Borer beetle treatment: what can be done

Borer beetles love wooden structures: hardwood floors, door frames, roof timbers and furniture. They lay their eggs in cracks, and as the larvae hatch they eat their way through the wood over several years, creating tunnels that compromise the integrity of everything wooden in the house.

Signs you might need a treatment

• Fine white powder, called frass. That is a sign of active borer. Yellowish powder in the ceiling tends to indicate old activity that may have been dealt with years ago.
• Holes in the wood. They range from two or three millimetres across to five to seven millimetres, depending on the type of borer.
• Sometimes you can hear them chewing through the wood, mostly at night. That can point to a Hylotrupes bajulus infestation.

Treatment options

Borer beetle treatment is all about breaking the lifecycle. These are the methods in common use.

• Pesticide treatment. Used for prevention and long-term protection. A product such as CTX is painted over timber to stop borer infesting it in the first place, and gives several years of protection. The same product is used for drill-and-inject treatment.
• Fumigation. The structure is covered with tarpaulins and fumigated, which eliminates every stage of the beetle including the eggs. This is the option for a whole-house or whole-roof infestation.
• Palliative spot treatment. A localised treatment, drilling and injecting insecticide. Only partially effective, but it slows an infestation down in small areas. A borate product can also be used.

Prevention

• Regular inspections. An annual assessment, especially in areas where borer flight is common.
• Don’t attract them. At dusk, keep lights away from open windows. Borer beetles are drawn to light.
• Spot treatments. Treat whenever you notice droppings, to keep the colony from growing.

If you spot beetles in the house an insecticide may kill the ones on the surface, but the real solution lies in treating the wood itself. Don’t wait for the damage to escalate.