How would you treat this??

[Tizzy]

I've discovered that an Indonesian buffet I bought a year ago has got live borers!! I know they must be live because I can see their dust and some of it is on my white platters, so it must be fresh.

I'm mortified. This furniture is supposed to be fumigated when it comes into Australia. I have no idea if these beasties have spread to anything else in the house. Would surface spray kill them or something else or do I need to have it burned?

 

[Nards]

You could give the Aust Quarantine Service a call or have a look at their website
http://www.daffa.gov.au/aqis/quarantine/pests-diseases. They might point you in the right direction.

Did you buy the buffet here or did you import it yourself? I have no idea, but maybe there is an Australian borer eating your buffet!

Nadia

 

[Simon]

perhaps a pest guy can give you some advice? I'd be calling one on Monday. Good luck mate and I am sure it can be solved,

 

[Xenia]

This is what we are trying to prevent the spread of in Australia. You have a responsiblity to report it to Australian customs. It needs to be fumigated and quarantined!

 

[BlackSpider]

Can you contact the dealer you bought it from and ask them about it, they "should" know exactly what to do.

 

[Tizzy]

I bought it from a well known store here that sells imported furniture.

I've never seen a borer in any piece of wood before and I've got several very old pieces here. Oak mainly and some baltic Australian pine from the 1920's. Also some Tasmanian pine (again quite old). I've also got timbers in the roof

This piece is like a couple of other pieces I have. Newly made Indoneasian furniture with a darkish stain and relatively roughly made.
My husband is contacting quarantine to find out what to do. I've done some research and a few times seen mention of using a hypodermic to deliver poison into the holes. The holes are like pin holes! It would be so hit and miss to try and do that.

 

[Tizzy]

Thank you Black Spider, thats a good idea and they are open on Sundays so I will do that.

 

[wylie]

My mum had some antique chairs that had active wasp like things flying in and out of tiny holes. We noticed the dust under the chairs and one day I saw one of them disappear into the chair.

I know that "the government" took them away and "fogged" them and gave them back - no charge. I would definitely check quarantine and trust their judgement before trusting anything the shop that sold the furniture has to say.

 

[Tizzy]

Oh Wylie I'd love it if they did that for me.

I contacted the store. Basically they deny ever having any issues with borer stating the furniture is all treated in Quarantine. I told her quite pointedly well guess what..some of the little blighters survived the fogging!! We bought the 10 seater dining room setting at the same time and I'm wondering if that's got anything in it now. The chairs are water hyacinth so probably quite munchable. She did tell me that she'd heard Tony Sadlers had some problems with borer, (but not her shop which is Classique Imports). Not sure if Tony Sadlers operates outside of WA.

Once AQIS opens tomorrow, I should have a plan. I hope they can do a housecall and let me know if anything else is effected. I'd rather burn the lot than live with bugs!

I wonder if house insurance might cover something like this?

 

[wylie]

I think my mum's chairs came from somewhere in Europe and it was a type of tiny european wasp, but not certain. It was maybe 15 years ago.

I do vaguely remember that the stuff they fogged it with was the same stuff that was pumped into the old Museum building near the Ekka that they completely covered in stiped tenting to contain the gas. Quite nasty but did the job.

They collected the chairs (maybe the table too), did the treatment and brought them back.

Hope if works out for you.

 

[The Y-man]

I've discovered that an Indonesian buffet I bought a year ago has got live borers!! I know they must be live because I can see their dust and some of it is on my white platters, so it must be fresh.

I'm mortified. This furniture is supposed to be fumigated when it comes into Australia. I have no idea if these beasties have spread to anything else in the house. Would surface spray kill them or something else or do I need to have it burned?

Is it possible they infected once the furniture was in Australia?

We used some borer treatment thing from Bunnings when we found little mounds of dust on our window sill - seemed to get rid of them quite quickly...

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[BV]

Oh Wylie I'd love it if they did that for me.

I contacted the store. Basically they deny ever having any issues with borer stating the furniture is all treated in Quarantine. I told her quite pointedly well guess what..some of the little blighters survived the fogging!! ?

Tizzy

I don't believe they treat them in Quarantine,
Wooden items usually come with a certificate that they have been treated
or laquered etc and this will be enough to clear through customs.

Don't worry it's unlikely that they would move anywhere else in the house.

If you seal/laquer the section with the holes they will die.
Timber oil should work too.

Cheers

 

[MichaelW]

Hi Tizzy,

Its seriously no big deal!

I have had borers in some of my stuff before. The easiest and quickest way to deal with it is to buy a hyperdermic needle from a chemist, and a bottle of undiluted pyrethrum. Just inject the pyrethrum directly into the little hole. Often you will be rewarded by an instant death as the little critter comes out and dies, but almost always it will die immediately even if you don't see it. The holes aren't that deep.

What I do is mark each hole with a small dot sticker then go back and check for the frass (dust) a week or so later. Whipe it all off before you treat it so there is none left then just check back to make sure no more is being produced. If the frass stops the borers are dead.

I actually bought all of my skirting boards and architraves at auction and got caught out by dodgy suppliers dumping their heartwood ones via auction. The heartwood is where the borers live and mine had frass all over it once hung. Some of the really polluted ones I ripped off and replaced, but for the most part I treated once or twice as above and now they're all clear. Not sure about whether the seal/lacquer suggestion will work as prescribed above though. We painted all our architraves and they just bored through it. Took the injected pyrethrum to sort the little buggers out.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[wylie]

Its seriously no big deal!

Whilst I don't know what Tizzy's critters are, it certainly was a big, big deal with my mother's chairs. Quarantine moved very quickly.

I would certainly contact Quarantine. Cane toads and rabbits probably were not considered that big a deal when the first ones were brought into Australia .

Better safe than sorry. If the "authorities" tell you to treat them yourself, that is fine, but you could be harbouring "mighty dangerous critters" in your furniture.

 

[Tizzy]

I've been told by AQIS that because the piece of furniture is imported and only a year or two old then they need to inspect it and identify the borer. If it turns out that it is an introduced species, they do further investigations and go back to the shop, find out where the piece was imported from, trace it back through the importing process and check who did the fumigation. AQIS can actually blacklist particular fumigation outfits if they aren't doing the work correctly.

Also, apparently borers can lie dormant in the furniture for up to four years so the furniture seller stating that there's a 12 month guarantee is pretty much pointless. Generally the seller should pay for re-fumigation, but I know this particular shop probably won't.

AQIS will also know if the borer was picked up here in Australia and will check other furniture in the house to see if anything else is infected.

Hopefully I can make the arrangements for an inspection tomorrow.

Michael if it is just this piece of furniture affected and AQIS allows it, then we'll wrap it in plastic and do the fumigating ourselves. I'm getting the sense I won't be allowed to though.

 

[Bradsdad]

Whilst I don't know what Tizzy's critters are, it certainly was a big, big deal with my mother's chairs. Quarantine moved very quickly.

I would certainly contact Quarantine. Cane toads and rabbits probably were not considered that big a deal when the first ones were brought into Australia .

Better safe than sorry. If the "authorities" tell you to treat them yourself, that is fine, but you could be harbouring "mighty dangerous critters" in your furniture.

I agree. Best to be safe. the store may claim all is Ok but what's to say they have imported a bad batch. Other purchasers may do nothing. It's sad when we leave things to others.

 

[Tizzy]

Today my dresser was paid a visit by two workers from AQIS. I had to work so missed the excitement but my son was home.

They took samples of the live borer and put them in vials of water to be taken away for identification. Then they went through 20 placemats which were also in the dresser and they also have borer activity in them!! It's not clear if the borers started off in the placements (they have some wood in each end) or in the dresser. Either way, I should know within 24 hours whether it will be okay to fumigate or whether it all needs to be destroyed.

They sealed the placemats up in plastic and wrapped them in "quarantine hold" tape.

So tomorrow I'll find out what I can do.

 

[Tizzy]

I got a response a couple of days ago. Borers have been identified.

Bostrichidae Minthea rugicollis, Common Name- Hairy powderpost beetle. This species is currently present in Australia, but in limited numbers on the East coast. This is the first recorded finding in WA.

So I have two choices, fumigation under pressure ( so can't be done at home) or burning or deep burial. So I've been given 5 names and will ring for quotes. AQIS won't be able to go back to the importer because the beetle was in the sideboard and also in the placemats. The placemats came from another major furniture/housewares store.

Sad to think that its so easy for new bugs to get in to the country.

 

[phil]

Sad to think that its so easy for new bugs to get in to the country.

Which is why we burn Indonesian fishing vessels that are caught illegally in our Northern waters also.

Phil

 

[Tizzy]

I took our cabinet to a fumigation place today. All wrapped up in thick black plastic and sealed with gaffer tape. They put a hose through a slit in the plastic and they pump gas in that kills any critters. The cost is $75. Pretty good I thought, because I get to keep my cabinet.