I have problems with bugs, because my cats like to browse all day long on their food, and so I leave it out for them. Gradually one or two bugs have turned into whole colonies who eat nearly as much as the cats do. I don't mind a few bugs, bugs have to live too, but I'm fed up with the number I have. I have been searching for a solution to this problem, since I'm very sensitive to pesticides, and the cats don't really need them either. None of the chemical pesticides I have looked at will say they are safe for pets. I can't even let the bug man spray inside, and haven't been able to for years, because it definitely makes me sick.
But I recently heard about this stuff called "diatomaceous earth" that's approved by the FDA and the USDA for use in food (if you buy the "food grade" type). It is completely safe for all people with endoskeletons. It kills crawling bugs not chemically but by puncturing tiny holes in their exoskeletons, and letting fluids leak out until they dessicate and die.
It's a fine white powder, similar to talc, and it's even recommended to feed to livestock to rid them of parasites. Much of the flour and grain that you eat has small amounts of this substance in it, in order to prevent bugs from getting into it during storage.
Finally, finally, I can conquer my bug problem. I bought a 5 lb bag for about $10 including shipping from here. Or they have 50 lb bags available for very little right here. It may also be available in your local feed store, or garden supply store, or perhaps hardware store.
I'm so excited about this product, that I just had to tell you all about it. It is also excellent against fleas as well. Any insect that crawls will pick it up on its legs and so on and be affected by it.
Realize that this is not an instant fix. It kills the adult insects only, and so it takes a few weeks for all the eggs to hatch out and the life cycle of all of them to go through the adult stage. But if you sprinkle it around, or put small piles in corners, lightly dust it on carpet, and so on, it will keep your areas bug free for a year or more.
Realize that good bugs will be killed along with the bad ones, so use with care in the garden. It's safe for all pets that are mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, or amphibians. If you keep spiders or ants as pets, or centipedes, say, or rolypolies, you will not want to use this where they can be exposed to it.
The type that's sold for use in pool filters is not the type you want. Be sure it is food grade diatomaceous earth.
[ December 29, 2003, 04:46 AM: Message edited by: ak ]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Diatoms -- they don't just look pretty under a microscope. Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
Yes, and long after they are dead, they still do great work! Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
We used to use that stuff to clean our pool.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
In the Momma Bugga Bugga thread, Jenny said, in passing, "diotomaceous earth is another "natural" but harmful substance. Read up on diotomaceous earth or borax carefully before you use them!!". Unfortunately, she didn't go into more detail.
Jenny, what's the scoop? Is there something we should be aware of with diotomaceous earth?
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
The pool type is not food grade. Be sure and use food grade.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Food grade!!! Ha!
Maybe for you wimps. Me, I like my diatomaceous earth REALLY diatomaceous. MMmmmm Mmmmm. Them's good diatoms!
Posted by MoonRabbit (Member # 3652) on :
If inhaled, diatomaceous earth can cause a condition akin to asbestos damage. It's just silica, but sharp pieces of silica can cause lung damage. It is not harmful via skin contact or ingestion.
I've been using it for insect control since the late 1970s, and am always careful to wear a mask when handling it dry.
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
My understanding is that is true of the sort that is used for pool filters only. It is heated and so forms crystals. The food grade type apparently can be dissolved easily by the body.
Here is an information site from one supplier. The USDA and the FDA have approved this for human consumption. Much of the flour and other grain products you eat have some of this included to prevent bugs getting into it during storage.
Sheer genius, Annie!
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
Someone should write about a peaceful thriving community of bugs battling the scourge of diatomaceous earth. How they valiantly fight the losing battle, watching their parents slowly die of dessication, knowing that the next generation will hatch out and die before it can leave its own progeny. Knowing they are all doomed.
I feel this prophetic sense that I'm talking about humanity as well. <shudders>
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
There is a happy ending, though. I don't want to give too much away. Let's just say it involves lots and lots of duct tape.
Annie, that cover was great!
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Ak there is a difference between inhalation and ingestion. I don't think you really want to be inhaling even the food grade stuff. Your lungs aren't as capable of cleaning themselves out as your stomach is. I would definitely wear a mask when you are sprinkling it. Once it settles though there shouldn't be major problems.
AJ
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
The literature did say that as with anything dusty, it's not good to inhale large amounts of it. But it does not cause silcosis like asbestos or whatever, (so long as you don't use the swimming pool sort, which has been heated and has crystals of the right size that do not dissolve.) The food grade sort is no more dangerous than, say, talcum powder or flour.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Note to self, snorting Diatomaceous Earth is right out.
Note to Annie, great picture. I can't wait for the movie, folled by the EE DVD.
Posted by ssywak (Member # 807) on :
(I just realized that I'm hanging out with a bunch of people who can actually name the background image, and the person who thought it up, from Annie's artwork)
Geez.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
It's Rama, is it not, thought up by one Mr. Clarke?
Or did I just put my foot in it?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Actually, ak, inhaling talc is a VERY bad idea. Which is why my pediatrician (and many others, I believe) strongly recommends that parents use cornstarch rather than talc on little bottoms.
On a little baby, it just isn't that far from the besprinkled diaper area to the inhaling apparatus. Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
good point, no wonder babies cry so much.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
"On a little baby, it just isn't that far from the besprinkled diaper area to the inhaling apparatus."
I agree. Not far enough, depending on whose inhaling apparatus you're talking about, and the condition of said diaper area when you remove the diaper. Phew. Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
Just make sure you're not changing baby diapers using corstarch too close to a flame, since cornstarch (when dispersed nicely in the air) is highly flammable (kind of like flour in a grain elevator). Posted by porcelain girl (Member # 1080) on :
yeah, stop smoking while changing your baby's diaper, ya jerk
i should buy this stuff to get rid of the horrible onslaught of ants my house is always suffering under! thanks for sharing!
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
I think diapers should not only come with absorbent material built in, but should also have a pouch in the back. There are times when they just don't seem to hold it all in. Posted by ssywak (Member # 807) on :
Nope, not RAMA.
As far as I can remember (from the movie), the panels never opened up on Rama.
--Steve
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
I was thinking maybe Childhood's End
but that's kind of a stretch since the teaser on the front would be only a sub-plot of the actual story.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
You can make this stuff explode. My husband does this regularly in his chemistry class. I'll see if I can get the directions from him.
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
That book cover looks so familiar! I don't know what book it's from but I think I have read it.
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
Every time I see this thread I read it as "Dichotomous Earth," and I feel Cedrios must have returned.
Just needed to get that off my chest. Please continue with your regularly scheduled discussion.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Actually, that image came from a google search for space colonies - it's on a NASA page
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
ssywak, who thought the idea up? It's clearly an inside out colony world spun for gravity. I know there are those in Arthur Clarke's stuff and Asimov's and Heinlein's. I remember Nasa talking about this possibility way back a long time ago and the L5 society has been trying to get us to build one forever. They once had the slogan "lunar mine by 89", alas. We are way behind schedule on that one. But who invented the idea? I don't think I know.
Posted by ssywak (Member # 807) on :
It's the interior view of one of his long, hollow habitats. He placed two such habitats, separated by about 50 miles (their diameters were about 20 miles, if i remember correctly), and counter-rotating.
You would get from one tube colony to the other by being slingshotted tangentially off of your source tube, and being caught (also tangentially) by a structure on the target tube. During transit, you would spend all your time praying that you wouldn't miss the target tube...
But he still didn't mention how you get from the rotating part of the space colony to a stationary central utility core!
(40 points higher than me..... )
--Steve
[ December 31, 2003, 12:01 PM: Message edited by: ssywak ]
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
Why, oh why, is my diatomaceous earth taking so long to get here? It's been five days, for heaven's sake! UPS ground to anywhere in the country takes 3. I guess the roach gods are taking pity on their beloved children and delaying it to give them a brief reprieve. Poor little guys. They are so busy and happy and thriving. It seems so mean to genocide them, not that roaches as a class will notice any dent, of course. They've been here for hundreds of millions of years before we humans showed up, and will likely be around for several billion years after we're long extinct. The roach gods are quite powerful after all, it seems.
But this particular little bustling community is about to meet ultimate disaster. I wonder if they have any concept of me or the cats as beings at all, and if they realize we are basically malevolent toward them, despite our generous food offerings and the really nice warm indoor digs we have provided for them against the winter's cold?
How different, really, am I from a roach, in intelligence, complexity, adaptability, suitability to life on this planet, spiritual depth, and benefit of my service to the all? Very different from my point of view, but from God's? Just how different? I expect it's much closer than I would like to think.
I feel like writing some formal, solemn ode in homage to a roach. Or maybe I'll just let Robert Burns' nice poem to the field mouse be it for me instead.
[ January 01, 2004, 09:14 PM: Message edited by: ak ]
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
I wish I knew what Jainists do about roaches. I really hate killing things. Yet they are not good neighbors like my squirrels in the attic were, or the other critters I enjoy having around. I did decide that I don't mind killing fleas or mosquitos on the grounds that it's really not nice to try to eat me, so I have a right to stop things that do that. Roaches at least don't bite us, but they do destroy things and are not fun to have around. Killing them all does seem mean, though. I wish I knew what Jainists do.
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