Not sure what the deal is with the wood being finished. ????
Hubby and I brought back a couple of decorative (finished) wooden Red Stripe beer mugs one year. Set them on a stereo speaker at home and forgot about them. Then one day I notice this fine powdery dust at the base of one of them. When I inspected the mug closely, I could see tiny little bore holes. Something was eating it's way OUT of the mug. AHHHHHHHHH I freaked out - I wanted to move!!! lol I figured that our apartment was now infested with some termite type creature. We burned the mugs and luckily nothing more happened.