It’s not just buildings and furniture that can suffer from woodworm infestation. Musical instruments can also fall prey to wood-boring beetles.

First, let’s look at what woodworm actually is. What we generally call ‘woodworm’ in fact refers to larvae of wood boring beetles such as the Common Furniture Beetle, the Deathwatch Beetle, the House Longhorn Beetle and the Powderpost Beetle. Their natural habitat is forest, but they will happily live inside houses. Sometimes they are unknowingly brought into a property within timber or old furniture, but they can also get into houses through open windows or on washing that has been drying outside.

The beetle’s lifecycle begins with tiny eggs, invisible to the naked eye, laid in crevices within wood. After 4 to 5 weeks, the larvae hatch and tunnel into the timber, remaining hidden unless the surface of the timber is broken to reveal what’s going on underneath. Larvae can remain in the adult timber for up to five years, feeding and growing larger, before pupating and turning into beetles, which tunnel through to the surface of the wood, creating the small round holes and visible dust, known as ‘frass’. At this stage, the beetle leaves the timber and may be seen emerging.

Musical instruments made from wood, such as violins, cellos and guitars, are vulnerable to woodworm. The beetles are attracted by humidity and will seek cracks in the instrument where they can safely lay their eggs. For this reason, a new or mass-produced instrument is unlikely to have a woodworm problem, However, if you are lucky enough to own an antique violin or other instrument, particularly one that’s had repair work done to it in the past, you should be alert to the problem of woodworm.

As we explained earlier when looking at the life cycle of the wood-boring beetle, once the eggs hatch, the larvae will burrow downwards into the wood of the instrument and eat their way up and down for up to five years – this can cause extensive structural damage.

But how can you tell whether a wooden instrument has woodworm? Look out for the tiny holes (like pricks on a dartboard) or for the sawdust-like frass. You may also see raised tunnels which show the route the larvae have taken as they eat through the instrument.

If left untreated, you’ll see crumbly edges as the wood deteriorates. You may even see adult beetles emerging from the instrument. The presence of holes or wood damage does not necessarily mean you have a live woodworm problem. However, if you spot frass or adult beetles (alive or dead), you certainly have a live infestation and should seek immediate treatment.

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Although we treat woodworm in properties, we are not qualified to treat woodworm in valuable musical instruments, so you should seek the advice of your luthier.

Interestingly, it’s thought that the wonderful, sonorous sound made by the violins produced by Antonio Stradivari could be as a result of woodworm treatment. A group of US researchers used scanning techniques to compare the chemical composition of the maple wood in the antique instruments with modern woods. They found that the wood of the Stradivarious violins had been brutally treated by chemicals, probably boiled in chemically treated water to protect the instrument from woodworm and fungi.