Fellow listservers, I sent the following message about bugs in my house museum to the museumpest listserv, but wanted to broaden my pool of responses. I will appreciate any responses and apologize for duplicate emails!
Hayley Chambers On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 9:23 AM, <bugma...@aol.com> wrote: > In response to removal of boxelder trees. Boxelder bugs will not only feed > on the seed pods of female boxelder trees, they will also feed on maple tree > seed pods. They can fly long distances and therefore removal of female > boxelder trees may or may not solve the problem. > > In the Midwest, because the land is so flat, many of the river systems flow > slowly and have large floodplains. These situations are ideal for boxelder > trees, which favor semi-wet areas. The boxelder bugs actually began their > invasion of the U.S. in the Chicago area. It took them almost 20 years to > get over the Appalachains and we now have them as a problem on the East > Coast. As natural predators and diseases take their toll, over the years > they will become much less a nuisance. > > We're seeing the same kind of population explosion now with the brown > marmorated stink bug, which got its start in the Allentown, PA area and is > rapidly moving into new territories. > > Tom Parker > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Storch, Paul <paul.sto...@mnhs.org> > To: 'pestlist@museumpests.net' <pestlist@museumpests.net> > Sent: Wed, Oct 6, 2010 10:22 am > Subject: RE: [pestlist] invasion of bugs at house museum > > I’m responsible for overseeing the IPM vendor contract and in-house > program at our state-wide network of historic sites. We also have historic > houses and buildings that are subjected to the same types of pest loads that > you describe. > I agree with the previous responses about structural exclusion and > trapping. Those are two very essential components of any effective IPM > plan. It sounds like you have the continuous monitoring in place with the > pest log. The suggestions will work over time. > > Two questions that you didn’t address: do you have a strict cleaning (you > did mention vacuuming the bugs regularly, and you’ll still have to do that) > and food policy inside the house? That’s important to reduce food sources > for insects that might be attracted to food residues, and for rodents. > > Secondly, I’ve inferred from your description of the problem that there > might be vegetation growing close to the house. I looked at the image of > the front of the house on your website, and the landscaping appears to be > correct for the period on the street side. It looks like there might be > plants close to the walls around the back. We had severe box elder > invasions in one of our historic homes until we removed the box elders > growing close to the house. The PCO should have made some comments about > vegetation, if it’s indeed a factor. > > Paul S. Storch > Project Specialist II/Collections Liaison > Historic Sites and Museums > B-124.2 > Minnesota Historical Society > 345 Kellogg Blvd. West > St. Paul, MN 55116 > (651) 259-3257 > paul.sto...@mnhs.org > > Visit Historic Sites! <http://www.mnhs.org/visit/> > www.mnhs.org > > > > > > > *From:* pestlist-ow...@museumpests.net [ > mailto:pestlist-ow...@museumpests.net <pestlist-ow...@museumpests.net?>] *On > Behalf Of *bugma...@aol.com > *Sent:* Tuesday, October 05, 2010 6:47 PM > *To:* pestlist@museumpests.net > *Subject:* Re: [pestlist] invasion of bugs at house museum > > The insect invasion you describe happens every fall when insects seek out > shelter for the winter. Your idea of a black light in the attic is a good > one. Get a supply of glueboards from Atlantic Paste & Glue Company of > Brooklyn, NY. Any firm which supplies the pest control industry will have > them in stock. Surround the black light with glueboards and put the thing > on a timer so it will come on at about 4PM and go off at night. Flies > usually rest at night. Other than sealing your building as tightly as you > can, there's not much you can do about the Autumn invaders. > > A thorough glueboard program throughout the facility is a must in > addition to the attic situation. > > Thomas A. Parker, PhD > Pest Control Services, Inc. > www.museumpestcontrol.com > > -----Original Message----- > From: Hayley Chambers <hay...@theadamsdeadwood.org> > To: pestlist@museumpests.net > Sent: Tue, Oct 5, 2010 5:52 pm > Subject: [pestlist] invasion of bugs at house museum > Hello folks, > > I am the new Curator of a house museum in South Dakota that has been > overrun with insects, primarily cluster/wood flies, hornets, box elder bugs, > and pine leaf beetles (stink bugs). We are experiencing warm autumn weather > here and the seasonal pests have been thriving in the attic and throughout > the warmer parts of the house. This is a giant concern asthetically (try > giving a tour of the house without seeing or hearing the bugs fly around!), > health-wise (no one has been stung by a hornet...yet), and of course for the > artifacts (flies are getting mashed into floors, leaving debris, and may be > a food source for larder beetles). We don't have an IPM in place, > unfortunately it did not receive board approval. Hopefully, with renewed > energy on my part, we can get something in place. > > From my understanding, the flies in the house have been an on-going issue > since it was converted into a museum ten years ago. Unfortunately, most of > what I know about the pest problem is institutional mythology and very > little has been recorded. What I do know is that until recently treatment > has been superficial- mostly vacuuming when necessary and semi-annual > pesticide sprays. The house was sprayed in the spring and the fall until > 2008 because of budget cuts. Now the house receives a treatment (spraying > around the foundation and inside around base boards and windows) in the > fall, though it was not done last year because of early snow fall. Spraying > period is something I would like to eliminate. Unfortunately, we simply > can't afford expensive fly catchers. Earlier this year, our facilities > manager fabricated our own version of a fly catcher for our attic- a blue > light mounted on wood with removable sticky fly strips. While these do > appear to be attracting flies, we don't have an adequate way to collect them > so they form piles of dead flies, which is just plain gross. > > I created a Pest Management Log to start keeping track of what kinds of > insects we are finding, how many, where, and when. I have also met with our > pest elimination specialist, who has sprayed at the house and our sister > museum for years. We went around the house to identify routes of entry, but > I would also like to know what is allowing them to continue to live and > breed in the house. The treatment of an active pest infestation without > understanding the cause of the problem is of limited value in the long run. > My goal is to be proactive and address these problems for a longer-term > solution than simply vacuuming up the bugs once, twice, three times a day. > > I know that my situation is not unique. Bugs are a problem wherever you > go, especially in older buildings. I am writing to those of you out there > that may have experienced something similar and are willing to share > (horror) stories. I also want to know what resources are available that are > geared specifically towards museum pests (aside from museumpests.net, of > course). Also, we are on the National Register, so what are we allowed to do > then? And what about the more unusual pests- box elder and stink bugs- how > harmful are they to museum collections aside from leaving a residue? Are > there "acceptable" levels for these pests to be in the House? Lots of > questions, but any response will be helpful. Thanks for your time! > > Hayley Chambers > > -- > Hayley Chambers > Historic Adams House Curator > Adams Museum & House > 22 Van Buren Avenue > Deadwood, SD 57732 > 605/578-3724 > hay...@theadamsdeadwood.org > http://www.adamsmuseumandhouse.org/ > > -- Hayley Chambers Historic Adams House Curator Adams Museum & House 22 Van Buren Avenue Deadwood, SD 57732 605/578-3724 hay...@theadamsdeadwood.org http://www.adamsmuseumandhouse.org/
