Termites, Woodwormor something else??

[CeeJay]

For the past few years I have noticed a small patch of sawdust like material on the floor directly under a main exposed beam in our lounge which is directly under the roof, appearing at this time of year.

Obviously this did not get there on its own, I have inspected the timber, which could be oak and very old, but have not found any serious infestation holes, but rather the sawdust appears under natural splits in the wood.

How can I tell what creature is causing this and what would be the best form of treatment?

I have read of previous postings, mainly from papapacha, which were useful, but am really no further forward.

[just john]

Whatever it is, the simplest thing is to treat it simply with something for the worst case scenerio, I have been researching efficacy of brands of various insecticides for the control of Cryptotermes brevis and this is the only thing I've found worth repeating.

XYLOPHENE was evidently least repellent and thus least avoidable and induced the highest mortality
among termites introduced on the untreated side. ;

 from the Universidade dos Açores http://www.azoresbioportal.angra.uac.pt/files/publicacoes_Myles%20et%20al._b.pdf

Key paragraph is as follows,

Laboratory tests and some structural trials were conducted on six insecticide
products against the termite, Cryptotermes brevis. The six main
products included were XYLOPHENE, TERMINATE, TERMIDOR, XT-2000,
WOCOSEN, and BOROWOOD. Contact and vapor test were conducted with
termites on filter paper in Petri dishes. Diffusion and repellency tests were conducted
on treated wood blocks. Criteria called “escapability” and “avoidability” were tested in a
five-chambered wood block All of the six products except BOROWOOD killed 100% of
the termites within 24 hours in the contact test. In the vapor tests the products XT-2000
produced the highest mortality. In the diffusion test TERMIDOR produced the highest
mortality. In the repellency tests TERMINATE and XYLOPHENE both induced high
mortality even among those termites released on the untreated side of the wood block.
In the five chambered tests complete or nearly complete mortality occurred on the
treated side within 24 hours for all but BOROWOOD so it appeared that none of the
products was escapable. However the products varied markedly in avoidability as
reflected by delayed mortality among termites introduced on the untreated side. XT-
2000 exhibited high repellency and very high avoidability by termites on the untreated
side. In contrast TERMIDOR, XYLOPHENE, TERMINATE and WOCOSEN all exhibited
less repellency and therefore less avoidability, eventually leading to a gradual increase
in delayed mortality. In both the repellency test and the five chamber test XYLOPHENE
was evidently least repellent and thus least avoidable and induced the highest mortality
among termites introduced on the untreated side. Field trials with XT-2000 resulted in
an 82% reduction in pellet production after eight months.

[CeeJay]

just john

Thanks for that very comprehensive reply, my head is still reeling, I think I'm right therefore in opting for XYLOPHENE, whatever the little blighters are!!

[crossy67]

Nice reply there John.  We need to talk treatment when you're over this way again. 

I have spent a week in the cellar replacing the joists on the side of the room with the sofas in, by far the worst side.  I have jacked all the internal walls up to remove corrosion on the bottom of the I beams where they sit on their stone pads and have managed to drop the beam by 10mm back to somewhere near it's original position and installed some DPC.  Now I have a few cracked walls but the floor is much more even and I have several large boxes of Polyfilla :-) 

The woodworm infestation is shocking to say the least, some of the floorboards are well eaten but being 1" thick oak they are stil strong enough so long as I put a halt to the munching they will be good.