[David G4EBT]

They’re ‘flight holes’ where - after the grubs spent maybe four years devouring the timber internally turning into ‘frass’, the fine dust that is their excrement - they pupated into adult beetles and bored their way out to carry on their brief life cycle to meet, mate, infest more timber then die.

Some may argue that ‘it’s better to be safe than sorry’, and will use ‘woodworm killer’ or other means, but unless the holes have clean white holes and signs of recent frass, they will have departed many decades ago. It would be a remarkable coincidence, having infested timber covered with so many flight holes, for those holes to have been so recent that there are still a few stragglers in there, which have yet to emerge. You can always put it in a clear plastic bags for a week or two to see if any beetles or frass emerges.

Unfortunately the wood isn’t really ‘wood’ any more - it has no structural integrity and could easily be snapped to reveal a cloud of dust.

The beetles look for timber with 15% or higher moisture content in which to lay their grubs, and may find those conditions in a damp shed, but not in a modern home.

Every good wish whatever you do with it Chris.