spraying for bugs

[lesken2011]

I finally got my new bandsaw, last week and decided to cut some of the crepe myrtle staves down some so they can dry faster. I have several staves standing in the corner of my garage/shop. When I picked on up it had a lot of ants on it. I never noticed them before. I had sealed the ends with shellac after I cut them, but didn't spray them with insecticide. I guess I didn't think it was necessary for slick bark trees. Do I need to spray them....and if so, what would be the best for indoor storage?

[Pat B]

Ants generally aren't a problem. Carpenter ants only eat  bad wood I think. Ants will actually attack grubs in a stave.    Generally it is either grubs or powder post beetles you have to worry about.

[vinemaplebows]

Carpentar ants don't eat wood at all, they remove wood from trees, your house..ect. to make gallaries to live in. If your are seeing them in your house you have a problem most likely. To protect your staves get some borax, dump a few cups in a pump sprayer, use as hot of water as you can get, mix, spray all the wood....if they try to eat this they will die.


Brian

[lesken2011]

These are the tiny ants...the kind attracted to sweets, like at picnics. Maybe they were attracted to the sap. The stave they were on had a split from twisting it loose from a bunch of trunks, so I cut it a little long. I sealed the end the best I could but some sap must have escaped. I sprayed a little ant killer on them, yesterday to be safe.


I don't think they are carpenter ants, Pat. Whew!


VMB, thanks for the tip on the Borax solution.