Hi, I wonder if I could pick your collective brains for help on a silverfish problem we have in one of our galleries.
We have a short section of carpet in the gallery in question which is infested with silverfish at all life stages (i.e. they are breeding there actively). During daytime hours there is no sign of them. However, at night they are having a right old party; I have a nice video which one of our security staff took during his night time rounds. It is not possible to walk across that carpet without hitting the silverfish, there are so many of them. Until recently I had not even included this gallery in the routine monitoring. Once I did, within a week one of the blunder traps was full. The displays in the gallery are geological (fossils and rocks), with many displays in cases; there is some fake vegetation which is made from plastic. The floor is raised wooden above a concrete base; there are no service pipes or ducts (water or air conditioning) underneath the raised floor, and none in the concrete floor. Hence there are no damp or wet areas, locally or elsewhere in this gallery. In fact, one of the usual problems in this gallery is low humidity. The silverfish are ONLY on that section of carpet. They are not found at all on the lino flooring either side of the carpeted section. The carpet is made from short pile nylon fibres. We do have functions in the museum but no food or drink is allowed in this gallery. In any case, if there was any sugary spillage on the carpet it would have had to have covered the entire carpet, as the silverfish appear to be distributed uniformly across the entire carpet (ca. 3 x 7 meters). I am not too concerned about the silverfish causing damage to the collections in the gallery; I regard this particular problem more of a nuisance. However, I am extremely puzzled as to what they are doing there, as there is neither an obvious source of water nor food. I would quite like to work out what they are doing there to avoid a similar problem in future. Any ideas anyone, please? Best wishes Christian Christian Baars PhD AMA Senior Preventive Conservator | National Museum Cardiff | Department of Collection Services | Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NP, UK Telephone: +44 (0)29 2057 3302 | E-mail: christian.ba...@museumwales.ac.uk<mailto:christian.ba...@museumwales.ac.uk> | Twitter: @NMWPrevCons | Blog: http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/blog/?cat=2484 YMWADIAD Mae pob neges ebost a anfonir i neu gan Amgueddfa Cymru yn cael ei sganio gan systemau diogelwch awtomatig er mwyn rheoli negeseuon digymell a dileu cynnwys amhriodol neu beryglus. Cafodd y neges hon ei sganio am firysau cyn ei hanfon, ond dylech hefyd fodloni'ch hun bod y neges, a phob atodiad ynddi, yn rhydd o firysau cyn ei defnyddio gan nad yw'r Amgueddfa'n derbyn cyfrifoldeb am unrhyw golled neu ddifrod o ganlyniad i agor y neges neu unrhyw atodiadau. Gall y neges hon ac unrhyw ffeiliau a atodir ynddi gynnwys gwybodaeth gyfrinachol a fwriadwyd ar gyfer y derbynnydd yn unig. Os ydych chi wedi derbyn y neges trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i ni a chofiwch ddileu'r neges. Safbwyntiau personol yr awdur yw'r safbwyntiau a fynegir yn y neges hon, ac nid ydynt o reidrwydd yn cynrychioli safbwyntiau'r Amgueddfa. Nid yw'r Amgueddfa'n atebol am unrhyw wallau, llygredd neu esgeulustod a allai godi wrth drosglwyddo'r neges hon, felly na ddibynnwch ar y cynnwys heb geisio cadarnhad ysgrifenedig yn gyntaf. DISCLAIMER Email to and from Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales is scanned by automated security systems to control unsolicited messages and eliminate inappropriate or dangerous content. This message was scanned for viruses before transmission, but you should also satisfy yourself that the message, and all attachments, are virus-free before use as the Museum accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage that might arise from opening the message or any attachments. This message and any files transmitted with it may contain confidential information intended only for the recipient. If you received it by mistake please inform us and delete the message. The views expressed in this message are the personal views of the author and may not necessarily represent those of the Museum. The Museum accepts no liability for any errors, corruption or omissions that might arise in transmission of this message, so please do not rely on the contents without seeking confirmation in writing. -- Scanned by FuseMail.
