Handling wood before burying it

There are quite a few large branches that I keep bypassing because they're infested, some with termites and some with ants. The ants here have awful bites, and I already struggle with them in parts of my garden.

I want to make a buried wood bed. Does it matter what I do with those branches? Can I simply bury them, or will I be inviting more problems since they're infested? Would it make much difference if I cut the branches smaller so I can soak them in water for awhile to reduce their bug population?

It's the middle of the night and I can't sleep, so I may be overthinking this...

I would put the infested sticks in the bottom of the hole.  This might at least discourage those guys.

I would use diatomaceous earth and/or boiling water on the ant infested ones.
The termite infested ones I would use as is.
They aren't biting you,  plus they are really good at breaking down wood.

Thanks for the advice! Looking at my notes the dry season started earlier than usual last year. So I soaked the wood in rainwater anyways, just in case it did that again.