Cob: Lady Bugs

[Myra Bonhage-Hale]

Couldn't help but reply to your lady bug problem.  As you can see on my web
site www.lapaixherbaljourney.com (click on Lady Bug Contest), my home, a
leaky old farm house with a log cabin connected, has been a hotbed for lady
bugs for a few years.  I have tried all kinds of techniques (I found out
that I am allergic to their odor - which causes respiratory problems) to
thwart the multi-spotted Asian buggers, but the one which is working well so
far is a black light in a darkened, warm room.  This attracts the heat
seekers and due to a talcum powder slide device, they collect down in the
bottom and can be released (that's up to you) or disposed of outside.  I
also put essential oil of either lavender or peppermint on a cotton ball in
the bottom of the device to keep the odor down.  You can also vacuum them up
(putting an old hose in the wand of your vacuum to collect them  so you
don't spend too much $ on continually replacing bags) - use a cotton ball
with essential oil in the hose too - so the odor of the lady bugs does not
permeate your home.  Hope you have electricity in your trailer and this
works for you.  Thanks for all your good advice on cobbing.  P.S.  I wonder
if cob houses have the lady bug problem????  Namaste.  Myra
----- Original Message -----
From: "Amanda Peck" <ap615 at hotmail.com>
To: <GiftedlyOutspoken at myrealbox.com>; <coblist at deatech.com>
Cc: <thrivingspirit at earthlink.net>
Sent: Tuesday, November 12, 2002 9:20 AM
Subject: Re: Cob: cob over traditional house?


>
>
> I went looking for Out on Bale archives, couldn't find them.  And they
might
> not have included the little squib "So-and-so is planning to encase their
> mobile home in straw, come help. November whenever"
>
> I opened the second of the mobile home threads and yes, you do get to put
a
> nice overhanging roof there--for either cob or straw.  To the extent that,
> building four walls and a roof, you almost might as well build the whole
> thing.  I've been meaning to put bales around the bottom of my travel
> trailer (lots of air leaks and Asian Lady Beetles), but I kept thinking
I'd
> get to move it away from the projected retaining wall ANY DAY NOW.  Maybe
if
> I do it, the wall will happen.
>
>
> Lisa wrote (it looks like direct to me, so I'm not snipping
> here)Unfortunately, it seems that nobody had an answer for this... I was
> looking forward to hearing it, too!
>
> Actually I'd say AIR leaks are the biggest problem in my 20-year-old
> mobile home, lol... closely followed by excessive radiational heating
> in the summer... both of which would presumably be helped by a cob or
> bale exterior!  But the two threads I've seen on a mobile home forum
> don't bode well:
>
> http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?s=0b88c6832b80367de34be66
> dcb52be33&threadid=98022
>
> http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?s=0b88c6832b80367de34be66
> dcb52be33&threadid=57280
>
>
> If either of you hear any more about this issue, please do share!
>
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