Wood boring beetles and harps

[YJ Lin]

Hello all,

I am currently experiencing a powderpost beetle problem in some of my house furniture. I’m just curious if anyone had their harps attacked by the powderpost beetle? I would be totally heartbroken if mine did! My harp is not yet under attack but the room it is in has furniture that is already damaged by it. I wonder if there is anyway I can prevent that problem? I’ve used bug spray which works sometimes but it does not penetrate wood and solve the problem at its root and I can’t bear to use it on my harp. I’ve contacted Lyon and Healy quite some time ago regarding this but they have not got back to me. I would be grateful if someone could provide some information. Thank you!

[tony-morosco]

Honestly, I would be more worried about my house. Call an exterminator before it is too late. Trust me,

[YJ Lin]

That was fast! Alright, I’ll try to convince my father to get it done professionally. He always prefers to solve problems in the house DIY. But I’m so worried about the harp because it’s really new, if it gets attacked at all I would feel great pain many times the harp suffered.

[shannon-schumann]

I don’t know where you live, but if you live in the United States, your county extension office might have some very good advice. Even if you dad decides not to call an exterminator, there might be things you can do to protect the harp. Good luck – you are definitely in my thoughts!

[carl-swanson]

You need to get the whole house professionally fumigated and as fast as possible. Where do you live?

[YJ Lin]

Actually I live in Singapore, which is very, very humid (70-90%) and hot. (Is that bad for L&H harp???) I’ve read that the way to get rid of powderpost beetles is not by fumigation, but by application of toxic chemicals which can penetrate wood to kill eggs and larvae altogether. I’m wondering if the wood used by L&H to make the harp is prone to attack by powderpost beetles? I’m assuming that they are anobiid powderpost beetles (the frass they leave behind is gritty), and they attack both hardwoods and softwoods with high moisture level. My mum told me not to worry because L&H uses a different kind of wood but of course for the harp I don’t want to take chances until its too late. Even then, I can’t bear to apply toxic chemicals to the harp…

[mahtab mosavibarab]

Hello YJ

I live in north Germany which is really humid, of course not as humid as Singapore bu still humid, I use dehumidifier to keep the room’s humidity normal.

http://www.uhu.de/en/products/moisture-absorbers.html

But your mum is right any way the wood boring beetles won’t attack wood furniture unless they are really old.

[YJ Lin]

Hi! Thanks for the advice! I did want a dehumidifier, unfortunately the room it is placed cannot be closed completely so it would be wasteful to buy one anyway. The humidity is fairly constant even though its high. Does anyone have an idea what would happen if it is kept in high humidity? The room is dry (liquid-wise). It seems from the forum here most harpists face the opposite problem.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Get that furniture out of that room, or move your harp, pronto. And get professional help, or a new house!

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