On Friday, September 25, 2015 at 7:40:17 PM UTC-5, Dr. Deb wrote:
I have found quite a few piles of what sure looks like powder post beetle
barf.

Roy

I have used Timbor and it works, though you may have to retreat

http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/...ostbeetles.htm

Yep, Timbor is what you need. Here, it costs $11, 1 lb bag. Mix it well with water.... takes a while to disolve. Mix the amount for the area to be sprayed, but for $11, might as well mix the whole bag and wet everything in the garage, furniture, etc. Wet all areas of exposed wood, even in the interior of chest/cabinet carcasses, drawers. Might check the exterior walls and roof eaves, also, while you're inspecting, if there's exposed wood, there, though you said it's painted. The bugs avoid finished surfaces.

Life Cycle: The beetles (larvae) were in the wood during the winter and spring. Late spring/early summer they emerge from the wood, as adults, and fly off. The adults will return to the same wood, the same area, in the fall and lay more eggs, which mature/hatch and start the winter/spring stage of the life cycle, again.

The piles of dust (larvae excrement): The active bugs push the dust out the holes. For really active cases, you can sometimes hear the bugs inside the wood. Vibraton of any boards, furniture, etc. can shake out the dust, hence a false sign that active bugs are in the wood.

Spraying now is a good plan. I usually treat my lumber cache every spring and fall, coinciding with the emergence and return times. The Timbor will dry to a crystalline form, in and on the wood being sprayed. If you spray a high concentration mix, you'll see the tiny crystals, after the water dries, on surfaces.

Your Mom's furniture may not presently have active bugs, but this is the time of year they start returning. If you plan to keep any of your Mom's furniture, then once you treat and remove it from that location, the returning adults won't know you moved it, so you should be safe as for as that colony of bugs, that reinfection. *Do you have your own colony PPBs, at your location (LOL)?

For active bugs in upholstered pieces, the furniture can be sprayed, but takes a while to kill all the bugs, especially in areas hidden/covered by fabric, paddings, etc. Once the bugs have been eliminated, vacuum the upholstery. Otherwise, for immediate and thorough results, upholstered pieces are fumed.

For other bug concerns, I spray with 38-Plus, an insecticide containing permethrin. .... lots of bugs, ants, etc., here in the subtropics.

Sonny