Safe storage of firewood

tom p.

tom p.

Active member
Guys, can we talk firewood and safe storage for a few minutes? I see lots of people storing firewood in their garage for extended periods. I’ve always had the concern that whatever bugs are living in the firewood end up in the garage and probably on into the house, too. So, I always keep my wood, split and un-split, outdoors and away from any building. There are carpenter ants in some of the logs when I split them. They’re either directly or indirectly responsible for killing the red oak trees in my area. I see all sorts of evidence of the damage when I split wood open. Sometimes a whole mass of “dead� ants falls out.



So, I guess my question is two-fold:



  • Can ants or termites or XYZ bugs come back to life (wake up from dormancy?) once they’re in a warm garage?
  • Is it safe to store spit firewood in the garage during winter months?
Thanks
 
Ha, funny you should mention this. I was having a water/carpenter ant damaged area fixed at my house and the contractor found some "dead" ants (it was 5 or 10 degrees F out in December or January) and suggested I call an exterminator to treat before they closed things back up. These looked like the black carpenter ants I had had before, except the abdomen was reddish. I put some in a plastic container so I could show the exterminator, and brought the container inside.



When the exterminator showed up a few hours later, I went inside to retreive the "dead" ones, which were very much alive and crawling around in the container. So yes, they do have some sort of dormancy during the winter.
 
Different bugs have different life cycles, but most can deal with some freezing temps.



Up here we have problems with Dutch Elm. The bugs are dormant in the colder temps and you can cut down trees. In warm weather not a good idea.



I know in BC they are having a problem with the Pine Beetle, and it is wiping out whole forests. The experts say that they need a very hard frost, like -17 C to kill the bugs. I made a trip through BC last summer and it brought a tear to my eye.
 
OK, thanks, guys. You are echoing my concerns about storing inside where the temps are somewhat warmer than outdoors :(
 
I always thought you weren't even supposed to store firewood near your house because of termites and other bugs. I'd try to keep it ~20 ft away or so if possible, and certainly not in the garage.
 
wfedwar said:
I always thought you weren't even supposed to store firewood near your house because of termites and other bugs. I'd try to keep it ~20 ft away or so if possible, and certainly not in the garage.
Click to expand...



Yeah, that's the theory I've always operated under. However, I see lots of people storing it in their garages to keep it dry.



Some say it's safe to store inside if the wood is kiln-dried...that's supposed to kill any critters.
 
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