That sounds good. Have you found live insects or only dead ones? Also, the pin holes could very well be from insects that lived in the live wood. Have you found any frass or sawdust that would indicate an active wood boring beetle infestation? The reason I am asking is that if this is either an old infestation (already dead) and there are only a range of dead insects, most or all of which are incidentals, the most straightforward, most cost effective and least invasive treatment is to remove all insect debris and then monitor to see if there is anything that is active. If it is not an active infestation, it is best not to go to great lengths to treat – monitor and see if there is anything there before you treat!
Good luck! Gretchen From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Ariana Webber Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2019 9:35 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [pestlist] Boractin Treatment on Museum Object We identified the book lice but there are casings from something else (we are awaiting an id on that). The small pin hole damage was probably not caused by book lice then, but some other wood boring insect? Would the boractin treatment take care of those? I believe our IPM specialist said it would treat any insect with an exoskeleton. Our humidity is pretty museum standard - around 45%, though there might have been humidity problems where the work was stored before it came to us. Ideally we treat the works in house while they remain on view. They are very large and it is only a temporary exhibition (month and a half left on view) so we don't want to take them off view for treatment if we can avoid it. So heat and anoxic treatment are not options at the moment. It is possible we could use the boractin treatment as a stop gap measure and then use a heat treatment once the show closes... We do have permission from the lender to use Boractin, but I wanted to do a little more research before we actually proceeded. Supposedly no trace will be left on the trees, but I was worried about any longer term effects. It wasn't a treatment I had seen used on museum objects before. Best, Ariana On Wed, Nov 13, 2019 at 5:40 PM Anderson, Gretchen <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Have you identified the bugs you are finding? Psocids (Book lice) are mold eaters – so this suggests that your humidity is high enough to support a nascent mold growth. They will not damage the wood and will go away if you increase cleaning and reduce RH. From the sound of it the sculptures are perfect for harboring all sorts of critters, but are these museum pests that will damage collections? You may have an infestation of incidentals. That is why I am asking about identifications. Have you seen any evidence of powderpost or other wood boring beetles? Heat would be the easiest and quickest treatment. Anoxic will take longer. In any case, you should contact the artist (or owner) for permission as to the treatment you propose. Gretchen Anderson Gretchen Anderson Conservator Carnegie Museum of Natural History 5800 Baum Blvd. Pittsburgh, PA 15213 [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> (412)665-2607 From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> On Behalf Of Voron, Joel Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2019 3:52 PM To: Ariana Webber <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Cc: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [pestlist] Boractin Treatment on Museum Object If you can’t use anoxia I would see if you can get permission from the artist to use boracare which is a mild boric acid solution that uses a form of glycol to transport the boric acid into the cells of the timber. This product is used on construction and log homes. Mixed 3 parts water to one part boracare. Drys clear. Dusting cracks may miss powder post beetles. JTV Joel Voron Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Conservation Dept. Integrated Pest Management Office 757-220-7080<tel:757-220-7080> Cell 757-634-1175<tel:757-634-1175> E-Mail [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> On Nov 13, 2019, at 2:34 PM, Ariana Webber <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Hi All! I have a question about book lice and the treatment boractin that I was hoping to pose to the group. We have a set of works that were lent to our museum that it became clear are infested. The works are trees that have been partially carved. So part of the work is the raw outside of a tree, moss still attached in some instances. Supposedly they were heat treated in the past, but it is clear that either didn't work or they have been reinfested at some point. We have seen the presence of book lice and possibly some moths. I found an additional casing from a yet un-identified insect this morning. One problem is that the trees are very large and need to remain on view for this exhibition if possible. We have consulted an IPM specialist who recommends treating the trees with boractin dust. I have not heard of this treatment used on museum objects before and was hoping to get a little insight from the community. Our IPM specialist says that the boractin will leave no trace on the trees and only be inserted into the cracks and crevices using a bulb duster. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Should I be concerned about any long term effects of using it on the trees? Thanks so much for your help, Ariana -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Museumpests" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]%3cmailto:[email protected]>>. 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