KampKrug

The following post is reprinted with permission from my friend Alden who lives in the Northeast but has roots in Hawaii. (You can read his travel blog at www.azecha.com – he provides great information on global travel, including airport security updates, suggestions for agents if you plan a trip to Africa, and more). Alden has taken a keen interest in my infestation issues here and has provided many salient suggestions for managing mice, cockroaches, and most recently fleas. He also has extensive experience with termite prevention (Sounds like I am writing his bio!) He says he laughs out loud reading some of my posts (probably the one about spraying the carpets with weed killer instead of flea killer) but his reply via email is what made ME laugh Here it is for your enjoyment…thank you Alden! Looking forward to seeing you in June!

[Alden is dealing with a millipede problem - they seem to have arrived with a houseplant and are enjoying his well-heated loft... I asked him how he was dealing with that particular infestation...here's his response.]

Well I’ve found that the millipedes congregate around the watering points (I have a drip system) since it is so dry here in the winter. Thus I have been able to crush them when I see them. This seems to have greatly cut back on their population. Plus I’m eliminating dead leaves and the like that they feed on. I think I’ve got them under control, though not eliminated.

The main hold out place now is my worm bin. I have a combo compost and worm bin (plastic shoe box stack) and the millipedes have found it. So now they have a breeding group in there and I really can’t get rid of them entirely w/o killing the worms off or spending several hours separating worms from dirt from millipedes. My temporary solution is to crush the millipedes I see in there (luckily millipedes don’t bore down like worms do). This seems to have achieved some balance which I’m pretty happy with. Millipedes don’t breed nearly as quickly as the worms too, so I think that I can keep their population under control!

Funny I have started to treat the worms as pets of a sort. I am very careful to make sure they have food (simply waste vegetable matter, leaves, etc). They require no care though, so are great to have. I just toss the food into the box (shred first to accelerate decomposition) and let them go at it. I can go away for weeks as long as the food is in there ahead of time.

Well got to run to a lunch now. BTW is your house wood? If so you want to make sure that you treat any exposed wood for those termites. Pressure treated lumber was outlawed a few years ago, so any older homes are still pretty good, but new boards don’t have the anti-termite chemicals that they once used to and that will be an issue over the next decade or so I’m sure.

Take care,
Alden