On Oct 8, 12:21 pm, steamer wrote:
... a firewood pile that's periodically infested with various
crawley vermin, which means that, before a log goes into the fireplace I
first pick it off the pile, then throw it onto the ground and watch the
little buggers scurry off

There's a feature of cold-blooded insect life that can be used to
your advantage here. They flee hot areas (above 130 F), or
die there. If you can put your wood into a solar kiln (just a box
with black sides and maybe a couple of white reflector panels),
and get it hot on a sunny day, the insects which are ambulatory
wil leave and the eggs (which can't leave) will never hatch.

The lumber industry is just as bothered by those six-leggers as
you could ever be. Not to mention the isopods and others...