Harmful insects and wood treatment

When we generally talk about woodworm we are referring to insects that live, at least for a part of their life, in wood. They rode the wood to extract the nutrients needed to grow and reproduce. They are useful in their natural task, for example when they deteriorate the trunk of a tree that has fallen to the ground in the forest, but when woodworm damages the roof beams of houses, floors, furniture, and furnishings, they also gnaw at our patience. The dislike for the annoyance they cause is atavistic, so much to be synonymous with torment, pain, nightmare, and nagging.
In recent years we have seen an increase in the trouble caused by woodworm mites, some call them wood mites. The mites with other tiny insects, however parasites of the woodworm, can cause dermatitis and allergic reactions unthinkable: they are pathogenic arthropods. A professional anti-worm treatment is an ideal cure, whether it is woodworm or woodworm parasite.

The Eurogreen Method is an anti-worm treatment; it has been developed by our experts to eliminate woodworm in buildings. We are specialists in microwave anti-worm treatment. In order to eliminate woodworm that has penetrated deep into the ceiling beams, it is not enough to have microwave equipment, to be an exterminator: you need a background of empirical and scientific research, a lot of experience and highly trained workers. You need to understand woodworm and woodworm technology in particular.

The unforeseen events when heating a wooden beam with microwaves can be many, the expert knows how to deal with them and overcome them. The superficiality towards a complication can cost dearly and someone has already set the roof of a house on fire. In the sector we are a reference company, we are often called upon to evaluate unhappy works carried out by others who (despite the guarantees), then, turn their backs. Many are the cases that we have ascertained of carbonized and irreversibly altered artifacts. Think about the fact that a beam infested with woodworms is a sick beam: a cold to heal; but a carbonized beam is a beam damaged forever, weakened, therefore, less resistant. The performance of the entire structural organism could be affected by the inefficiency of an element.

The biological origin of wood makes it susceptible to environmental conditions and the action of various pathogens.
Every piece of furniture, beam or artifact built with wood is destined over time to be modified by atmospheric agents (humidity, heat, light) both by organisms and micro-organisms that use wood as a trophic source and/or refuge.
Sometimes the alterations are limited to simple chromatic or morphological changes; other times the damage can be considered both in economic terms (historical value of an artifact) and in terms of safety (loss of bearing capacity of the wooden beams and attics).

The special focus is on woodworm (or xylophagous), a term in which are included several insects whose common characteristic is the need to feed on the components of the wood to reach maturity and reproduce.
The damage produced in particular on the wood in situ and the methods of prevention and control (pest control) are indicated.

The Wood
Wood, a material easily found, transportable and workable, has always been used by man to build his homes, the furniture they contain, the means of transport (ships, wagons, etc.) and other artifacts such as musical instruments, work tools, and weapons.

The high mechanical resistance and good thermal performance combined with the ductility that has allowed its use also for the expression of different artistic forms (furniture, frames, statues, etc.), have over time consolidated its use.
The wood is obtained from the trunk of conifers and deciduous trees whose fabrics are made of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. The cells that make up these tissues are produced by the change, a layer of cells responsible for the annual growth of the trunk.

The cells are bound together by the median lamella. At first elastic, it tends to stiffen over time through the lignification process. The median lamella provides mechanical resistance to the wood and influences its density.
But the most interesting part of these cells is the cell wall.
There is a primary and a secondary wall. The consistency of the wood depends on the latter, which consists of cellulose fibrils and is multi-layered. The middle layer is the main responsible for the physical-mechanical characteristics of the cell wall.

There are softwoods and hardwoods.
The hardwoods are the most valuable and are used for valuable realizations: mahogany, walnut, ash, oak, and beech are examples of hardwoods.
Soft (or sweet) woods are used for more common works and are mainly derived from conifers (e.g. pine) but also hardwoods such as poplar or birch.
Depending on the species of origin the wood may have different colors, densities and grain characteristics.
These properties are often closely linked to different growth rates. The faster the growth rate, the less valuable the wood will be.

Natural enemies are fungi and insects (especially woodworms) that feed on wood as a source of substances for their nourishment. The most vulnerable parts are those close to change.
The damage caused can be considerable in economic terms but also in terms of safety.

Wood And The Environment
Wood is a material that overtime does not change its characteristics except through the action of external agents of both abiotic (the environment) and biotic nature (insects such as woodworm and fungi).
The environmental factors that lead to modification or deterioration of the wood are light, heat, humidity.
Light can imply color changes.

In lighter woods such as fir and pine, the color tends to darken while in darker woods the light leads to discoloration.
It is these changes that are in any case irrelevant for the structural characteristics of the wood, although in some cases it has been observed that light can alter the level of lignin reduction.

As far as artificial light is concerned, the most harmful radiations are those in the infrared area that causes an increase in the temperature of the object: particularly harmful are the reflectors aimed at the object.

Heat can also lead to color variations, but as a light, the consequences on the stability of the wood are not significant.
Much more important is the moisture content, the variation of which can lead to expansion (deformation) or contraction (cracking).

When we talk about humidity, we refer both to precipitation (rain melts lignin derivatives, an essential component for mechanical resistance) and to condensation that occurs when the temperature of a room undergoes sudden changes (e.g. when the heating system is switched on or off).
These effects are more visible in the spring production part of the wood (rich in pots with larger cross-section) where depressions and cracks can occur. light can imply color changes.
In lighter woods such as spruce and pine, the color tends to darken while in darker woods the light leads to discoloration.

It is these changes that are in any case irrelevant for the structural characteristics of the wood, although in some cases it has been observed that light can alter the level of lignin reduction.

As far as artificial light is concerned, the most harmful radiations are those in the infrared area that causes an increase in the temperature of the object: the reflectors aimed at the object are particularly harmful.
Heat can also lead to color variations, but as light, the consequences on the stability of the wood are not significant.
Much more important is the moisture content, the variation of which can lead to expansion (deformation) or contraction (cracking).

When we talk about humidity, we refer both to precipitation (rain melts lignin derivatives, an essential component for mechanical resistance) and to condensation that occurs when the temperature of a room undergoes sudden changes (e.g. when the heating system is switched on or off).
These effects are more visible in the part of spring production wood (rich in larger section pots) where depressions and cracks can occur.
Negative effects are all the more relevant the more abrupt they are.
Furthermore, it must be considered that these variations do not only affect the wood but also the other materials of which the product is made. Each material reacts differently to changes in humidity and this translates into cracks, lifts, etc..

High humidity levels facilitate biodeterioration by favoring the proliferation of microorganisms, fungi and xylophagous insects (woodworms).
Finally, a brief mention of the air which may contain contaminants such as chemical corrosives (e.g. sulfur compounds in fuels), dirt and dust that may discolor, deteriorate the wood or favor the settlement of woodworm.

Wood deterioration agents
The major deterioration agents of wood are biotic ones: fungi, bacteria and insects are the most important living organisms from this point of view.

Mushrooms are capable of causing alterations commonly referred to as caries.
There are different forms of caries depending on which substance is preferably attacked. We speak of white caries when lignin is destroyed and brown caries when the alteration mainly affects cellulose.
Bacteria develop mainly at the expense of cellulose.

Among insects, an important role is played above all by beetles and Isoptera (the common termites).
These insects are commonly referred to as xylophagous and are able to attack both the wood of trees still alive but also the wood in place. From the components of the wood, the larvae obtain substances useful for reaching maturity and becoming an adult.
Knowing the biology, ethology, verifying the environmental conditions, ascertaining the wood species attacked are useful elements to determine the species responsible for the damage and to adopt the correct strategies of prevention and treatment of the wooden artifact attacked.

Beetles
The damage is done by the larvae even if the hole produced by the flickering adults is the one that causes serious concern for the visible damage on the wooden artifact.

The hole underlies a network of tunnels of variable length depending on the larva that produced it.
The woodworm larvae can dig tunnels for several years before emerging from the wood as adults: a Hylotrupes bajulus larva, with particular hygrometric conditions, can remain in the wood for up to 17 years.
The diameter of the tunnel is a function of the size of the larva. As the larva grows, the diameter of the tunnel also increases.

The activity of woodworm larvae is not immediately visible because the galleries tend to be subcortical. The most common sign is the appearance of rosemary by the excavating activity of the larvae. The resume is made up of a mixture of feces and eroded wooden material that is often expelled outside making the infestation visible.
The duration of the cycle is closely related to environmental conditions: temperature and humidity. In closed and heated environments the duration of the cycle is considerably reduced.

The reproductive potential is very high since each female woodworm is able to lay several dozen eggs.
Isoptera
Commonly known as termites, they are social insects (such as bees and ants, you will need a good ant extermination guide for this) and have a marked division of labor.

They are dark and have two pairs of wings; Soldiers are white with a brown head and no wings; Workers are similar to soldiers but with a smaller head.
Termites usually nest in the ground but are large wood-eaters.
Termites escape the light (they are lucifuges). They dig tunnels in the wood (especially in spring) leaving the outer surface intact.
The attack on wooden artefacts is therefore only internal and often nothing is visible from the outside.
When the damage is evident it is often too late.

Hymenoptera
The wooden material can also be attacked by ants, social insects divided into castes.
The microwave treatment can be performed both in reverberating chambers (closed chambers in which to insert furniture, frames, statues, musical instruments, etc.) but also by means of mobile generators that allow the application on beams, panels and other fixed structures.
The use of mobile generators allows the disinfestation of an environment without moving or removing furniture or furnishings.

Last but not least, the zero environmental impact of the treatment should be highlighted.
Microwaves are currently used to counter the destructive effects of woodworm in an environmentally sustainable way.