Question
Hi,

We have recently purchased a 57 year old house with 5 Live Oaks that seem to be about that age too.  About a month ago we had them trimmed as the house had been empty for 3 years.  The person doing the trimming told us that the trees were infested with "Carpenter Ants and wood borers" he prescribed a treatment for our 3 front trees and (cinder block)house at an estimate of 600.00 dollars. My question is, how concerned should we be about this since we do live in a hurricane prone area?  Also, are there any products that we could apply to the trees ourselves to deal with these pests?  We have sprinkled the yard with a pesticide for carpenter ants and it seems to have killed them....but I don't even know what a wood borer is or looks like or what signs of damage to look for in the tree.  Needles to say, we LOVE those trees and want to keep them healthy.

In advance I thank you for your time.

Answer
The signs of borers would be patches of dark bark or moist patches on the trunk. This would be where the insect has entered the trunk. Open wounds with decay fungi are not usually the same a as borer. Carpenter ants usually enter where the decay has started. But your control measures seem to have taken care of the ants. The borers can  be controlled with the use of an insecticide called Merit. Spray the trunk where there are signs of attack or the wounds. Check with your local nursery for Merit. The insecticide will be absorbed by the bark and kill the insects under the bark. Borer damage is usually a sign of the tree being under stress. I would fertilize the tree with 10-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of 1 lb per inch of trunk diameter scattered around the tree and watered in good. Do this now and again in the Fall.