[Cob] Insects inside a cob house?

[Marlin]

I've had incredible luck with Borax powder stopping ants AND cockroaches....it appears that it kills off the colonies, not just blocking them from entering. I sprinkle it around any point of entry. They take it to the Queen and she dies and the colony dies. I've cleared up whole porches just swarming with ants......

Be careful, it's non toxic to most animals but DEADLY to plants and soil. It (Borax) can be used for sterilizing the soil and keeping plants from growing. A brick walkway is a good example where it works effectively and you don't want weeds (or ants).

I second the fact that Cob is unlikely host for ants. Could happen but it's not their favorite medium.


p.s. Borax works on almost any 'sweet' ants, those after your food/sweets. It will not stop wood boring ants, carpenter ants for example - they're less common around here.

Marlin



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-----Original Message-----
From:     Clint Popetz <clint at ucimc.org>
Sent:     Wed, 12 May 2004 17:14:55 -0500
To:       Chaos Project <chaosproject at hotmail.com>
Cc:       coblist at deatech.com
Subject:  Re: [Cob] Insects inside a cob house?

On Wed, May 12, 2004 at 09:39:43PM +0000, Chaos Project wrote:
 
> I grew up in an old house (circa 1890), and in the summer we always
> have ants in our kitchen. They come in through cracks in the brick,
> spaces around the kitchen window, etc. We constantly try to caulk up
> the holes, but each year they find new ways in. The other issue is
> spiders, though thankfully there weren't too many of those.  I like
> bugs just fine outside, but I don't like them crawling into my food
> on my kitchen counter, or crawling into my bed while I'm sleeping...
> In a building built almost entirely of earth, are there more bugs
> than a conventional house? less? same? Would thick, solid walls keep
> them out, or make it easier for them to get in? What about cracks
> around window frames?  I apologize if these topics have been covered
> already, or if they're common knowledge in the Cob community, I'm a
> quick learner, but I'm just starting out! :)

In my experience of a wood frame house vs. cob house, observing the
movement of bugs, wood frame houses are a _lot_ more permeable to
insects than cob.  Bugs can't crawl through a foot and a half of what
is, in essence, natural concrete.  They will still come through the
ceiling, doors, windows, and floor just like a normal house (except in
the case of a poured adobe floor.)


Nothing seems to stop ants around here.  If there are crumbs, there
are ants.  I just live with them, and flick them off my plates before
serving food.  Spiders are fewer, but welcome in my house, even given
my huge fear of them, because they eat other bugs.

			-Clint

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