Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Removing insects from house

  1. #1

    Removing insects from house

    Namskāra everyone,

    I have a problem with large roaches which have taken over my travel trailer. I would like to find out how to trap them and remove them to a far-away place for release. I don't want to have to kill them even with just borax and sugar. Please advise.

    Praṇāma

  2. #2
    Join Date
    December 2013
    Location
    Anāhata
    Age
    49
    Posts
    394
    Rep Power
    1771

    Re: Removing insects from house

    Quote Originally Posted by deafAncient View Post
    I would like to find out how to trap them and remove them to a far-away place for release. I don't want to have to kill them even with just borax and sugar. Please advise.
    Namaskar DA,

    While I am very happy to hear your conviction, you are in for a seriously daunting task. It can be nearly impossible to completely rid a place of domestic roaches once they've settled in, even when you do kill them. I do hope you're ready for the amount of (somewhat unpleasant) work you have in store, but again I think it's a great that you want to do this. It will also alleviate downstream environmental and ecosystem repercussions, as even boron has its impact.

    It would be best if you had a species ID on the roach. Certain scents and baits work better on some species than others, and wood or wild roaches can be far easier to remove than domestic. If you would like a place where you could look up your species to better hone your strategy, let me know. You will need a combined approach in any case.

    First you will want to find where they are getting their food and water. Keep in mind this could easily be something as easy as a paper box - they can live off of the glue on the back of a postage stamp if needed. There are some foods they just adore, dry grains and cereals, anything with oil, and believe it or not they are crazy for coffee! Look in all your cabinets, under sinks, under and behind stove, everywhere they might hide that you can get to. They aren't as effected by cold so can often be found congregating in gaskets of refrigerator doors - any food debris that builds up in the folds over time is food for them too. Look under and behind the fridge as well. Look for crumbs, bits of food, oil, water leaks and any cracks that they may be getting into and out of walls through.

    Fix any water leaks and if you have any food supplies in paper boxes and bags, put them into sealable jars or containers. Even coffee, if you have it, keep that in a sealed container too. Get rid of the boxes right away, and don't keep any trash in the house until you're satisfied that this is taken care of. Scrub every single surface you have that they could have run on and any place with any food or oil residue you might miss in your regular cleaning that they could feed from. They leave pheromone trails that others follow to find where the food and water is. Even scrub all the surfaces in the cabinets and behind and under appliances and in gaskets.

    Now, get some citronella candles or plug-ins, get some catnip, fresh bay leaves - preferably not dried if possible, a catnip plant if you can find one, a citrus essential oil - lemon is best, grapefruit works too but not orange, 91% rubbing alcohol, a good sized spray bottle, some yellow plastic, a flashlight if you don't have one, glass bowls or jars if you don't have any, some vaseline.

    The plants and citronella are smells that roaches really dislike. Use the plugins or candles around your house until you are absolutely sure your problem is gone.

    Catnip and Bay. It's best to get the live leaves and if you can grow a catnip plant that would be great as it's a wonderful source of the fresh leaves and they grow like weeds. You can keep them potted - putting them outside will likely attract every cat in a few mile radius. You can take a cutting from a plant and put it in a glass of water standing near a window and it will develop roots. Then plant that and voila - free new plant. If you can't get the fresh leaves, dried will work, but try and get them as freshly dried as possible. Pet store catnip works too, if you need dried. Crush them together with a mortar and pestle or something heavy and a cutting board. Once you've sprayed all the surfaces you cleaned earlier, you will dust this along every baseboard, in front of any cracks or food areas you may have noticed, inside every cabinet and under every appliance. Sweep it up and replace it regularly to keep the fresh scent that they hate in the path they would have to cross to find food.

    Combine the citrus oil and the rubbing alcohol in the spray bottle. Use enough to make it smell noticeable but not overpowering for you. Shake well and spray this on all the surfaces you cleaned and let it dry. Every time you clean a surface, spray it again - clean your surfaces religiously every time you do anything on them.

    All of this will deter more of them from entering your home, keep them from foraging well, and make the environment unpleasant for them so they are encouraged to find another neighbor to bother. But, now you need to trap them and get them out. This is probably the most difficult part, they can breed faster than you are likely to be able to trap them. Put some bait (non-toxic) in the glass jars/bowls - they need to have steep sides. Smear some vaseline along the sides to make it slipperier if you want. Leave them out at night with some sticks leaning up against the outside rim so they can climb up and get into the container. They will go in for food but they won't be able to get back up the glass to get out. When you wake up, cover the containers - make sure there are airholes - and take them for a long trip several miles away to release them. Repeat this till you stop catching roaches for about a month - you want to make sure you get all of the ones that will be immature when you start this.

    The flashlight and yellow plastic are for if you want to empty your traps in the middle of the night and if you're brave enough to try and hand-trap some at night. Roaches can't see in yellow light like you can, so won't run from that light. You can attempt to get individuals to run into a container and then put them in a bait bowl till you're tired or you need to empty the bowl. Like most arthropods they run away from vibration, so use that as a strategy. Place a container in the path you expect them to take, then tap the surface they're on near their rear, and they will run forward. Usually into whatever they find, especially if it seems like shelter.

    Another idea, which is not as in-line with ahimsa but not completely out of line either is to get a few pet geckos and/or swifts and release them into your home to help in clearing out the population. You will have to catch them again and either re-home them or feed them though, once your problem is finally gone.

    You will really have to keep this up for some time, it could take several months at the rate roaches multiply. Even then you may not ever get them all, so you will need to remain vigilant even after you feel you have no more problem. The best of luck to you!

    ~Pranam
    ~~~~~
    What has Learning profited a man, if it has not led him to worship the good feet of Him who is pure knowledge itself?
    They alone dispel the mind's distress, who take refuge at the feet of the incomparable one.
    ~~Tirukural 2, 7

    Anbe Sivamayam, Satyame Parasivam

  3. #3

    Re: Removing insects from house

    Namaskāra Aanandinii,

    I did find out tonight while cleaning out my trailer and re-establishing my presence there (after a week-plus of waiting to get full hookups set up for the trailer) that they will go after cough drops because of the sugar content, so I threw it in the trash AND removed that trash from the house. However, there is now a compost bin set up about 40 feet from me. I'm hoping that they will now turn to that. I have to empty out my storage compartment under my bed from the outside and clean it out thoroughly.

    Thank you so much for the advice.

    Praṇāma

  4. #4
    Join Date
    December 2013
    Location
    Anāhata
    Age
    49
    Posts
    394
    Rep Power
    1771

    Re: Removing insects from house

    Namaste DA,

    The compost bin may be where they came from. Communal arthropods like roaches find a food source, settle in and then breed until overpopulation. Once population reaches a critical mass, groups go out foraging for new food sources in a nice environment. Others follow their pheromone trail. So, compost bins that are not well limed or kept, dirty neighbors, or proximity to a restaurant that doesn't keep up their kitchen well are all risk factors that can cause a home to be invaded, even if the owner/tenant is a clean person themselves.

    Check with whoever is keeping that bin. They are likely not using the correct minerals, beneficials and enzymes to break down the materials enough that pests like roaches can't live off it. Ick. If that is the case they probably think they're being organic.

    Yes, they will love anything sugary, anything oily, anything starchy. But simply removing those food sources will not be enough to stop an established colony because they are so adaptable that they can live off of the glue on cardboard or paper boxes, or in the bindings of books. They can live with little to no food for over a month, and with little to no water for weeks. They csn and will chew through any paper, plastic or metallic bags to get at the food in them, so you really do have to remove every single food source to be successful. Keep in mind too that you can have roaches and never know. They usually stay away from light and people (except for a few wild wood species), so once you start seeing the adults it means they have overpopulated and there are thousands, maybe tens of, in the places you can't reach.

    ~Pranam

    PS- Apologies, just had a thought. You had your house hooked up to power and presumably septic or sewer system? They also could have come from either of these. Some species of domestic roach can also eat the insulation on electrics, so like those kinds of spaces. It's possible you're at an overpopulated space and you're seeing spillover from that. It shouldn't change your strategy though.
    Last edited by Aanandinii; 10 June 2015 at 07:41 AM.
    ~~~~~
    What has Learning profited a man, if it has not led him to worship the good feet of Him who is pure knowledge itself?
    They alone dispel the mind's distress, who take refuge at the feet of the incomparable one.
    ~~Tirukural 2, 7

    Anbe Sivamayam, Satyame Parasivam

  5. #5

    Re: Removing insects from house

    Namaskāra Aanandinii,

    The situation is, the roaches have been with me from about a year ago, and I since went to the sixth location where my travel trailer is. All these locations are in the eastern half of Texas, the furthest west being 30 miles east of Austin. The compost bin is new, having been set up only a week ago (I've been here two weeks tomorrow). My friend's house next door does not have roach problems, none whatsoever. I'm afraid I'll end up introducing them to her.

    I leave no food out on a regular basis (everything is refrigerated and/or kept in thick, hard plastic containers that have airtight seals clamped under pressure). I do not cook with oil. Even my nuts I eat are kept in the fridge, no exceptions, for the roach problem. I have only one book and one magazine with glue bindings, and they don't show signs of being dined on.

    As far as the house connections are concerned, they can't get in via the power dock nor the sewer connection, as they can't come up through the toilet with a flap valve that is open only when you flush the toilet, and I don't think they would try to come up through the U joints of the sink and shower, which is filled with water for preventing sewer gas from coming up into the trailer interior.

    Another thing I learned from my friend is that even if there is no food whatsoever (suppose a nuke went off 100 miles away and destroyed ALL vegetation and animal life), these hardy beings so afraid of dying will do ANYTHING to stay alive, and that means eating their dead one's bodies to sustain them. The reason my friend suggested borax/sugar mixtures is because roaches are attracted to sweets, and the borax dries them out to death, and then the roaches that yet don't touch the mixture will eat the dried-out bodies and in turn desiccate themselves in the process. I don't like this option, but I do have an issue with cleanliness and live in a tiny space (trailer has a body measuring 7.5 feet by 13 feet). Fortunately, the trailer is an example of one made from fiberglass sheets vacuum-bonded to foam cores, so there's no space in the outer walls for them to go to.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    December 2013
    Location
    Anāhata
    Age
    49
    Posts
    394
    Rep Power
    1771

    Re: Removing insects from house

    Namaskar DA,

    They are amazingly adapted and resilient creatures, aren't they? They can also flatten themselves to get through spaces as tight as the height of their heads, which as babies can be very, very small. They are resistant to the very same radiation from such a bomb in your example, they adapt quickly to most poisons within a few generations - so much so that in some cases such chemicals become food for them in times of need too. They can survive three quarters of an hour with no oxygen, and they can swim fairly well. They eat their dead, but some species protect their young aggressively. They live in some of the nastiest places, but are fastidious about their own hygiene and will clean themselves at length when a Human touches them. Amazing creatures.

    The effect of boric acid is a bit worse than that. It's natural form, when not chemically bound, is a sharp, abrasive crystal. The crystals dilute in liquid to tiny size, like sugar or table salt do, but once the gut of any insect that has eaten a concentration of it removes the water, it re-crystallizes into abrasive chains that tear the gut apart from the inside.

    As a truly ancient species, cockroaches only have one living relative in nature: Praying Mantis. Also a unique and adaptable species.

    I am sorry if it seemed like I was suggesting your home wasn't clean, I was trying to say you can be very fastidious and still have them. They're tough creatures.

    ~Pranam
    ~~~~~
    What has Learning profited a man, if it has not led him to worship the good feet of Him who is pure knowledge itself?
    They alone dispel the mind's distress, who take refuge at the feet of the incomparable one.
    ~~Tirukural 2, 7

    Anbe Sivamayam, Satyame Parasivam

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 0
    Last Post: 15 April 2015, 09:22 AM
  2. Eight House and Sin
    By devotee123 in forum Jyotish
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 07 October 2014, 11:50 PM
  3. 8th house
    By Dina in forum Jyotish
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 24 July 2013, 12:31 PM
  4. Replies: 8
    Last Post: 11 November 2007, 09:45 PM
  5. 2nd House - Significance
    By Arvind Sivaraman in forum Jyotish
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 30 June 2007, 09:59 AM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •