Staves and Bugs

[Piddler]

Ran into some insect problems so I have a couple questions that maybe can be answered.
Now for the story.
Last February A fellow was clearing some property. There was a Mulberry tree which I cut down and split into staves. These things had a lot of character to say the least. I figured they would be a challenge once my skill level improved in a couple years. There was also a Hackberry tree they had in a pile so I got some staves from that as well. I left the bark on and sealed the ends with glue. Somewhere around April, I think, I noticed some fine dust from one of the Hackberry staves. Pulled them all out and sprayed them all with Bifin IT. I noticed today that all of them have at least some bug damage and will be unusable.
They are stored in an outdoor shed with a pallet floor just for info.
Questions are
Should I have sprayed them as soon as I cut them?
What does everybody use for insecticide?
Should I have taken off the bark when first cut and sealed the back?
Does Mulberry make good firewood or does it burn too hot?
Thanks for any suggestions
Piddler

[Pappy]

Taking the bark off is always the safest bet. And yes mull berry make good fire wood. I ust to dry spraying them but removing the barke is about the only sure way.
 Pappy

[Hamish]

 Removing the bark, and coating the back with pva glue is about the only way to ensure insects don't get a foothold on your staves. The problem is its a lot of work especially if you are processing a large tree.

Using wood that has been cut and left out in the open for a while you are more likely to get a bug infestation, and also fungal damage which can impact an otherwise good piece of wood to be made into a bow.

I 've heard that some guys coat the wood with a borax solution, though I don't know the concentration ratio. I'm sure there are commercially available insecticides for the same purpose, but I haven't used them. I always process my staves before storage and seasoning.

[Limbit]

They probably won't be in the heartwood of the mulberry. For future reference, if for some reason you do something similar and don't seal a piece up (or it is sealed and bugs start to get in anyway), you can heat box the wood for about 2 hours to kill the insects. There are actually a few pest control companies who do this for houses and furniture. As long as the temperature within the wood gets to 150degrees for over 30 minutes, it kills the insects as it brings them past their critical point for heat. Of course, you'd want to do this as soon as noticing insect damage, not after there is a pile of fine saw dust underneath your stave. At that point, they've gotten well past the sap wood and your wood is now firewood. Another thing you could potentially use is pine tar. The only reason I mention it is it works and you can produce this yourself...which is something many people in this group are interested in.

[Pat B]

Mulberry is rot resistance but not bug resistant. The hack berry will be infected with fungi in short order. How long was the hack berry in the pile?
 The best way to get good bow wood once cut is to split at least in half, remove the bark and sapwood as soon as possible, seal the back and ends and store in a suitable area.
 Mulberry makes good firewood. If you are worried about it burning too hot mix it with other woods in the stove or fireplace.

[Piddler]

Thanks fellas

Hamish, Pat, The Mulberry I cut myself, The Hackberry was downed by a dozer and I cut it from the whole tree. It hadn't been downed very long probably less than a month. I'll be sure to separate from now on till I'm sure there are no bugs.

Limbit, yes there is fine heartwood sawdust and lots of it. Oh well lesson learned here.

Pat B, Yes actually Split it all into staves same day I got it home. Also glued sealed the ends. May split the Mulberry in the woods next time. That is one heavy wood when first cut. You can bet the Bark will come off next time.