For the past several years, we have had an early summer hatch of furniture beetles (Anobium punctatum, I believe) emerging from the oak floor in a room at one of our historic houses. The first year, we thought we identified the main area, which was under a wardrobe. We removed the finish (reluctantly) from under the wardrobe only and had our pest management person treat the surface with Boracare. We had the same problem the following year and treated the surface again after taking special care to de-wax the surface (it is a floor with a beautiful and old wax finish). I also prepared an emulsion of Boracare that could be applied to the waxed floor and put that on other areas that had recent exit holes as well as concentrations of old exit holes. The emulsion residue can be removed without damage to the historic finish, which we absolutely want to keep. After each emergence, the bugs head for the windows, and I capture and count as many of them as possible. I believe we had fewer bugs that following summer. My questions are these: If I were to treat a large portion of the floor with a Boracare (or Timbor) emulsion and fill all the holes with a Boracare-bulked wax, when the adult bugs emerge are they really likely to ingest any of the Boracare I have applied? Would this interrupt the egg-laying cycle in any way? We are not sure that fumigation is an option in this case, given the nature of the house, and I would be somewhat satisfied if I knew we were chiseling away at the population. Might there be other topical but safe treatments for finished surfaces?
Jeff Moore Chief Conservator The Preservation Society of Newport County 424 Bellevue Avenue Newport, RI 02840 Tel: 401-846-0783
