[Strawbale]SB critters and how to get rid of them?

[chris newton]

I did a local search on Psocids, seems they are a bit of a problem in our
Australian grain industry. The following 2 sites give a some insight into
how these mites respond to the environment.
http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/fieldcrops/3937.html

This second article is not for the faint hearted - apparently  their
capacity to reproduce will one day make them the dominate race.
http://www.grdc.com.au/growers/gc/gc35/ground_cover.htm

Good luck
Chris Newton
www.newtonhouse.info



----- Original Message -----
From: "Chug." <chug at strawbale-building....uk>
To: <strawbale at amper....muni.cz>
Sent: Monday, May 10, 2004 8:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Strawbale]SB critters and how to get rid of them?


> Hi Andre,
>
> These sound like they could be Psocids, Psocids are harmless in small
> numbers and rarely cause damage by direct feeding.
>
> However, large number may cause damage to delicate materials such as books
> and fur.
>
> see
>
http://www.extension.umn.edu/projects/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/e611psocid.htm
> l
>
> Kester Wilkinson reported these pests in his Strawbale house, I think he
is
> on this list so may offer his advice/remedy,
> if not his email is info at thestrawhouse....uk
>
>
> Chug
> chug at strawbale-building....uk
> www.strawbale-building.co.uk/
> .
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "m.ep" <m.ep at laposte...>
> To: "strawbale" <strawbale at amper....muni.cz>
> Sent: Monday, May 10, 2004 10:00 AM
> Subject: [Strawbale]SB critters and how to get rid of them?
>
>
> Dear SB friends,
>
> Erica Sapir, an english lady that lives in France build her SB house last
> year but now has some uninvited guests. We don't yet know what they are
but
> she'd like to know and most of all, how to get rid of them. (Personally
I'd
> also like to know how they got there)
>
> Below you find her description, my questions and her replies.
> Any ideas?
>
> André
> La Maison en Paille
>
>
***************************************************************************
> ************************************
>
> Erica:
> .. and a straw bale house I did build,  with Jacques Gratiet,  and Jacques
> Bon, from Brittany both of them. I am living in it already from last
March,
> and doing the finishing touches (but it still needs a last coat on the
> exterior).
> It is a good and beautiful home. However, from about a month I have an
> invasion of tiny insects that make their home at the edges between the
> plastered walls and the tiled floor.... They produce, or come from, a sort
> of powdery brownish stuff, and then they become tiny white dots, hardly
> visible by the naked eye, and then, I suppose they become tiny insects
like
> a kind of lice...
> Have you ever met such a thing? do you have an idea of what it can be?
>
> What type of plasters (inside & outside)
> If lime is used, what type "hydraulique" et/ou "aérienne"?
> Erica: The plaster is "chaux hydraulique" and then "chaux aérienne" The
> second layer was finished in December, but inside there are three layers,
> finished in December as well, and the "beasts" are inside the house, not
> outside, as far as I can see., and they are not in places like the attic,
> where there is only one rough layer, or where there is a "window of truth"
> to show the straw....
>
> Were the bales very dry before stacking the walls?
> Erica: Yes, we got them in August, and there was no rain, all the time.
and
> they were stacked inside the house.
>
> Are the bales still dry (did you check by making a hole in the plaster?)
> Are there any left over bales? Do they have the same critters?
> Any other organic material used (in wall roof or other)
>  Erica: I didnt check if they are still dry, and the critters are only
> along the floor, inside.
> On the roof, I have mutton wool insulation, but there is no problem there.
>
> Can you sent me a picture (small file size or by post) of the critters
> Can you give a precise description
> How long after construction did they appear? What was the weather like?
> Do they keep on coming or was it only once that they came out.
> Erica: I sent a box full of "the critters" to a office of home hygiene,
but
> he does not yet have an answer...
> They appeared in March; actually, the theory of Jacques, is that they were
> organisms dormant in the straw, and they come out with the spring. He had
> some kind of moths, which disappeared after he wacoom cleaned...
> Mine come again and again, but maybe a little less now. I must confess,
> that in desperation, I sprayed them with some ant-poison. (yes I am
ashamed
> of myself). But there are still lots of them. They are tiny, like
> "puces"(Fleas), and some, or all, have wings. They dont bite, nor jump,
but
> they are surely hardy....and  the brownish  powdery stuff which comes with
> them, have a peculiar smell. It is a mystery; nobody seems to know what it
> is.
>
> Post and beam in the SB walls or only straw?
> Erica: The house is Post and beam, and we used "pin douglas" as wood.
>
> Well, thank you for your help. Maybe somebody in the list will have an
> idea????
>
> Kind greetings,
> Erica.
>
> Accédez au courrier électronique de La Poste : www.laposte.net ;
> 3615 LAPOSTENET (0,34?/mn) ; tél : 08 92 68 13 50 (0,34?/mn)
>
>
>
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