[BCMA] silver fish

Fri Jun 14 23:47:23 PDT 2024

Dear Wendy,
Do you have a museum vacuum cleaner? It sucks but very gently, available
from museum suppliers, put a net on the end and brush the dust  into
the nozzle, most of  the frass ( that is pooh, detritus, dust and possibly
eggs etc )so dispose of the bag  to lose all the eggs  collected . I'd
check so no critter does a runner you could put double side tape around it
to create a cordon sanitaire , or can you do outside?

How cold does your freezer get ?  There are different tolerances per animal
and the colder you can get the shorter you can keep it in there , but if
you have no pressure to display or  on the freezer you can keep it there
for a while , so bag it and seal  to keep system moisture in , then freeze
for say a season, take it out but keep it in the bag  sealed  for a week
and then return it for a similar freezer stint , take it out . I would then
keep it in the bag for a while to see if the treatment has been effective .
The worst thing is a survivalist egg to hatch and run free to infect others.

  I hope to make it to Victoria during this treatment time, so I could see
it and see how we are doing . I'm phoenixconservation at gmail.com if you want
to discuss off list .
 Antio sas Paul Harrison ,(a currently UK based conservator with  a
Canadian wife )

On Fri, 14 Jun 2024 at 23:27, Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv <
listserv at lists.museum.bc.ca> wrote:

> Paul
> Thank you! I was wondering about freezing as there were no chemicals
> involved. We do have a walk-in that should accommodate it. When you say 2
> winters do they need thaw out between?
>
> Could you reply to <greekhpm at gmail.com> to continue the discussion?
>
> Wendy
> Greek Heritage Project Museum
> Victoria, BC
> <greekhpm at gmail.com>
>
> On Fri, Jun 14, 2024 at 11:58 AM Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv <
> listserv at lists.museum.bc.ca> wrote:
>
>> Yassou!! I'm a conservator with a particular interest in pest control ,
>> and work experience in Crete in the UK now but heading eventually to
>> Burnaby , first thing is to bag it so the silverfish do not spread . There
>> are silverfish traps that use borax , available from conservation suppliers
>> , one has a blue box,silverfish go in and the borax dries them out ..
>> You have several other options . Do you know if they are grey silverfish
>> ctenolepisma longicaudatum   in the UK they are being found in museums and
>> can survive tougher conditions  than our in UK traditional lep. sac.
>> silverfish , ( i need to learn my Canadian natural history)
>> silverfish can rough out tough conditions for a while , we are talking
>> months  we could have the box in a dry bag , with silica gel and make it
>> below 50% RH for a year , this can run with borax traps
>>
>> You can freeze it , in a bag if you have a freezer but you need a double
>> winter , I guess Canadian insects excel at this , they produce an anti
>> freeze to see them through the first (artificial)winter  then a week later
>> a  second  winter then don't have enough antifreeze to see them through
>>
>> You could heat it ,there are companies that do this , but some glues
>> might melt , the cheap way to do this is wrap in a black plastic bag  seal
>> and raise from the ground  on a minimal amount of points and leave in the
>> sun for a day or two as you are in Canada  , the black rises the heat in
>> there and the insects get sauna ed to death
>>
>> There is a way to remove to remove the oxygen , You need Ageless from
>> Mitsuibishi , you need the plastic special bag , metal tape and enough
>> Ageless , you might recognise from some food products , this sucks the
>> oxygen out into the iron product and the insects suffocate , leave for a
>> while as you need to suffocate all the stages of life . You need the
>> correct Ageless type
>>
>> This is a brief overview. I can discuss each point further for this and
>> further projects. I'm a Brit married to a Canuckess in Burnaby and will
>> join her later in the year , so can't do things at the moment  but we can
>> talk now.
>> Paul Harrison MSc FIIC
>>
>>
>> On Fri, 14 Jun 2024 at 00:41, Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv <
>> listserv at lists.museum.bc.ca> wrote:
>>
>>> We have a donated old wooden trunk that has passengers in the way of
>>> silverfish.
>>>
>>> Most of the chemicals advertised worry me as they may damage the fragile
>>> paper liner.
>>>
>>> Any suggestions gratefully accepted
>>>
>>> Wendy Smylitopoulos
>>> Curator
>>> Greek Heritage Project Museum
>>> 4648 Elk Lake Drive
>>> Victoria, BC, V8Z 1M1
>>> <greekhpm at gmail.com>
>>> 250 419-3151
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Listserv mailing list
>>> Listserv at lists.museum.bc.ca
>>> http://lists.museum.bc.ca/listinfo.cgi/listserv-museum.bc.ca
>>>
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