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[SJC <indexer AT localnet.com>]

Roy Morgan wrote:
> Folks,
>
> I discovered upon the hood of my Cub Cadet some fine sawdust in teensy  
> little piles. It did not take me long to discover that many of the  
> beams in my small barn, including the one over the Cub Cadet, were  
> riddled with teensy holes.  Are these from powder post beetles?
>   
Never a very happy discovery but pretty common. There are 2 or 3 
different very small beetles called 'powder post beetles'.  The holes 
are where the mature adult leaves the wood, so by time you see that the 
critter has laid its eggs and gone.  You can take a  pick or awl and 
drive into wood beams; if there is really bad (dangerous) damage the 
thing will sometimes go right thru a 6" beam....hopefully not that far 
gone.  Usually they have to work for a long time to do much structural 
damage, hopefully you 'caught' them in time.

Recommendations are all over the place as to what to do about them (I 
spent 20+ years married to & doing the estimates for a rebuilder....) 
but in your case I'd get ahold of Cornell's entomology dept and see what 
they have to say.  They should be able toput you in the right direction, 
anyway.  A lot of exterminators will recommend tenting and 
fumigating.....usually benefits them more than anyone else, especially 
you.  Most certainly it won't benefit your pocketbook.

I know Cornell has done some work with them about 20-25 years ago and 
I'd ask for the range of possibles from deterrents (for one thing they 
need moisture, that I know for sure.  And they must not be all that wild 
about cold, not much of a problem this far north (I'm in Maine))  to 
actual treatments and I'd make sure they understand you are living 
in/using buildings currently.  Some of that stuff the exterminators use 
to spray is so toxic it's not funny; the first patient I ever watched 
die died from overexposure to pesticide when his father was spraying for 
ppBeetle infestation, 12 years old.

Susan Jane