Hello Don,

If the sideboard was fumigated on arriving from China (as it should have been) there should not be any live borer in it at that point. The only way it could have then been attacked was here in New Zealand. This suggests to me that the sideboard has been here for at least two years or it wasn't successfully fumigated. If not successfully fumigated then there is a risk that what has caused the damage is of foreign origin.

The larger flight holes that you describe could be from the native Two Tooth Longhorn borer. Are the flight holes oval rather than circular and as large as 7mm? This native borer can do great damage because the labyrinths they produce are so much larger.

If the flight holes are only a little larger than you are used to with the common borer then it is likely to be the native cousin whose flight holes are around 3mm in diameter.

There is one other possibility. Could it be that the flight holes were already there but not noticed? If so the sawdust known as frass could have fallen out of existing holes when the side board was knocked or moved.

The sideboard can be treated using the NO Borer Aerosol Injector and NO Borer fluid as described below.

I would also suggest letting off NO Borer Borafume fumigators in the house to knock off any adult beetles about and doing a pretty thorough check around other timbers in the home now and over the next several years.

Piano Borer

Hello. This may be a question of how valuable your piano is. If your piano is antique or of high value you may feel is worth contacting a fumigation company. They can seal the piano in a container or plastic and fumigate with methyl bromide. NO Borer Borafume fumigators are not designed to pentrate the timber fully and would not have the same effect, even if the piano was sealed. MBr fumigation is very much a professional operation and should only be undertaken by a registered fumigator. Methyl bromide will penetrate all the wood and kill all insects within it. However, it does not provide any ongoing protection. Check the Yellow Pages for local MBr fumigators.

Carrying out treatment of the piano with NO Borer spray and injector will protect your piano for many years. I appreciate that it may be difficult to reach some parts of the piano where there are flight holes but it may not be necessary to treat all the exposed (i.e. unpolished or unvarnished) surfaces and still get good control. However, be aware that this treatment will not eradicate the borer larvae that are deep in the timber until they emerge.

Ideally a combination of fumigating followed by protective spraying and injecting would be the way to go for full protection.

I hope that is of some help.

David

Hello,

The smell of kerosine will usually have gone sooner than 2 weeks but it does depend on the area treated, ventilation and the weather. If you are treating the sub-floor and the floor is well sealed i.e. no gaps up to the house, there is good ventilation and the weather stays warm and dry the smell will disapate in a few days.

The Kiwicare ready to use trigger spray product is water based and so has very little smell but it is only suitable for small areas of timber and does not penetrate into the timber as well as the concentrate in kerosene or turps and therefore will not give protection for as long as the concentrate.

Good luck.

Hi,

The new holes can be identified if you have good eyesight and see that the wood inside the hole is clean. Older holes get dirty over time.

The best times to use Borafume fumigators is during the flight season from November through to March. Ideally twice in the season, say November and January. In order to get the best control borer bombs should be used for at least four years consecutively because the borer larvae (woodworm) eat their way through the timbers for 2-3 years before emerging as adults and the bombs target the adult beetles.

I hope that is of help.

Checking and treating timbers inside a wall where there is no access is difficult without opening up the wall. However, if you are seeing flight holes appear on the external wood i.e. the outside of weather boards or the panelling inside the house, then you know that the wall is being attacked by borer. You can also be pretty sure that there are many more (typically 4-5 times as many) flight holes on the wall interior.

Ideally the timber should be treated with NO Borer or similar by removing some weatherboards or interior panelling. If this is not possible or desired the option of injecting the visible flight holes with NO Borer Injector and using fumigant 'bombs' like Borafume can slow borer attack significantly and over a period of 3-4 years use can reduce activity to almost zero.

I have never seen an official figure for the number of old houses in NZ that have a borer infestation. The figure would vary by geographic location and the quality of the building material used. Borer attack the softer sapwood and leave the harder heartwood untouched. My guess after surveying many houses around the country would be that the majority of untreated houses over 50 years old have active borer infestation.

Just noticed this comment on kerosine to kill borer. This is an old wife's tale. I tested it by painting over an antique chair infested with borer then sealing the chair in cling wrap over a full flight season. On unwrapping there were fresh borer exit holes. Only an idiot would use deisel; having worked on restoring antique furniture for over 30 years I am still to find an effective treatment for removing deisel contamination from wood. Borer bombs kill insects on the wing but what happens next week? Fumigation is an instant fix but the wood could be infested almost immediately after treatment. Use a proprietary paint on product that is an instant fix but also ruins the little buggers dinner for years to come.