BHC ^4t ef^ectcote 



*Benzene hexachloride. 



Spraying a test pile of logs. 



Photo by Robert L.Coffin. 



By WILLIAM B. BECKER 

 Assistant Professor, Entomology 



HOW OFTEN have we seen new 

 lumber with holes in it? How 

 did they get there? Can they 

 be avoided? These holes are com- 

 monly left by insect pests that 

 attack recently cut trees and un- 

 seasoned logs left out of doors 

 during the late spring and summer. 

 Although these pests desert the 

 wood sooner or later and will not 

 be able to reinfest it, they have al- 

 ready damaged the logs, either 

 permanently ruining them for use 

 as lumber or considerably reducing 

 their value. When lumber from 

 such logs is used in home construc- 

 tion, some of these insects may still 

 be in it, causing annoyance when 

 they desert the wood, leaving holes 

 in roofing paper, plaster, paint, or 

 wall paper. 



Injury to unseasoned logs by 

 borers is ordinarily avoided when 

 living trees are cut in the late fall 

 and winter and sawed into lumber 

 before spring. When this cannot 

 be completed on time, or when 

 trees felled during the spring and 

 summer cannot be promptly con- 

 verted into lumber, much injury is 

 avoided by placing the logs im- 

 mediately into available ponds until 

 ready to be sawed. (Of course, a 

 suitable pond is not always con- 

 veniently located.) Round-headed 

 borers, ambrosia beetles, bark bee- 

 tles, and bark weevils, are some of 

 the insect pests responsible for 

 damage to logs and lumber. The 

 most serious pests, the round-headed 

 borers and ambrosia beetles, ac- 

 tually bore through the wood, 



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