jcp@osiris.UUCP (Jody Patilla) (11/03/85)
Some time ago, I discovered that a tin cannister which formerly contained brown rice contained mostly weevils and alot less rice. I killed the weevils with boiling water and disposed of the whole mess, thinking that the rice (which had been sealed) must have been contaminated. Since then I have found weevils in the half the food on the shelf ! It doesn't seem to matter much whether the food is in boxes or tins. I have had to throw a lot out. I have also found the weevils happily devouring my lavender flower sachets (I thought they *repelled* insects!) and, worst of all, a bar of Aveeno oatmeal soap (unfortunately, I discovered this last while in the tub, when the hot water made all the larvae pop out of the soap). I have gone so far as to paint the shelves with No-Roach but I refuse to use any other pesticides or bomb the apartment. DOes anyone know of any other way to get rid of the critters ? I will be moving soon and don't want to take them with me. -- jcpatilla
wrf@ernie.BERKELEY.EDU (W. Randolph Franklin) (11/07/85)
I reduced the number of roaches in an apartment by 1) physically sealing as many holes as possible, e.g. where pipes for the sink come through the wall, and 2) using a spray that lasts heavily on areas that I wouldn't touch, such as the corner between the wall and the floor. When I moved to my own house I used an air spray in the boxes of kitchen stuff and papers such as books. It worked; our house is roach free. BTW the first time in my life that I saw a roach was in a Harvard U. dorm. Finally, I'm afraid of commercial exterminators. I know they don't kill the roaches but I think they might get me since they spray dishes with abandon. Wm. Randolph Franklin, UC Berkeley, Arpanet: wrf@ernie.Berkeley.EDU USPS: Computer Science Div., 543 Evans, University of California, Berkeley CA, 94720, USA 415-642-9955
slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) (11/07/85)
> Some time ago, I discovered that a tin cannister which formerly >contained brown rice contained mostly weevils and alot less rice. ... >DOes anyone >know of any other way to get rid of the critters ? I will >be moving soon and don't want to take them with me. >jcpatilla I had this problem at one time also. It popped up suddenly after a move, and I believe that they had been lurking in that house waiting for me. Amityville Horror time. I also hated to use lots of chemicals. I took two lines of attack: 1. Store every possible source of food in absolutely airtight containers (glass jars) immediately on bringing it into the house. 2. Use a no-pest strip. The reasoning behind this is that the adult form of the weevils (at least the type I had) was a very small (~1/4 inch long) moth. The moth seemed to be able to slip easily into most packaging. Screw-top glass jars were fairly immune. Coffee cans sometimes worked--but not always. Some things can be put in the fridge or freezer. The no-pest strip seemed useless against the weevils themselves--but produced a lot of dead moths, hopefully before they could breed (the dirty minded little things!) It took several years and a couple of moves to completely get rid of them. The reason it took so long was that they probably had lots of places to hide where I didn't think to look. (That oatmeal soap is a good example!) And then I'd get lazy and leave something out. I suspect that the eggs took a long time to hatch, too. I still tend to box stuff up real tight. Your move may actually help. Just be sure to inspect everything you move with you. You might think of throwing out all edibles when you move and starting over. Hope that helps. -- Sue Brezden ihnp4!drutx!slb ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I march to the beat of a different drummer, whose identity, location, and musical ability are as yet unknown. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~