Wood Bugs

[Clint Ormosen]

Can someone here tell me what the little (almost microscopic) bugs are that seem to come in every kit I open? Are they eating the wood? Or breeding in it. I'd take a picture of one If I could get the camera to focus on such a small bug. I'm afraid that If I seal some up into the plane, they'll eat from the inside out!

[Richard Grogan]

I think they like the boxes, not the balsa.Might be mites. Only balsa I've ever seen eaten was done by a rat/mouse.

[Randy Powell]

Itty-bitty termites?

I've seen this but agree with Ty. They seem to attach the box and plans.

Maybe they make good grain filler.

[Randy Ryan]

I really don't know, but think they may be book mites.

[W.D. Roland]

I had a bunch of kits from the 70 stored in an old humid storage building.
Like Ty said they breed like mad under these conditions!

The only damage I found after 25 to 30 years in this humid condition was the plans and decals were eaten at but all wood is fine.

Moving the kits to a air conditioned shop seems to have done the little buggers in as now I do not find any more of them.

Damned Rats did eat most of a  big box of hand picked Sig 4lb balsa. That hurts!

[Clint Ormosen]

I'm not sure what a mite looks like, but I'd bet that's what they are. They almost look like dust on the table until you notice something moving. They do crawl pretty quick for their size too. My kits are stored in my workshop which is air conditioned most of time. Also heated in the winter. I hope they're not breeding in there.

[Robert McHam]

How about taking the box to an exterminator and getting them to tell you what you have and how dangerous they can be?

Robert

[Clint Ormosen]

How about taking the box to an exterminator and getting them to tell you what you have and how dangerous they can be?

Robert

That is good idea. However, I can never find one of these little guys if I'm actually looking for one. They just keep showing up on kit parts here and there. Maybe I should tear the kit box apart?

[W.D. Roland]

Dang it
Now you all got me worried.
Guess I need to go inspect the stored kits again.

[Larry Cunningham]

More than likely they are like the bugs I have seen in very old kits and they tend to eat the plans and the box, but not the wood.  Too bad the EPA got rid of DDT.    Storing kits in a dry environment seems to help keep them at bay. A humid storage seems to make them breed.

I'm not sure we want DDT legalized, but when I was in Mauritius (home of the extinct Dodo), we could buy a special fly bait there with DDT in it. It looked like pink sugar, all sorts of cautions about it, etc. We would sit outside drinking beer and put some of it on the table. We soon found out that there was an optimum time after the fly ate it to shoo them away. It affected their control system, and they would start to fly off normally, get a few feet away and suddenly go into a graveyard spiral. Not only was it amusing (especially after a few beers), but it was practical, since the fly carcasses were removing themselves from the table top. 

True story. And the girls of Mauritius are indeed beautiful.. 

L.

"Alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life." -George Bernard Shaw

[Dallas Hanna]

Must be some bug/worm which likes balsa!  I inherited a set of Genesis 46 wings which had gathered dust in a mates workshop for around 25 years.   Some worm had tracked along the balsa skins for about 12 inches and near 1/16" wide. .    The wings are in quite useable condition even though one has "postal damage" but repairable.   Maybe Bob Hunt wanted to export some of the US termites to OZ!

HH

[Clint Ormosen]

I might add that NONE of the kits I found the bugs in are "old" kits. They were all over the Playboy kit, the Wingmaster kit, and now even found 'em in my RSM Tempest which was shrink wrapped until I opened it to start building.
In fact, the only old kit I even have is a Ringmaster Sportster, and it's clean.

[Mike Scholtes]

I'm actually glad to hear others have this tiny livestock in their kit boxes; I thought their presence was a commentary on the state of hygiene prevailing in my garage. The ones I tend to see are not dust-sized but look like tiny spiders, which I guess is what mites are. Incidentally, if you want to really get creeped out, do some research about how many and what type of tiny parasites live on our skin and in eyelashes, skin pores, indeed every square milimeter of our exterior. And then how many are estimated to live inside our gut. They are almost all beneficial by the way. Still creepy.

[minnesotamodeler]

Must be some bug/worm which likes balsa!  I inherited a set of Genesis 46 wings which had gathered dust in a mates workshop for around 25 years.   Some worm had tracked along the balsa skins for about 12 inches and near 1/16" wide. .    The wings are in quite useable condition even though one has "postal damage" but repairable.   Maybe Bob Hunt wanted to export some of the US termites to OZ!

HH

That looks more like worm damage done to the live tree before it was harvested.  Probably shouldn't have been sold after ripping it revealed the tracks.  Or maybe as 2nds. 

[Dallas Hanna]

That looks more like worm damage done to the live tree before it was harvested.  Probably shouldn't have been sold after ripping it revealed the tracks.  Or maybe as 2nds. 

That little worm definitely hadn't had a chew at the timber when the wing was new from Bob at CSC.  Other than a crush crack in the skin about 3" long (across the grain) from postal mishandling, the skins were perfect back then.  I think the little critter got into it here over the years and had supper on it!   When we opened the foam cradles to have a look at the wings, there was dust from the chewed track between the skin and foam.

HH

[Richard Grogan]

That little worm definitely hadn't had a chew at the timber when the wing was new from Bob at CSC.  Other than a crush crack in the skin about 3" long (across the grain) from postal mishandling, the skins were perfect back then.  I think the little critter got into it here over the years and had supper on it!   When we opened the foam cradles to have a look at the wings, there was dust from the chewed track between the skin and foam.

HH

I suspect the worm/bug eggs were in the balsa sheeting when it was sliced, missing the blade. Then they eventually hatched,and when everything was just right,dug themselves outta there ...or else Bob has wormy foam!

[W.D. Roland]

I dont know about wormy foam.

I did have some ants haul off most of  the foam from a wing one time. Very light wing after that

Now if we can teach ants to follow instructions------

Wasp seem to like foam as well.


David

[LARRY RICE]

       The "worm" tracks are termite. the skin is so thin that they crawl along just eating away and leave dust behind. It is Termite season now and here at Black Hawk Models we are in a battle for our lives. Tremites fly in, drop ther wings and eat and mate. I spent all day yesterday clearing a small shed of balsa wood of termites and all day today doing the same to a medium shed of laser cut parts and tomorrow it will be the large shed of sheets, sticks and blocks. So far this year we have lost over $150.00 of wood and the termites dod the damage in just two days.
Larry

[George]

I wonder if termites consider balsa a light snack?     

George

[Steve Helmick]

Nils Norling had an infestation of these tiny critters in his new-ish shop. I think he gassed the place with some flea bombs and didn't have anymore problems. The thread might show up to a search on SSW. Nils had a Harley/car interface and was on the losing side, but has mostly recovered and I hope to see him out flying again soon. He fixed the busted Harley and got a third one, so he's got a nice assortment of scooters. Let's hope he can avoid teenage drivers with cell phones from now on...  Steve