Handling Firewood Improperly Can Cause Pest Problems
Heating your Houston home with firewood is cozy, romantic and environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, if your wood isn’t handled and stored properly, it can harbor unwanted pests. In most cases, these insects pose no serious threat to your home, but a few species could be problematic.
A variety of insects infest wood. The list includes bark lice, millipedes, centipedes, pill bugs, sowbugs, springtails, termites, beetles, carpenter ants, carpenter bees and some wasps. Termites are the biggest threat to your home’s structure, but they’re not usually a problem unless you bring firewood into a moist environment and store the logs against your home. If you find live termites in a wood pile, move the wood as far away from your home as possible.
Wood-boring beetles can be a nuisance if they create noise or wood dust. Bark beetles live inside a tree’s bark or between the bark and heartwood. If infested wood is stacked … Read Full Post »