There is no simple, succinct answer to this question. How often the pest control company visits should depend entirely on what pests you are finding. If the traps are properly distributed (e.g., near cracks, crevices, and windows; along walls, under furniture, near "dirty" areas and near areas where food is stored or consumed), how often they are checked would depend on how often pests turn up in them. If you are finding pests every week, other IPM measures need to be taken and the traps checked weekly. If the traps rarely have anything in them, monthly checks may be adequate. If the traps turn up empty, you can always have the staff check them and call in the pest control company only when you find things in the traps that need to be identified--however, proper trap placement is critical. We purchase traps in the configuration you are describing from Bell Laboratories, Inc., Madison, WI 53704. --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 [log in to unmask] www.ku.edu/~museumst/ -----Original Message----- From: Kirsten Hammerstrom [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 10:51 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Pest Control Frequency Dear Colleagues: I have searched the Museum-L and CoOL archives and cannot find a handy-dandy, succinct answer to the questions our museum and building maintenance staff are currently debating. I hope you can help. We have a pest control service (integrated pest management) that comes every month to check sticky/bait traps in our 3 buildings (one library, one historic house museum and one historic house of admin. offices). What we'd like to know is: 1. How often should the "bug guy" come? 2. How often should the museum staff formally check for pests? 3. If you cut back on pest control company visits, have you ever had a problem? 4. If you have the white sticky traps that look like tents (they fold up into a triangular profile, have a sticky trap in the base, and a place to write the date and location on the side), where do you get them? I'm tracking literature (I found bibliographies) but real-life stories often help make a case. Thanks very much for any and all help you can give me, Kirsten Hammerstrom Rhode Island Historical Society 110 Benevolent Street Providence RI 02906 (401) 331-8575 x 124 ========================================================= 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).