You need to keep track of where you have found the casings or any other probable insect damage or evidence of pest activity (write it all down).
Collect some of the casings in small plastic or glass vials for later identification (if necessary).
Get some sticky traps (the kind that have a flat bottom) and put them everywhere you have found evidence of pests. Label all the traps with location and date, and make a list of where you have put them. Also put traps near doorways, windows, and any openings in walls (e.g., pipe chases). Place a few around the areas where you found the casings in corners and along walls. Search where you found the casings for other evidence of ongoing pest activity (powder, dust, holes in objects).
Once your monitoring program is underway, then you can worry about isolation and treatment of objects. If you suspect that any objects have an active infestation, try to isolate them. For smaller objects, this can best be done by enclosing them in polyethylene bags. Once you have things isolated, then you can worry about treatment options, which may include anoxia, freezing, cleaning, or chemicals. But before you start treating anything, you need to find out what the pests are.
I recommend you read two chapters in "Storage of Natural History Collections: A Preventive Conservation Approach" (Rose, Hawks, and Genoways)-the one on Pest Management by Wendy Jessup, and the Pest Monitoring Study by Jeremy Jacobs. Both provide good, solid information for pest control in any type of museum. The book is available from University Products (www.universityproducts.com).
Good luck,
John
John E. Simmons
Collection Manager, Natural History Museum
and
Coordinator, Museum Studies Program
University of Kansas
Dyche Hall
1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7561
Telephone 785-864-4508
FAX 785-864-5335
www.ku.edu/~museumst/
-----Original Message-----
From: Registrar - Danish Immigrant
Museum [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, May 30, 2003 10:00
AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: bug casings.
Ok all, I have a serious problem and need some advice.
I have just recently started working at my museum. The building has been open since '94. and I just discovered what I believe to be carpet beetle casings on numerous objects in the permanent cases and in our period sitting room. Obviously this is BAD but now what do I do. I have only found casings no live bugs. To make matters more difficult I don't think the cases have been opened or the sitting room cleaned and inspected since close to the beginning of the permanent exhibit being set up. (Like many museums we started with volunteer staff and are slowly moving to professionals. I am only the second person with museum training to be hired.) So I don't know how old of casings I am looking at, nor do I have a place to isolate or freeze these items. The best I can do is put the smaller items in an anoxic microenvironment. I am in the process of having the casings removed and the pieces vacuumed. Then I plan to monitor to see if more casings appear. However I am open to any suggestions as to how to proceed.
Thanks in advance