Hey pu fans,
This weekend I noticed some very small, off-white insects crawling on a couple of my bing wrappers. Not a lot of them -- just one on this one, one on that one -- I had to really look to see them. They're really tiny -- 1mm I think? (maybe 2mm, hard to say) And they're slow crawlers, don't jump, and are apparently wingless.
I think I've seen them before, crawling across the page of a book I was reading. Does anyone know what these are? They don't appear to be interested in the tea itself, but I didn't have time to really get in there and look.
Might they be termites? I also found something online called booklice, but it's hard to tell what they might be -- I thought I'd ask here first in case any of y'all have seen them too.
Thanks!
Dave
Feb 2nd, '09, 14:17
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Dizzwave
Feb 2nd, '09, 15:04
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Feb 2nd, '09, 17:01
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Dizzwave
Yikes... that could be very bad, I have a lot of books! Or do they only eat tea-paper?MarshalN wrote:If you just got them, it's from wherever the tea was stored.
Where do you live? Are you in a slightly humid environment?
These bugs don't eat tea. They eat the paper.
Either way, extremely good to know to keep an eye out for stuff like this. Any ideas on how to safely fumigate.....?
Feb 3rd, '09, 07:55
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TIM
Freeze it... And gently defrost.Drax wrote:Yikes... that could be very bad, I have a lot of books! Or do they only eat tea-paper?MarshalN wrote:If you just got them, it's from wherever the tea was stored.
Where do you live? Are you in a slightly humid environment?
These bugs don't eat tea. They eat the paper.
Either way, extremely good to know to keep an eye out for stuff like this. Any ideas on how to safely fumigate.....?
http://www.cigartrends.com/viewtopic.php?t=1984
http://www.cigartrends.com/viewtopic.php?t=1950
Last edited by TIM on Feb 3rd, '09, 10:53, edited 1 time in total.
Feb 3rd, '09, 09:28
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exactly. Dizz you have it right the first time.. book liceMarshalN wrote:If you just got them, it's from wherever the tea was stored.
Where do you live? Are you in a slightly humid environment?
These bugs don't eat tea. They eat the paper.
Don't always believe what you think!
http://www.ancientteahorseroad.blogspot.com
http://englishtea.us/
http://www.ancientteahorseroad.blogspot.com
http://englishtea.us/
Feb 3rd, '09, 16:03
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Dizzwave
They're so tiny that I'm not sure whether I just got them or not.. It's possible they've been there for months and i just noticed them.MarshalN wrote:If you just got them, it's from wherever the tea was stored.
Where do you live? Are you in a slightly humid environment?
These bugs don't eat tea. They eat the paper.
I live in Portland, OR, which I think has fairly "normal" humidity for the US, I guess (lately anyway).. But my humidor has been fluctuating between 60-75% RH lately.
Anyway, thanks for the tips all... I might just try cleaning out the cabinet, make sure there are no little infestations in some dark corner, dusting it all out....
and if that doesn't seem to work, perhaps I'll try Tim's freezing idea.
Thanks!
dave