Question
I have been told that I have bore worms in my pine tree of about 30 years and have advised it be cut down. At what point is it too late to treat the tree and save it?  It has sporadic bore holes with reddish residue up the trunk of the tree.The needles at the top are starting to turn brown.What should we do?

Answer
If the needles on the ends of the branches are turning brown then the tree is dying. Pines will loose the needles naturally but the ones on the ends of the branches will stay green.  Bark beetles will girdle the tree not allowing water to get to the foliage and kill the tree. sounds like this is what you have. IF the needles are green on the ends of the branches it maybe a beetle called a turpentine beetle and in this case the lower trunk (to about 16 feet) can be sprayed with an insecticide called Onyx and this will kill the beetle in the bark. This will not help with other bark beetles.