How much wood to keep Firing Your Oven Discuss How much wood to keep in the Oven Management forums; Bill, in Canada we are getting invaded by the emerald ash borer from the south [good ole USA] and the ...

[fornax hominus]

Bill, in Canada we are getting invaded by the emerald ash borer from the south [good ole USA] and the pine beetle coming over the rockies [still 3 time zones away]. This year we had earwigs in Biblical proportions and it pays to leave the wood out until there is a good killing frost to cut them down. All we really have coming out of the wood are the occasional mosquito .. too far north for termites!!....yet.

[heliman]

For the Aussies - termites are a serious pest and after a recent experience, I now keep a "reasonable" amount of wood - say 6 - 8 months worth.

A couple of months ago my neighbour (really great guy) popped around to ask if I wanted to use his pest guy to do a termite inspection. His rationale for doing this was that he had found a nest of these destructive insects in his workroom (which is very close to my WFO). In response to that, I unpacked the wood I had stacked in the storage area under the WFO and found that there were a number of termite trails/nests in the wood. As I was burning my oven in after a 10 month break I just tossed most of the wood into the oven which I think may have fixed the problem.

But, I made some changes to the wood storage process after that incident like raising the wood off the ground/keeping less etc.

BTW - For those that are not familiar with termites - they can destroy (the wooden bits) of a house in a matter of months and in extreme cased requires that it be demolished.

Good post this - important to create awareness of this matter and to add it to "Good Housekeeping rules for responsible WFO management".

Rossco

[BurntFingers]

From the Wiki: The natural range of the emerald ash borer is eastern Russia, northern China, Japan, and Korea.
Its first confirmed North American detection was in June 2002 in Canton, Michigan. It is suspected, that it was introduced by overseas shipping containers being delivered to Yazaki North America. It has since been found in several other parts of the United States and Canada. Ohio, Minnesota, and Ontario have experienced emerald ash borer migration from Michigan. Additionally, Maryland and Virginia received shipments of contaminated trees from a Michigan nursery. The emerald ash borer was confirmed in Indiana in April 2004, and in Central Kentucky in the Spring of 2009.