termites on apple sticks

[<3chinbaby]

Hi,
Around this time of the year I go to an apple orchard an hour away from me to pick up apple sticks that they leave out once they've pruned. This orchard only carries organic non sprayed organic apple trees. I took them home and have had them sitting in the garage for one week. Haven't prepared them yet.

Now, I noticed termites on the sticks.

Normally, I do the whole, scrubbing, boiling for 45 minutes and baking for at least 5 hours (for skinny sticks) up to 9 hours for larger ones.

Do I need to worry about the termites if I'm using the above process?

 

[Riven]

I would be concerned about a couple things, including your house... if they didn't have termites when you brought them home, but do now, you have a severe termite issue that needs to be treated immediately. I personally would not use those sticks. Termites get inside the wood and have voided and defecated on the wood, if you knew something crapped on your food would you want to still eat it although it was cooked? I would error on the side of caution, and get your property treated for termites before they do any more damage.