Hey, it’s worth a try. Sue Maltby, Canadian conservator who teaches at the Campbell Center, forwarded to me an article about “solar bagging”, a process similar to solarizing soil for gardening. Someone else suggested putting it in an oven, and if it would fit, I may go for that just for simplicity’s sake.

 

How does your garden grow? We’re harvesting summer squash and a few peppers, and some red pear tomatoes. Lots of green tomatoes of every shape and size – I can hardly wait until they ripen. Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches on homemade bread – what more could you ask?

 

 

Anne, I had good luck with a supermarket once when we had an infested feather headdress (at our former institution). It would need to be well protected. The store got some publicity from it. Whether they’d be enthusiastic about a hornet’s nest I don’t know, but I suppose you could try.

 

 

Hi – We have received a large hornets’ nest that we want to display in our museum, since Charlotte has considered the hornet’s nest their very own symbol ever since General Lord Cornwallis dubbed the area “a hornets’ nest of rebellion.” I would like to freeze it – it was sprayed by the donor, but that’s no guarantee there aren’t other bits of critters lurking within the folds. This thing is big – we have it sealed into a large plastic tote, so I’m thinking maybe 6 cubic feet. We don’t have a freezer. Anybody in our area have a large freezer, or know of a facility that would let us keep a well-sealed nest in their freezer for a few weeks?

Many thanks,

 

Anne

Anne T. Lane

Collections Manager

704.568.1774 x110 phone

704.566.1817 fax

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The Charlotte Museum of History and Hezekiah Alexander Homesite

Where  History Has a Home

3500 Shamrock Drive

Charlotte, NC  28215-3214

www.charlottemuseum.org

 

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