Bugs in my hickory staves..Eeek !!!

[Sparrow]

 So I am cleaning my furnace room a couple of days ago and I move these two hickory staves I got stored in there that I ordered and got sent from New York last winter.They are nice and dry.I set one down and notice this dust fall off it. What The ? !.....I get to looking and there are a couple of little pin holes showing under the edge of the bark layer,fine dust comes out when I bounce the stave off the floor a couple of times. Eeek !.. Bugs ! ! Oh man..I've heard of this,but never had to deal with it. Yesterday I take the bark off with my hatchet and then the inner bark layer with my drawknife. I've got three or four pinholes boring down into the wood,full of dust.It's in my other stave also. Now what Do I do to kill the evil little bast#@&'s ?  Any suggestions ?...  I know they are down in there right now chewing up the back of my future bow. Grrr.... It's really got me mad !    Frank

[snedeker]

The staves are firewood now.  Hickory is susceptable to this situation. I have had staves I harvested myself, debarked right away and put in screen attic for two years and they ended up the same way.

Dave

[Hillbilly]

The only way I have found to keep bugs out of hickory is to start peeling the bark off while the tree is still falling. I lost about thirty staves last year to the little gnawing bastards. They're not nearly as likely to hit staves that are debarked.

[bcbull]

 try debarkin em and spraying with insectaide right away   has worked for me  or  mix borax& water and spray em  down good   good luck

[welch2]

I've had several hickory staves where the the bugs only dug down 4 or 5 layers .So you try to chase a ring on them now ,and kill the little buggers while you are at it .You might be able to put the staves outside for a few days and freeze the bugs.

Ralph

[JackCrafty]

You can kill 'em by steaming the wood for an hour or so.  If there are only a few holes (and not too deep), you can fill 'em with glue mixed with hickory dust.

[snedeker]

I havn't been in the practice of sealing my hickory stave backs with urethane but maybe that would keep them from boring in.

[kyleM]

Make them into a bow, and see if it comes out kinda cool looking with little holes! You never know, they might be awesome looking, and not work at all, or they might look awesome and work great

[JW_Halverson]

They may very well be ruined.  Salvage what you can by filling the holes with sawdust and glue.  And if the bow fails you can consider these as practice staves that you would have thrown out anyway.   

And as a side note for all you practical jokers....spend the next year giving small boxes of bow shavings to friends as "firestarter".  Then when they get used to the fine quality firestarter take big bucket of warm water and mix in all the borax the water will hold.  Soak the shavings, dry 'em, soak again, dry again several more times, then distribute.   Hehehehe, borax works fairly well as a fire retardant.   

[Pappy]

We always cut it in the spring and early summer,peal the bark the day we cut it and seal it like
Snedeker said as soon as it gets dry on the back.It is a lot of trouble but we have lost several
in the past when we didn't.As far as saving the ones you have I would do like others have said.
Fill with super glue and sawdust and probably back with rawhide or something comparable.
Good luck with it.
   Pappy

[George Tsoukalas]

Hickory is tough. Try chasing a ring beyond the bugs. If  you can't then back it. Jawge

[Sparrow]

 Thank you gentlemen for all the input.   I will take the drawknife and work down clear of the bugs and see what remains of the stave.These staves have a pretty thick layer of sapwood before getting to the heartwood.Then I will seal the whole thing.(They are good and dry) I won't be working on them till I get back from down south sometime in Jan. When I get to them,I will chase a ring as suggested.If there is just a hole or two,I can fill 'em. Perhaps there will be enough for a bow.   Frank

[michbowguy]

i had some nice hickory staves and oak as well, and i left the bark on without checking a few in the pile!

along came summer as did all the WASPS! that had larves burried and eating tunnels into the bow wood.

just keep an eye, and even after you debark throe a little watered down elmers on it to keep off pests.

[Eric Krewson]

Pass a propane torch over the hole, just enough to slightly darken the wood, kills them every time. I did the same on some osage powder post beetles attacked, got them all.

[cowboy]

I use pesticide on everything now. Had some hic peeled and sealed within a few days of harvesting, couple months later I got to looking at them and thier were tunnels snaking around all under the glue on the back. Tried chasing them down, ten rings later they all went into the firewood pile . Now it's - split, debark, pesticide, let dry then seal. Problem solved.