The Beetles!
Woodworm doesn't need chemical treatments.
No Mother beetle will lay Her eggs onto hard, dry timber because She knows that there's no food source for Her babies to feed on and grow.
Nature is our friend, and when you see evidence of any wood boring beetles in your timbers, this is simply Mother Nature's way of telling you that you have high levels of humidity in your home that are softening your timbers (Incuding furniture).
Beetles are quite easy to understand because their life cycle consists of just 4 stages:
- Egg stage
- Larval stage
- Pupal stage
- Adult stage
1. Egg stage
A Female beetle lands on a piece of moisture laden timber and lays 100's of tiny eggs in a crack or crevice in that timber.
Generally between 4 and 19 days later those eggs hatch and the baby beetles appear as larvae.
Note: Some beetles do actually keep hold of their eggs and give birth to live larvae.
2. Larval stage.
It is these hungry larvae which then commence eating their way through the timber, feeding on the natural fibres, tannins and cellulose present within that softened timber. They continue to feed and grow inside that timber;shedding their exoskeleton many times during their tunneling works.
3. Pupal stage
The larvae then pupate into fully formed adult beetles, this typically occurs over the winter months,
4. Adult stage.
Finally these fully formed adult beetles emerge in the spring and fly off to find a mate to start the process all over again; this is where they tunnel back out of the timber which is when you see the 'flight holes'. By this point they have already left the timber, so squirting chemicals into the holes using a syringe is frankly a total waste of time, money and effort.
Instead of paying someone to spray harmful chemicals inside your home,
why not get in touch :