Bedbugs are all over the news these days as a growing scourge, so I thought I'd share my experience treating an infestation with an easy, inexpensive insecticide that kills bedbugs (and does so without any smelly and scary neurotoxins such as are found in many commercial insecticides).
I don't know if they came in on my luggage or what, but after a while it dawned on me that the itchy welts on my legs weren't mosquito bites, and I found the telltale 2-3cm diameter stains on the sheets, which I guess is from their urine or whatever the entomologists call it.
As a gardener with a preference for organic pest control, I was familiar with using Diatomaceous Earth powder (DE) for pest control on plants, and after I did some research I decided DE would probably kill bedbugs, too, and I already had some DE at hand.
This happened several years ago, so I don't recall exactly how long it took to get rid of them completely, but in very short order (a few days, I think) the biting was greatly reduced, and possibly even eliminated.
As the dust kills them mechanically by dehydrating them, it may not kill eggs, so I would leave the dust in place for a few weeks in case any eggs hatch. Females lay a few eggs per day, and it takes 1 - 4 months until they reach adulthood(Rutgers University).
The EPA's website on bedbugs has links to youtube videos explaining how to use DE to control bedbugs, and also links to lots of fact sheets and other materials outlining bedbug control strategies.
Amazon has many vendors selling DE, and Google Product Search links to even more. Your local garden center or feed store may carry it, too. Prices vary very widely, so look around -- a little DE goes a long way. I think I used less than half a cup for the one bedroom I treated.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Camouflaged Black Swallowtail Butterfly Caterpillar in the fennel patch
"There is nothing about a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly." -Buckminster Fuller (of Buckyball fame, etc.)
The fennel is the fine-leaved plant with the yellow florets. (The broad-leaved plant is, I believe, Russian Tarragon.) Isn't it cool how the green & black stripes and yellow dots on the Black Swallowtail caterpillar help it blend in with the flowering fennel plants and avoid the notice of hungry predators?
Thursday, July 22, 2010
I had to change the headlamp assembly on a 1995 Ford Taurus GL, and it turned out to be a little trickier than I thought.
(I purchased the new assembly at rockauto.com for about $42 including delivery. The label on the box says it also fits the 1994 Taurus GL, and 1992 & 1993 Taurus L, GL, LX & SE, but double check on a couple other sites, because rockauto doesn't show some of those models as being applicable to these particular headlamp assemblies. If you buy both (which I suggest, for looks) Amazon has them even cheaper. And Car-Part.com will probably turn up a used one for even less.)
The tricky part is due to a combination retaining & aiming clip.
It can be difficult to see how it works, and therefore, hard to remove. There are 3 of them on the assembly. I did not receive new clips with the headlamp assembly, but I did not need them in the end, even though a couple of them looked very rusty.
These clips have two extensions that lock into indents on the plastic aiming assemblies. That requires you to bend those extensions outward while pulling up (or levering up with a screwdriver, if you can manage it) on the top of the clip.
A little penetrating oil (e.g. WD-40) might help, especially if the clips are rusty.
For the two clips on the upper assembly, I found that I could use a flat-head screwdriver to apply leverage pressure while bending the extensions out, one at a time, with a very small screwdriver.
For the clip on the lower assembly, it was really tricky, but a small pulling tool (like a forceps with the tips bent inward at 90 degrees or more) was able to apply sufficient pull on the clip while bending out the extensions, one at a time. It was difficult and took several minutes to work it off.
(If, after installing the new assembly, you find that you need to adjust the aim, the upper aiming screw may suffice. If not, you may get away with bending down the body trim below the headlamp assembly to access the lower aiming screw. If you decide you must remove the trim, it would probably require many new, plastic trim-locking tabs, which, in my experience, do not tend to survive the removal process. But they are not very expensive. A Haynes repair manual would probably be a good investment for advice there.
** EVEN BETTER: you may be able to adjust the lower aiming screw from the back end with a specialized tool that should be available at most car-parts suppliers, and would probably be so much easier than removing/replacing the trim that it would be worth the investment, easily.
**** MAYBE EVEN BETTER THAN THAT: I was able to adjust the lower aiming screw from the back end with a miniature ratchet wrench and a 4mm hex socket that I already had, but I would guess not many folks have those tools.)
(I purchased the new assembly at rockauto.com for about $42 including delivery. The label on the box says it also fits the 1994 Taurus GL, and 1992 & 1993 Taurus L, GL, LX & SE, but double check on a couple other sites, because rockauto doesn't show some of those models as being applicable to these particular headlamp assemblies. If you buy both (which I suggest, for looks) Amazon has them even cheaper. And Car-Part.com will probably turn up a used one for even less.)
The tricky part is due to a combination retaining & aiming clip.
It can be difficult to see how it works, and therefore, hard to remove. There are 3 of them on the assembly. I did not receive new clips with the headlamp assembly, but I did not need them in the end, even though a couple of them looked very rusty.
These clips have two extensions that lock into indents on the plastic aiming assemblies. That requires you to bend those extensions outward while pulling up (or levering up with a screwdriver, if you can manage it) on the top of the clip.
A little penetrating oil (e.g. WD-40) might help, especially if the clips are rusty.
For the two clips on the upper assembly, I found that I could use a flat-head screwdriver to apply leverage pressure while bending the extensions out, one at a time, with a very small screwdriver.
For the clip on the lower assembly, it was really tricky, but a small pulling tool (like a forceps with the tips bent inward at 90 degrees or more) was able to apply sufficient pull on the clip while bending out the extensions, one at a time. It was difficult and took several minutes to work it off.
(If, after installing the new assembly, you find that you need to adjust the aim, the upper aiming screw may suffice. If not, you may get away with bending down the body trim below the headlamp assembly to access the lower aiming screw. If you decide you must remove the trim, it would probably require many new, plastic trim-locking tabs, which, in my experience, do not tend to survive the removal process. But they are not very expensive. A Haynes repair manual would probably be a good investment for advice there.
** EVEN BETTER: you may be able to adjust the lower aiming screw from the back end with a specialized tool that should be available at most car-parts suppliers, and would probably be so much easier than removing/replacing the trim that it would be worth the investment, easily.
**** MAYBE EVEN BETTER THAN THAT: I was able to adjust the lower aiming screw from the back end with a miniature ratchet wrench and a 4mm hex socket that I already had, but I would guess not many folks have those tools.)
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