bug green environmental bla bla bla, but got nothing helpful.

What say you?

[Steve in Mass]

John - I would just take those pieces and pull them from the pile to another remote area.

Split those pieces trying to do so along the vein, and leave them that side up with the vein exposed to the weather.

The hard frost you get up there later this week should take care of them for ya, and then you can add them back to the pile.

That is what I would do, at least.

[BS4Shore]

take any wood with ants and get it as far away from your house and woodpile as possible.

try what Steve said, the frost will probably kill them...but when I find nice hard wood I leave the stuff with the ants...bad, bad, bad.

[Little]

Its damn near a cord by itself. Not an option.

Next.

I am away from the house, not too worried about that.

[BS4Shore]

good luck with you ant problem...ja

[hatman]

buy an anteater.

[Paul_M]

I've been seeing a lot of wood ants around my firewood pile. I see saw dust like something is grinding up the wood and I'm pretty sure it's the wood ants. Is there anything I can spray on the wood that won't be toxic to burn?
Wood ants, also known as carpenter ants, like to nest in wood as explained in our carpenter ant article. They don't eat the wood but rather bore through it creating voids in which they nest. Firewood piles are common places for such activity and will almost always attract wood ants if left untreated.
First, locate the wood pile as far away from your home as you can. This will help to decrease the likelihood that they'll create a nest on the house. Next, treat the wood with Diatomaceous Earth using a Hand Duster. This will both kill them on contact and keep them away. Apply as needed throughout the season. This should keep them controlled but if you find the dust isn't working well enough, get some of the Termidor and spray it around the base of the pile. This way any ants coming to or leaving the wood pile will be affected and this will keep the area wood ant nest free.

[Steve in Mass]

Good find, Paul....diatamaceous earth is eco friendly....

[go_speedracer_go]

Ants need moisture to live. If you stack the wood so that its not resting directly on the ground, cover the top of the pile ( not the sides) so that air will circulate through the pile, then the bugs will find somewhere else to live. I have 5 cords stacked in my yard all year round and its bug free.

[Charleston]

Originally Posted by hatman

buy an anteater.

That's called an uncle.

[hwsmike]

Originally Posted by Steve in Mass

John - I would just take those pieces and pull them from the pile to another remote area.

Split those pieces trying to do so along the vein, and leave them that side up with the vein exposed to the weather.

The hard frost you get up there later this week should take care of them for ya, and then you can add them back to the pile.

That is what I would do, at least.

Good advice here! Make sure you don't bring this wood into the home until you are ready to burn it. If there are any remaining critters,they'll warm up,and be alive and in the homestead

[crabbypatty]

Split the wood and invite all of us over for a fall SOL bonfire! if you stack it right, we should be able to light it all off with one match. ants don't like fire, and it is all natural! problem solved. when is the party?

[PinMd]

I've been burning wood here at this house for about five years now. If I leave unsplit wood on the ground for a month or two when it's warm, it will get ants in it, big black carpenter ants. From what I've seen, as soon as the wood is split, the ants take off. I back a lawn cart of wood into the garage in the basement where my woodstove is located, and feed the stove right out of the cart. As the cart load of wood warms up you'll see a spider or two every once and a while, but never any ants.

Split it and stack it, they'll be gone by next winter.

[smirkplug]

Import a few fence lizards !

[dogboy]

Originally Posted by go_speedracer_go

Ants need moisture to live. If you stack the wood so that its not resting directly on the ground, cover the top of the pile ( not the sides) so that air will circulate through the pile, then the bugs will find somewhere else to live. I have 5 cords stacked in my yard all year round and its bug free.

we have a winner

your problem is probably a single tree that had a wound open to the elements, allowing moisture and subsequent organisms of decay to infect the wood, followed by the ants

split the wood, excise as much of the obvious punky stuff the ants need to live with a sharp hatchet, and stack it so it stays dry (cover the top, but don't enclose the pile with a tarp)

the ants should be dead long before spring

carpenter ants will not survive without wet wood to live in

dry the wood out, and they will go away

BTW, they do not eat the wood, they just gnaw it out so they have a place to live