I do hate me some pine beetles. I've probably lost a dozen big pines right behind my house to to em. I've ben cutting them down for the last month er so, starting with the easy and smaller trees. Yesterday was big boy day. I felled a 80' tall tree no prob, missed my mark by maybe two feet.

I use a come-a-long and cable to "pull" the tree towards where I want it to go. I attached cable maybe 15 feet off the ground on the biggest tree, a 34" er so, 100' tall tree. DEAD as all hail to the top. Notched it and made the felling cut. Damn tree fell against another live tree, hung a second, and the top broke out, maybe 20' of tree. I had moved 10 feet to the side as it started to fall...and the damn broke top flipped backerds right to me. I moved as I saw it coming and it hit maybe six feet from me. Tree hit three feet to left of my mark.

I did say I hate a pine beetle, didn't I????? Thank the Lord thats the last one for now.

I've seen dead pines with what looks to be maze type burrowing, is that was causes the damage

Had to have some family land clear cut to try and salvage what we could from the pines that hasn't been destroyed by them.. They are right up there with yellow jackets in my book.. Just plain evil insects..

Beetles rarely kill healthy trees. I'd make sure you relieve any remainder of any unnecessary stress.