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Ed Gallop

Carpet Beetles... Enemy to Tiers.

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I too have never seen a carpet beetle. I know they stay and feed in the dark and that may be why. I just assumed that is what ate my feathers because I saw a couple small black beetle-like empty shells. Regardless, I need to treat for both. I keep bees and there are mites, hive beetles, and wax moths that can destroy hives. Treatments are all different but nothing seems to kill the beetles without killing bees. You can't use chemicals for them.

 

I've never heard of dryer sheets as a repellant but have used them to eliminate static clinging in plastic boxes.

 

Bugsy... My wife gardens and bring in cut flowers. I never though it was a source.

 

Mikechell... I use fly paper in my barn to catch horse flies and such. That sounds like the No-Pest-Strips you refer to. It only catches and hold flying insects. Some have sweetner to attract flies but no insecticide.

 

Information in threads like this should alarm tiers of the possible insect damage of their materials. Many don't take it serious until they are surprised from an attack, as I was nearly 40 years ago. I treated with moth balls ever since but let it slip last year and I was quickly reminded of the potential damage.

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Yes only use FOOD grade DE and even then try not to deliberately breath it in as silica and lungs dont go well together long term. But I used mine in hen nest boxes and coop and chickens arent known for their respiritory robustness and they were always fine.

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Enoz, Morh Ice Crystals. In the section with moth balls. This stuff does kill carpet beetles and eggs, but the material has to be treated in an air tight container. Regular moth balls do not protect against carpet beetles at all.

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I, too, use Enoz Moth crystals. They are made of paradichlorobenzene not naptha like moth balls. "Para" is pretty effective at keeping bugs at bay. Yeah it smells up the place, but it's better than losing your materials. A lot of the old-time fly tyers used para too; Mary Dette still does I think. She's the one who told me about how effective it was. That was years ago though.

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attachicon.gifnopest.png not a fly strip, claims no smell, controled release.

 

There was a thread on this in January http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=84764&hl=%20pest%20%20strip

 

I have been using No Pest Strips for years, but I'm going to stop. I hate the smell of moth crystals, so No Pest Strips seemed like a better alternative. I cut up the strips and put a piece in each fur or feathers bin.

This is definitely against the recommended safe practice. After reading up on No Pest Strips yesterday, here are the latest safe handling rules.

  • Never touch the strips with bare skin, the stuff is carcinogenic and can transfer through contact
  • Don't cut the strips
  • Don't use them in occupied rooms. There meant for sheds and attics. No Pest Strips shouldn't really be used in your tying room

I can stop touching them and cutting them, but I sit near my tying materials for many hours a day. I don't see a practical way to move my tying materials to another room. I'm sad as this has worked for me for over 10 years.

If anyone is interested, No Pest Strips use Dichlorvos (2,2-dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate) as the active incredient.

Here's the SDS:

For use in unoccupied areas; not for use in homes except garages, attics, crawl spaces, and sheds occupied by people for less than 4 hours per day.

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Thanks Bruce, looks like I'll be staying with the mothballs, my wife already has breathing issues and the mothballs are less of a problem for her compared to the crystals, and they are used in storage bins. After your post I am less willing to try the pest strips for both of our health. Does DE work in storage containers?

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You can get high grade DE from a nursery.

 

If you know you have an infestation why wouldn't you pull the carpet in the tying room?

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If I had carpet beetles, I would get an exterminating company to blow the stuff into the carpet fibers. That way it's not floating around in the air and will get down to where it can do some good.

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I have never seen a carpet beetle but treated for them as well as moths. A few years ago I had weeklong visitors that had 2 dogs. As a result, our indoor dog had fleas. We had the house, and yard surrounding where the dogs were treated for fleas. My material damage was minimal but I sort of panicked because decades ago I was hit hard and had missed treating with moth balls for a couple years. It may have been moth damage, not carpet beetles. I am treating again, faithfully, as I have the last 30+ years. The help of this thread has educated me to a better method than the stinky moth balls. Thanks to all.

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Ed I do not have carpet and suspect mothes also what method are you considering instead of moth balls?

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this again.....

 

if you live in a house or building in a temperate to tropical climate, you have "carpet beetles" in your house. You may go you entire life without seeing one, mainly because you don't know what you're looking at, but they are there. The adults do fly. They are small. They can live in synthetic carpets because after a short time of filthy humans living on the carpets, the carpets become full of organic matter which they eat- particles of leaves and pollen and stuff dragged in on the bottoms of your feet, food particles even if you don't eat above the carpet, dead skin particles, shed hairs from people's bodies and heads, etc.

 

If you have animals even filthier than humans, dogs, cats, whatever, then you have even more scavenging arthropods living in your home.

 

It's just the way it is. IF they establish a beach head in your materials, chemical warfare is the only way to 100% effectively annihilate them.

 

Lots of discussions on this board about it, and if you want the truth, do some searches for "museum pests". Priceless insect, bird, and mammal collections must be protected, and there are numerous studies showing conclusively what works and what does not work. You can protect your expensive dead animal parts with 21st century technology, or you can hope and dream with witch-doctor level oil and dirt and magic spells.

 

I have butterfly and moth collections which I have collected over the last 40 years, since I was a kid. Spent God-knows how much time in the field collecting them in all the places I've been, things which if I had to replace would quite literally be impossible. Worth absolutely zero dollars, but the intrinsic worth is incalculable. All the best hackles and feathers in the world are just dollar signs in comparison. The same scavenging pests which eat our fly materials eat and destroy dead insect collections. These are not protected by diatoms, cedar chips, and prayers. They are protected by the wonders of modern chemistry.

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Ed I do not have carpet and suspect mothes also what method are you considering instead of moth balls?

I have use cardboard storage drawer cabinets similar to and like the one pictured for many years. Most have 12" x 12" drawers with 4 in each cabinet. I have well over 50 of them for more than 200 drawers, but I was in business and stored a lot of materials. I'm slowly getting rid of them by selling left over merchandise. They cost about $15 to $20 each for the good sturdy ones. The less sturdy ones that dollar stores sell was more than half that price but the knobs come off with heavy items like beads. They are great for feathers and fur though. I label every drawer with it's content.

 

I bought some large 4 to 6 mil sealable 16" x 16" plastic bags from Uline that will hold everything in each storage drawer.

 

I have plenty of smaller bags I used in my fly shop for individual items. I'm putting them in the new larger bags in each drawer. I used to drop in or replace dried up moth ball in each drawer but the odor was quite strong. Now I used a plastic bag with a couple holes punched through and put moth balls in them, one bag in each drawer. The odor is hardly noticeable and I never open to expose it until the ball shrinks and need replaced. I'll use less balls this way. I could even keep my room door open when I was tying and not smell up the den. My expensive vulnerable materials were kept in drawers that filled up the bedroom closet with a solid door (not louvered). .I used loose moth balls in drawers for many years. Don't know why I didn't think of this method before.

 

I have carpet in my tying room (used to be a 5th bedroom) but have a large heavy plastic thing (bought at office supply store) used under the office chair. Helps when you drop things, especially hooks.

 

I recently bought food grade diatomaceous earth (10 lbs for $20 at Amazon) and sprinkled it on the carpet. It goes a long way so will likely use it in other rooms as well, just to be safe. I plan to leave it there for a couple weeks and then beat it in deep using my rotating vacuum with the suction off. In a few weeks I'll vacuum properly. That is what I do.

 

Oh... For long items, such as full size peacock and pheasant feathers, I put in roll bags cut to length and then sealed with a sealer (left over from my business. You don't need an expensive sealer though. I sometimes fold the ends over a couple times and use a plastic spring clamp normally used on potato chip bags (get them at grocery stores). Obviously no reason to seal hooks and beads, that bugs don't eat, but I use bags or clear plastic boxes to keep them organized.

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If you know you have an infestation why wouldn't you pull the carpet in the tying room?

Because Carpet beetles only forage on dander, and small decaying particles. I don't care how clean you think your place is (unless you have a way to live under pressure or vacuum) you will have some kind of similar feeding insect at sizes so small you won't see. A couple of years ago i started having a crazy fit itching thing going on. There was nothing to see. I picked up something they called fungus fleas...They are more of an ant from what i saw in the slides...but what do i know. Even at 40x they just look like a spot, you have to go 100x + to see any features.

That was when i added boric acid my DE scrub. The 2 combined will kill most small pests. But you have to apply it so it does not get airborne. Shake a little of both over an area. Work it very well with a STIFF broom, then light vacuum. You should do this after a heavy vacuum and/or shampoo. If you shampoo make certain you wait several days (or more) untill totally dry. One more heavy vacuum then apply.

If you do it this way very little of the DE or boric acid ever becomes airborne. In those limited amounts they don't have any known health risks. I am in year 6 of fighting lung cancer...they actually had me make a "shake" that had DE in it to help clean me out after radiation. I found out that the slurry they had he drink to help keep my throat open had boric acid in it in a high concentration.

The bird cage spray is formulated for living bird safety...it works well on their feathers. Why wouldn't you at least try looking it up on the net for verification? I think it is your best option when mixed with flea collar sections...Yes you can cut them into smaller pieces but they won't last quite as long(you lose about 20%).

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