[GSBN] GSBN:Straw and insects

[Laura Bartels]

Dear community of sb'rs,

Continuing on this subject of straw and insects, I have gotten yet  
another email about a project I was involved in in Pennsylvania saying  
that they are still dealing with a moth infestation. It is an  
industrial manufacturing facility that is part straw bale. The latest  
email said..."it seems to be worsening.  The moths have been  
identified as a common grain moth and they are everywhere.  They don't  
respond to sex traps and we have just set out a blue light trap.  It  
is early, but doesn't seem to be working either.  Other than tenting  
the building and using nasty chemicals, the exterminator is out of  
ideas.  We also just got a huge crop of nats that he says is tied to  
the straw."

The moths first appeared, along with a spider, in the truth window.  
They had initially left one top of wall unsealed, which when that was  
realized, was plastered in hopes that that might solve the issue in  
the building.

I am honestly not sure what to tell them and hope someone else may  
have successfully dealt with a similar issue. We discussed various  
options, all of which have drawbacks.

On the other hand, the project has been very successful in other ways,  
particularly in introducing interior earthen plasters using site soil  
with a large plaster subcontractor. They loved the material, and hope  
to do more. The straw bale was the first in the area. The project is  
seeking LEED Gold status.

Thanks for any thoughts on this,
Laura

Laura Bartels
GreenWeaver Inc.
P.O. Box 912, Carbondale, CO 81623
Ph 970-379-6779, Fax 970-963-0905
laura at greenweaverinc.com
www.greenweaverinc.com

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sustainablesources.com/pipermail/gsbn/attachments/20080528/b674b177/attachment.htm>