The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Molloy
Date: 2008-02-08 22:48
I have a pretty big clarinet collection (50-100, I'm not sure exactly how many), most of them stored in the cases I bought them in; the instruments and cases are in all sorts of states of repair. I'm in the early stages of a pad worm ( or pad moth or whatever you call them) infestation -- I checked about twenty instruments today, four of them had pad damage and one of them had live insects.
How do I eradicate them? Obviously, using toxic pesticide in the cases is a bad idea because it'll end up in the clarinets. A deep freeze was suggested, but I have too many instruments to fit all the cases in my freezer (*and* I don't know for sure that freezing would solve the problem anyway).
Any information or suggestions would be appreciated.
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Author: C2thew
Date: 2008-02-09 00:02
any pictures of the pad worms? i've never seen them, just destroyed pads.
Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. they are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which was already but too easy to arrive as railroads lead to Boston to New York
-Walden; Henry Thoreau
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2008-02-09 09:57
A good dose of DDT will do the trick! Oh yeah, it's 2008, not 1948!
Are these pad worms the same as wooly bears? I've only seen the empty skins of them in old cases and inside some pads that have been eaten away, they're around 3-4mm and have bands of hairs around each segment.
http://www.rokill.co.uk/
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: spage
Date: 2008-02-09 11:02
I'm sure there are people here better placed to advise, but here's my 0.02p worth based on dealing with a recent case (oops). There seems to be conflict as to what these are the larval stage of - carpet beetle or museum beetle. Both seem to be the same family (Anthrenus species).
May be worth having a look at ye interwebby thing. Here's another to add to ChrisP's offering:- http://www.kendall-bioresearch.co.uk/domest.htm#larvae
I have also had it suggested to me that exposing the case to hot sunlight might be a good idea (bit hard, here in the UK, in February, so the case is currently in a friend's freezer). But I wouldn't like to be in the OP's shoes at the moment. I can only suggest that, after a thorough cleaning, every infested case is hermetically sealed in two (or more) bags until it can take its turn in the freezer. May be worth investigating insecticide treatment if you can keep clarinets and cases apart for sufficient time for the insecticide to work, the residue to diminish and then clean thoroughly too.
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