How to treat pine-cones?

Question

I'm going to the woods today to collect pine cones. I'd like to put them in a basket next to our fireplace. I've heard though that lots of insects nest in them. Is there any sure treatment as how to get rid of those unwanted house guests? Don't want hundreds of spiders crawling around in my living room. YIKES!

Answer 1

The answer given by Dances with Unicorns is what I would do, and afterward, I would also give them a nice coat of clear spray varnish (sold in most paint stores) to seal them, which will delay a re-infestation or prevent more bugs and spiders from taking up residence in them at a later time. Sealing them with the varnish may also possibly kill any remaining eggs or larvae the insecticide left behind.

Answer 2

I took an entomology class and we had to get the bugs from the pine cones for a lab project.

We cut the bottom off of a 2 liter bottle and inverted the bottle so that the pouring end was pointing down, placed the pouring end into a baby food jar filled with water, and put pine cones in the bottle and waited for a period of time (I think it was a week between classes but it may not have been necessary to wait so long). The idea was that the bugs went toward the moisture leaving the pine cones bug free.

Answer 3

Before you put them in your home, put them in a big plastic bag, spray a liberal amount of bug spray (the kind that works for spiders and 6-legged insects), and seal the bag. Leave it for a couple of days, then take the pine cones out and let them air out for a day or two to get rid of the smell. Be sure to put them where they can't get re-infested! Once that's done, you should be able to bring them into the house with no fear of creepy-crawlies hitching a ride.

Answer 4

You can just run them under some water to clean off any bugs. I have never had that problem. I just love pine cones in baskets!

Answer 5

I guess you could try putting them in the freezer to kill anything hiding in them.