How To Get Rid Of A Bark Beetle Or A Grinder Beetle In The House, How To Process The Space

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-17 22:26

How to get rid of the bark beetle in the house

Those who live in multi-apartment high-rises, and have never had a summer residence, may not even have heard of such a problem as a bark beetle, or, as it is also called, a grinder beetle, or woodworm. But the owners of suburban estates know firsthand how much harm this little insect can cause and what danger it poses to the garden and wooden buildings.

Content

• 1 Why the bark beetle is dangerous
• 2 How to understand that the bark beetle has appeared

• 3 How to get rid of a pest

  • 3.1 Fumigation of a wooden house with phosphine gas - a proven way to destroy beetles
  • 3.2 Folk ways

  • 3.3 Specialty chemicals

    • 3.3.1 Table: Industrial insecticides for bark beetle control
    • 3.3.2 Video: how to destroy the bark beetle

  • 3.4 Pheromone traps

    • 3.4.1 Video: traps for bark beetle
    • 3.4.2 Video: what chooses the bark beetle: a trap or a natural tree
  • 3.5 Professional ways of handling buildings

• 4 Prevention

  4.1 Video: getting rid and preventing the appearance of a grinder beetle

Why is the bark beetle dangerous?

This question can be confusing. In fact, what can a small insect, the size of which does not exceed a centimeter, threaten? Does not bite like mosquitoes or fleas, does not tolerate germs like flies. It turns out that it does not pose any threat to human life and health. And pets will not suffer from it. So where is the danger?

The bark beetle is a small insect that does not pose a threat to human health

The natural habitat of the beetle is trees. In them, the bark beetle, gnawing through the bark, takes cover from various dangers and feeds. Having reached the core of the tree, the female beetle lays eggs, which turn into larvae within a week. It is they who do the most harm. Immediately after hatching from eggs, the larvae begin to intensively feed on sap and wood fibers. One larva eats up to 10 grams of wood per day, thereby making whole labyrinths of winding passages. In winter, they hibernate, but do not die. Withstand temperatures down to -30 ^o C. The process can last up to three years. The larvae then develop into pupae and adults, which reproduce again.

The greatest harm to a tree is caused by bark beetle larvae

Adult beetles fly to other trees. The objects of their invasion can be wooden buildings: a house, a barn, a bathhouse, where they also gnaw passages and lay eggs. A wooden structure infected with a bark beetle gradually turns into dust. It is especially dangerous when an insect infects the supporting structures of a wooden house. This already directly poses a threat to humans. Indeed, at any time, supports and partitions can collapse and cause serious injury. In addition, some species of bark beetles carry fungal spores when moving. As a result, mold will soon form on wooden structures, which in itself is harmful to health.

A wooden house and other buildings can become an object for the invasion of bark beetles

Quite often bark beetles spoil wood in storages and warehouses. And it so happens that a wooden house is built from already contaminated building materials. To avoid this, you should take precautions:

• When buying lumber for a wooden house, check it carefully. Pay attention to small holes and peculiar paths made by the beetle.

  

  When buying lumber, look for the small holes and paths the beetle has laid

• Round timber is more difficult to check. Holes in the bark may be inconspicuous. Therefore, pay special attention to the ends of the logs. They should not be damaged in any way.

  

  When buying logs, pay attention to the ends

• Choose dry wood. The bark beetle feeds on tree sap. And the more it is preserved in the wood, the higher the chance of getting a harmful insect in addition to the purchase.
• When buying a wooden house, be sure to check it for the presence of bark beetle. Sometimes houses are sold for this very reason. If the wooden walls and ceilings are hopelessly damaged, the owners may try to bail out at least something for the illiquid property and put the building up for sale.

• Treat a new wooden house, purchased or built on your own, with a special antiseptic solution at least two, and preferably three times, with an interval of 7-10 days to protect it from bark beetle. For example, you can use drugs: Woody Healer, Antizhuk, Ekolan-41 and others. For non-residential premises, the timber can be treated with machine oil. Such a preventive measure will allow in the future not to be puzzled by the question of how to solve the problem with the beetle.

  

  Before moving into a new wooden house, treat it with an antiseptic to protect against bark beetle

Purchasing furniture with traces of bark beetle is the first step towards contaminating the whole house.

How to understand that a bark beetle has appeared

Beetles live inside wooden blocks and are predominantly nocturnal. Therefore, there is little chance to see the bark beetle with your own eyes. But, nevertheless, to determine that a bark beetle has wound up in the house, you can:

• Carefully inspect wooden structures and objects: walls, floors, partitions, furniture. If they have small holes with a diameter of about 1–2 mm, this is an alarm signal. Gnawing the passages, the bark beetle leaves behind white or light yellow wood dust, which is sometimes called drill meal. It can accumulate near holes or on the floor near skirting boards.

  

  Small holes in wooden walls are marks left by the bark beetle

• At night, when everything is quiet around, the vital activity of the bark beetle can be easily heard. Paving the way inside the wooden blocks, the insect makes sounds resembling the ticking of a clock.

  

  In the silence of the night, the sounds of the bark beetle are clearly audible

How to get rid of a pest

Sometimes on the network you can find the opinion that it is almost impossible to get the bark beetle out on your own. But do not immediately start to despair and panic if you find traces of a bark beetle in the house. Most often, such statements are made by the owners of pest control companies along with a proposal to solve your problem efficiently and in a short time. Getting rid of the bark beetle is really not easy, but perhaps there would be a desire.

Fumigating a wooden house with phosphine gas is a proven way to kill beetles

The peculiarity of phosphine is that no immunity, addiction and resistance in insects to the drug is observed. Phosphine is a hazard class 1 gas that is deadly to all living things. More details about the process and advantages of fumigation can be found on the website of the company "Dezcenter-Rus".

Unlike the microwave method, fumigation allows you to treat the whole house. The destruction of insects occurs at all stages of development.

Among the company's clients there are hundreds of customers who were satisfied with the results of the fumigation with phosphine gas from beetles in wooden houses. And all thanks to an individual approach to the situation and problems of each specific client. The company's specialists study the situation comprehensively, analyze the foci and the reasons for the appearance and spread of beetles. All services are checked and approved by the relevant government agencies. There are licenses, permits, approvals, all the necessary documentation.

Folk ways

It is possible to use a combination of homemade insecticides with a mechanical method. Most effective in the early stages of infection. To check the degree of damage to the wood mass by the beetle, take an awl or screwdriver and forcefully stick it into the tree. If there are many empty cavities made by the bark beetle inside, the awl will enter the material easily and deeply. If slightly damaged, the tool will only go slightly deeper into the material.

With severe infection, there are many empty cavities inside the wooden surface, made by the bark beetle

If the wooden structure is not heavily corroded by the bark beetle and has only single holes-entrances, it is advisable to carry out such a complex procedure:

1. Take the wire, insert it all the way into the hole and rotate. Such stripping will partially destroy the course and destroy a number of insects at different stages of development.

2. Further, the surface and passages of the bark beetle must be treated with a special compound. The insecticidal agent can be applied to the surface of a wooden structure using a spray bottle or a sponge soaked in a solution. It is convenient to treat holes with a syringe. To do this, insert the needle into the hole and squeeze the insecticide out of the syringe until the liquid flows freely into the tunnels made by the beetle. Processing can be done by any of the following means:

   

   You can process the holes made by the bark beetle with a syringe

   • Combine 3 parts of turpentine and 1 part of kerosene. Stir well. Apply to outer surfaces and to the depth of the holes. The product effectively destroys both adults and their eggs and larvae.

     

     For effective removal of bark beetle, you can use a mixture of turpentine and kerosene.

   • An equally effective remedy can be prepared from paraffin and rosin. To do this, melt 5 parts of paraffin and add 4 parts of crushed rosin to it. Bring to a boil. Then add 1 part vegetable oil, boil for 1-2 minutes. Cool slightly. Apply as in the previous recipe.

     

     From paraffin, rosin and vegetable oil, you can prepare a remedy for bark beetle

   • To destroy the bark beetle, you can use a mixture of 3 parts of turpentine, 1 part of naphthalene and 1 part of tar. The ingredients are combined and mixed. The resulting product is poured into the passages of the bark beetle.

   • Vaseline oil is an environmentally friendly and safe insect elimination agent. It is more convenient to pour it into the holes using a pipette. Vaseline oil is odorless. Therefore, it can be used to handle items related to food storage.

     

     Vaseline oil is an environmentally friendly and safe beetle remover

   • Sometimes boiling water or hot drying oil is used to kill insects. This method has come down to us from the depths of the last century, but now there are more effective and safer means. As in the previous versions, the agent must be poured into the holes in the tree. But in this case, you cannot use a syringe. It will simply melt from the high temperature. Therefore, boiling water will have to be poured directly from the container, which requires some skill. Another important disadvantage of this method is that areas of a tree scalded with boiling water or hot linseed oil can greatly change their appearance. Therefore, if the latter matters, it is better to refrain from the method.

     

     Bark beetle can be removed with hot linseed oil, but there is a risk of spoiling the appearance of the wooden surface

3. To cut off escape routes for the pest, you can plug the entry holes with silicone or acrylic sealant. This action will kill those insects that have survived the first two stages.

   

   Beetle holes in a wooden wall can be repaired with acrylic or silicone sealant.

4. After 5-7 days, the surface of the wooden structure should be treated again with the chosen agent. And repeat the procedure again in two weeks. Perhaps this measure will only be a preventive measure, but knowing all the complexities of insect control, it is better to play it safe.

With a strong infection of individual areas, you will have to act more radically:

1. The damaged area with a large number of internal cavities left by the bark beetle must be carefully cut and burned.

   

   The hopelessly damaged part of the wooden structure will have to be replaced

   • Cover the area around the area to be treated with plastic wrap so that all chips, shavings and sawdust collect on it. This will protect other areas of the surface from beetle larvae and eggs.
   • For the same reason, it is better to use hand-held power tools for work, since electrical appliances spray sawdust over a wider area.
2. Restore the cut out section of the timber structure. To do this, cut out a part of the appropriate size from the new material, try it on to the missing area, and then put it on glue or fix it in another way.
3. Treat the entire surface of the structure using the methods described above.

Special chemicals

If the area affected by the bark beetle is large, industrial insecticides cannot be dispensed with. Here it is important to strictly follow the instructions for use, observing the indicated proportions of solutions, not to allow any self-activity. Otherwise, you can harm yourself and others. Particular attention should be paid to safety precautions. When working with hazardous substances, it is necessary to protect the respiratory organs, eyes and hands. Therefore, be sure to use a respirator, rubber gloves and goggles. After finishing processing, take a shower.

When working with chemicals, you must use protective equipment: mask, rubber gloves, glasses

Table: industrial insecticides for bark beetle control

name means	Country of origin	Release form	Active substance in the composition	Description	Price
Confidor Extra	Bayer, Germany	water- dispersible granules, 400 g	imidacloprid	A new generation fungicidal agent. Destroys all types of beetles at any stage of development. Safe for humans and pets. Method of application: dilute 0.3–0.5 grams in 10 liters of water. Protective period of validity from 2 to 4 weeks.	from 4620 rubles
Clipper	FMRus, Russia	concentrated emulsion, 5 l	bifetrin	An effective product designed specifically to combat various species of bark beetle and weevils. Protective period of validity from 2 to 3 weeks. This drug is used against beetles in various nurseries in Russia. And also for processing fir trees near the Kremlin and in the Alexander Garden.	from 13900 rubles
BI-58	BASF, Germany	concentrated emulsion, 1 l, 5 l, 10 l	dimethoate	Effective organophosphorus compound for beetle control. Has a damaging effect on the intestinal system of insects after swallowing the product sprayed on the surface.	from 770 rubles
SENEZH INSA	Senezh, Russia	water- based concentrate, 5 l	stabilized aqueous composition of active substances with functional and technological additives	Colorless concentrated antiseptic penetrates deeply into the pores of the tree, is included in the cellular metabolism of wood- damaging beetles at all stages of development, suppresses and blocks their vital processes. Prevents bacteria formation. Maintains the color and texture of the wood.	from 600 rubles
Antizhuk	Neomid, Russia	concentrate, 5 l	biocidal antiseptic	An effective remedy for the destruction of wood-damaging beetles at all stages of development. It is used for both pest control and prophylaxis. Diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 4. From a five-liter canister, 25 liters of finished product is obtained, which is enough to protect a surface area of up to 100 m 2.	from 920 rubles
Arboreal healer	Russia	water- based or alcohol-based liquid, 1 l	butyl alcohol, aqueous composition	An environmentally friendly product designed for local destruction of wood pests at all stages of development. For effective treatment, the consumption of the product is 300 grams per 1 m 2 in two layers. Alcohol-based product is applied to the surface with a roller or brush, water-based can be sprayed. An alcohol-based product can be used at sub-zero temperatures.	from 330 rubles

Industrial insecticides for bark beetle control are usually toxic to humans and animals

Video: how to destroy the bark beetle

Pheromone traps

This method has been gaining more and more popularity lately. But there are also many opponents of this method. The trap is a plastic structure, inside of which there is a plate impregnated with pheromone - a biologically active substance secreted by insects to attract individuals of their own species. The beetles fly to the smell, hit the plastic partition of the structure and roll to the bottom of the glass, from where they cannot get out on their own.

The pheromone trap contains a plate with biologically active substances to attract individuals of a certain species

Video: traps for bark beetle

The indisputable advantage of this method is environmental friendliness and safety. Nevertheless, the effectiveness and advisability of using such traps raises some doubts.

• First, only adults can be caught with their help. Pheromones have no effect on larvae and eggs. But it is the larvae that cause the greatest harm to the tree.
• The second point, which causes alertness, is that beetles do not always tend to fall into a trap, sometimes preferring a tree standing next to it. This means that the following situation is possible: the larva, calmly eating a tree not far from the trap, becomes an adult and instead of flying to the bait specially prepared for it, it continues its vital activity as if nothing had happened and lays eggs, from which new ones hatch larvae. And here the question is pertinent: why then do we need a trap?
• At the same time, pheromone traps are capable of luring beetles located at a distance of several kilometers. And it turns out that instead of the complete destruction of insects, their number will only increase.

Video: what the bark beetle chooses: a trap or a natural tree

Professional ways of handling buildings

With extensive damage to residential buildings by the bark beetle, it is advisable to use phosphine fumigation. The essence of the procedure is the penetration of gas into all passages of the insect, which leads to its complete destruction at any stage of development. It is quite difficult to carry out such an operation on your own. Work requires a special protective suit, gas mask and equipment. In addition, phosphine is a poisonous gas. After processing, it is necessary not only to thoroughly ventilate the room for several days, but also to track the concentration of phosphine, and to dispose of the residues.

To treat the room with phosphine, a gas mask, protective suit and special equipment are required

Currently, the most effective and safe professional method is the extermination of insects using high frequency electromagnetic radiation (or microwave method). The bottom line is to heat the infected tree to a temperature of 60 ^o C using a microwave emitter. This is enough to kill pests at any stage. At the same time, wooden structures do not undergo any changes. Therefore, if you are going to use the services of pest control companies, it is best to choose a company that specializes in the microwave method.

Microwave insecticide for insect control ensures the destruction of tree beetles at any stage

Prevention

A few tips on how to prevent the appearance of bark beetles in the house:

• It is best to deal with a pest at a distance. Pay attention to the infield.

  • Attract birds to the site, hang feeders. Using the help of "forest orderlies" is the easiest and most effective way to reduce the number of insects.

    

    Birds are the best helpers in the fight against insects

  • Remove dead wood, tree stumps, dead and old branches. This will deprive the pests of convenient habitats. Thin the tree crowns. The cut branches must be destroyed or removed. Remove fallen leaves in the fall.

  • In the spring, whitewash the tree trunks with slaked lime: for one part of lime, 1.5–3 parts of water. This will significantly reduce the number of insects and the risk of tree infestation. The solution is prepared in this way. In a bucket or barrel, carefully combine the ingredients. During the first hour after the connection, an active reaction will occur: hiss, seething, a significant increase in temperature. After an hour, gently stir the contents of the container with a wooden stick. Be careful not to burn yourself. Use protective equipment: gloves, glasses. Trees can be whitewashed no earlier than after 2 hours. And it is better to postpone the procedure for a few hours so that the lime is better extinguished.

    

    Whitewash tree trunks in spring to reduce the risk of infection

  • Apply preventive spraying immediately after the trees are blooming. At this time, a massive flight of beetles usually occurs. You can use drugs such as Boverin, Lepidocide or Bitoxibacillin. They effectively destroy pests and at the same time do not harm the environment. To consolidate the result, repeat the procedure after two weeks.

    

    Preventive spraying of trees should be carried out immediately after flowering.

  • Inspect tree trunks from time to time, pay attention to the presence of holes in the bark. At the first sign of damage, treat branches and trunks with insecticides. It is best to use biological agents that are safe for animals and birds, but also harmful to insects. For example, Scolyt +.

    

    Look for beetle holes in the bark

  • With a large infection of trees, it is more effective to use chemical agents to destroy pests. For example, Confidor Extra penetrates wood and paralyzes pests on the entire tree, and Clipper remains only on the bark and kills beetles trying to gnaw it

  • If the situation is severely neglected, the diseased tree must be cut down and burned. Do not forget to uproot and destroy the root, some species of bark beetle settle in the lower part of the tree.

    

    In case of severe infection, use chemicals, in some cases the tree will have to be cut down

• Monitor the humidity in the house. The bark beetle prefers moist wood. Therefore, ventilate and dry the room more often.

  • Purchase a hygrometer to monitor the humidity level and, if necessary, adjust the indoor climate.

    

    You can control the microclimate in the house using a hygrometer - a device for determining air humidity

  • If the wooden walls are very damp, dry them with a heat gun or electric heater. At the same time, open windows and doors so that there is air movement. Turn on the fan.

• Clean and keep your home clean on a regular basis. Dispose of all wood and junk in time.

  

  Wood trash in the attic can become a habitat for the bark beetle

• Cover wood surfaces with varnish or paint. This will protect against insects.

• Use special products to care for varnished surfaces. For example, Gloss or Polish. The components that make up these products will scare off the bark beetle, and wooden products will acquire an attractive appearance.

  

  The polish will not only scare off the bark beetle, but also give the furniture an attractive appearance.

• Sodium fluorosilicon can be used to protect unvarnished and unpainted surfaces. Dissolve 200-250 grams of the product in 10 liters of hot water. Stir well and cool. Wipe wood surfaces with a soft cloth dampened with the solution.

  

  Unlacquered and unpainted wood surfaces can be protected from bark beetle with sodium fluorosilicate

• Regularly inspect wooden structures in the room for small bark beetle holes. And if there is any suspicion, take action.

Video: getting rid and preventing the appearance of a grinder beetle

So, we examined what the bark beetle is dangerous for and how to identify its appearance. And most importantly, how to get rid of this pest. Use the tips given in the article and your home will be safe.