Mesquite trees have boring insects - How to eliminate them ?

[Stormy]

My wood turning club was offered numerous mesquite trees that (if we don't harvest them) are going to be bulldozered and burnt to make way for a housing development. We have found that the mesquite - shortly after being felled and cut into logs is attacked by some type of wood-boring insect larvae - is there a "natural-way" to eliminate the wood borers so that the harvested wood can be recycled into something more useful than a BBQ pit? We donate the majority of our bowls to the local Food Banks where they auction them in a project called "Empty Bowls" that is designed to assist less fortunate people. Killing or eliminating these wood boring insects would allow a greater number of bowls to be turned - any help or ideas?

[Nadine]

Possibly by keeping the wood in a protected area, like a building. The bugs are there to clean up the dead wood. You can kill the bugs with the orange oil and water recipe, but I would not recommend using orange oil and water outside unless you add some Garrett juice or liquid seaweed or compost tea as a buffer.

Although it is not directly helpful to those who need bowls, it is helpful in that when the bugs consume then defecate the wood, the soil is improved, so it's not a total waste.

I did not know you could get rid of mesquite trees just by chopping them down. I wonder if after the foundation is poured some mesquite bushes don't crop up in someone's living room! :lol: