Answers

Lead poisoning!

Sounds like Powder Post Beetle. It will have to be stripped and treated with borate.

Call Timeless Wood Care Products at 800-564-2987 and order a Bee Kit.

The other alternative is to remove all the finish back to bare wood and apply a liberal application of Shell Guard borate treatment from Perma Chink.

You can fill them now with Energy Seal.

Sanding, but it will probably not take away the sun spots.

There are several products that you can at your local garden center that are suppose to stop them. Try live traping them and moving them away.

The black ants are around because there is wet, rotten wood. The bore holes are probably Powder Post Beetles. Best way to get rid of them is have a borate applied. They are probably OK, but you should have a structural engineer look at those beams.

Hard to say without seeing it. You should have a structural engineer look at it if you are using it for a public building.

They probably are not Lady Bugs, but rather Asian Beetles. They love to eat wood fiber. They will not drill holes and they do not hurt your house. They are hard to control and go thru cycles of bad years. Try calling a local exterminator for more help.