Termites, as is also the case with most wood-infesting insects, eat below the surface of the wood and will not emerge on the surface. The only time that this occurs is when the reproductive forms fly off to a new surface to infest. It is extremely unlikely that dry wood termites could infest paper, as there is no interior for them to inhabit beneath the surface. They may be able to infest a book or other thick accumulation of paper. However, individual prints should be safe from infestation. In order to reproduce, a male and female must eat a cavity into the surface, where they mate and lay eggs. This just can't occur with normal paper, so they will move on to another more viable surface if they are even in the vicinity. Don't keep all of your prints together in a stack. Separate each in its own bag and observe them. It is highly likely that this is adequate and all that needs to be done.
If you want to be totally safe, you can use the methods suggested in the literature to kill infestations. Eggs are the most difficult to kill, generally. If you don't have easy access to inert gas fumigation, I would consider heat since paper can tolerate lower RH levels. Place the prints inside a zip-lock bag and remove as much air as possible, where they will serve as their own moisture buffer, since the amount of moisture contained in the paper is many times greater than that contained in the small volume of air in the bag, and the RH should not fall very much if the bag is tightly sealed. Holding the temperature at 130 degrees F for 12 hours should kill everything. The prints should get up to temperature rather quickly (compared to boxes of textiles or furniture, for example), so a total heating time of 14 or 15 hours is probably adequate.
Again, I don't think that any treatment is needed, so I am not recommending heat treatment, but if you want to be completely sure, it is an alternative. Good luck.
Marc
American Conservation Consortium, Ltd.
4 Rockville Road
Broad Brook, CT 06016
www.conservator.com
860-386-6058
*Collections Preservation Consultation
*Conservation Assessments & Surveys
*Environmental Monitoring & Low-Tech Control
*Moisture Management Solutions
*Collections in Historic Structures
*Collections Care Grant Preparation
*Conservation Treatment of:
Furniture
Painted Wood
Horse-Drawn Vehicles
Architectural Interiors
Decorative Objects & Folk Art
Marc A. Williams, President
MS in Art Conservation, Winterthur Museum Program
Former Chief Wooden Object Conservator, Smithsonian Institution
Fellow, American Institute for Conservation (AIC)
----- Original Message -----
From: Stephanie Standish
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 3:55 PM
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] dry wood termites
Hi all,
Sorry for the cross posting. This morning I found 5 frames with evidence of dry wood termite damage. The frames had been bagged upon their arrival at the museum because someone noticed bug damage. When I opened one of the bags I found active termites. Eesh terrible I know. I removed the art (lithographs on news print) from the frames and mats. The frames and mats were all bagged up immediately and taken to the dumpster. My question is regarding the prints. Currently they are all sealed inside a plastic bag, making sure there were no active critters on the prints. In reading about dry wood termites the methods for killing them include freezing, heating or microwaving the affected area. Is there anything I can safely do to the prints to ensure no critters or critter eggs survive without damaging the work? Our terminex guy assured me that the art was safe now that it had been removed from the infested mats and frames because termite larva cannot survive without the worker termites to feed them, but I want to check the collective wisdom of the list-serv.
Thank you in advance!
Stephanie Standish
Collections Manager
Swope Art Museum
25 South 7th Street
Terre Haute, IN 47807
p: 812.238.1676 ext 15
f: 812.238.1677
Visit the Swope at www.swope.org
Become a fan of the Swope on Facebook
[log in to unmask]
========================================================= Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).