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.
