I have just started learning about hickory nuts. The house I bought has many hickory trees and I'm sure they are different species b/c of the nuts I am finding. I have not yet learned to differentiate between the bark - can someone explain help me with that? Anyway, I have seen little white worms that have drilled their way out of the nuts and I'm not sure if they are weevils or hickory bark beetles? I don't have a picture of one yet but probably will by this afternoon. Then, yesterday when pulling the husks off, several of the nuts had these neon orange micro worms. They are as thin as a strand of hair. They are between the husk and the nut shell. What are they??

Terri,
The really small worms won't hurt anything, but the white wormy maggots on the inside of the nut will eat the entire nut before it drills
it's way out of the shell. We normally put the nuts in the oven immediately after the nuts fall if we intend to use them to kill them before
they destroy the nutmeat. There are places that only have a small number of worms in their nuts, but we have them in most.

Pignut Hickory is a very small nut, and very bitter. Shagbark and Shellbark Hickory are the best for nuts. Shagbark has bark that will
peel off in long strips, and usually have a very large nut. In the photo, this one looks more like a Shellbark. Pignut will have a really
long pointed tip at the end of a nut the size of a dime.

Derryl thanks so much for your help. I am bewildered by the neon orange things. I believe you are right that these are shellbark. Each one weighs in at approx .06oz. I am making hickory pie and it has a wonderful woodsy flavor that pecan pie does not have.

BTW...thank you also for the milkweed. I already have several plants growing from the roots you sent and tons of seeds! What type of milkweed did you say this is?

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather! Terri