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Roy,

I had powder post beetles in my kitchen cabinets a few 
years ago. They were crunching so loud I thought there 
must have been a beaver in the kitchen. It always happened 
around midnight, which is why they are sometimes called 
the deathwatch beetle. They were making clean holes I 
could pass a pencil through, and several boards looked 
like swiss cheese. There was no frass, however. The 
entomologist that identified them from the photo of the 
damage said there are other beetles that do similar damage 
only the holes are a different size and there is frass. If 
I can find the identification sheet I'll email it to you.

Fortunately my house is masonry, so I was mainly worried 
about the cabinets. The pest control people said I would 
have to remove the cabinets and take them to the big city 
for fumigation, which was impossible. I decided to set out 
boric acid and just fill the holes with white putty as 
soon as they appeared. Never saw the actual critter. 
Haven't had an outbreak since, and probably won't for 
another 20 years which is their incubation period.

--Sage

On Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:34:15 -0400
 Roy Morgan <k1lky AT earthlink.net> 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?
>
> What do I do to discourage them?
>
> Roy
>
>
> Roy Morgan
> 529 Cobb St.
> Groton NY, 13073
>
>
>
>
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