Amaryllis

This is an Amaryllis.  A lily like flower as the Belladonna lily.  It is often grown for forcing during the Winter when few other flowers are blooming.  The colors range from white, pink, purple, orange and red.  It is a cheerful thing to look at during the Winter when the weather is usually rather dreary.  This is one of the trio that were planted in a long tray, given to my wife for Christmas by our daughter Nancy.

Powder Post Beetle are Anobiid Beetle

Powder post beetle are also known, in this community, as Anobiid beetle.  Anobiid beetle can survive in wood that only has 12% moisture content.  If the moisture content is below 12% then it cannot survive.  Drying the wood was an excellant way of controlling Anobiid beetle.  The trouble is that in Western Washington the moisture content in most wood in the crawlspace (underhouse) is 14 – 15%.  A source of heat is necessary for dropping the moisture content to below 12%.

Borates are used to make the wood unihabitable by this beetle.  We use Tim-bor.  The Tim-bor should be a 15% solution.  To obtain a 15% solution it is necessary to use warm water.  Water at 50°F will only allow a 9% solution to dissolve.  We also use ProFoam which acts as a surfactant.  This wets the wood.  It holds the borates to the wood allowing them to soak in rather than splashing or dripping off of the wood.  Borates also works against termites.  We can add pyrethroids to the mix that also prevent carpenter ants from living in the wood.  The Tim-bor is Disodium-octoborate-tetrahydrate.  This is a salt.  It is very stable and like all salts will not evaporate.  It would have to be washed out of the wood to remove it.  It is no more toxic than table salt.  It should not be in wood that is in contact with the soil.  Wood in structures must always be at least six inches away from the soil by Code.

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