[Question] Treatment for Beetles

[Highspeedmonkey]

Hello all, new to forums and will jump straight in with a question if that's OK.

I'm looking to treat the roof spaces ( 7 in all ) of an old Manor House for a possible outbreak of Larder/Bacon Beetle. The question is, do I spray with a residual insecticide or use smoke/fog bombs ?

Any particular brand or ingredient that works best with Beetles ?

[Dave A]

Is there a butcher's shop in the Manor house?

[Highspeedmonkey]

I'm afraid not, but we had/have a serious fly problem within the insullation of the roof spaces. Electronic 'zappers' were fitted last year and I've just changed the UV bulbs for the new season.

I did notice a lot of fly carcasses, which I think is providing the food source for the beetles.

[Dave A]

A fly problem too! In a roof void!

Any signs of rodents? (Particularly dead ones).

[Highspeedmonkey]

No signs of anything else living up there. The flies are Cluster flies.

Not yet anyway

[Dave A]

Well, to answer your original question, when it comes to treating roof voids, I like to use a cold fog treatment. No fire hazard, good distribution, low cost once you've got the cold fogger equipment and plenty of options in terms of products you can use.

The main problem I see, and this pretty much applies no matter what treatment you use, is you're not likely to get much penetration into the insulation, and there's the problem of the pupation chambers too.

But then the real trick to stopping larder beetle is sanitation (removing potential food sources). Maybe vacuum up all those dead flies lying around?

Pretty amazing that a dead fly would provide enough sustenance, but you live in a very different part of the world to my neck of the woods...

[Highspeedmonkey]

Thank you Dave, yes your right, a mammoth clean up awaits after treatment.

After doing some more research and realizing that the larve may be safe and sound within the wood timbers and as you say the insulation, I'm now thinking of a smoke bomb fumer treatment for starters and then a spray with a general insecticide a week later (I don't have fogging equipment).

After speaking with my chemical supplier (Killgerm UK, believe there's a Killgerm SA too), I'm not qualified enough to purchase the right treatments.

However, I've found fumers containing 13.5% Permethrin on e-bay of all places. The professional version contains potassium chlorate as-well.

Worth a go or get the professionals in this time.

(I'm a qualified pest controller but deal mainly with mice, rats, moles, rabbits, etc. Hence why I'm unable to purchase the chemicals)

[Dave A]

a mammoth clean up awaits after treatment.

May you be doing it on a reasonably cool day.

Here's a thought - If you use glue board ILTs instead of the zappers, there wouldn't be quite as much splatter to clean up

Probably be an issue with summer time temperatures in the roof, but I see the cluster fly migration into the roof void tends to happen in autumn - so perhaps still an option.

[Highspeedmonkey]

Hi Dave,
The Eletronic zappers were installed on a 'fit and forget' basis (before my time), except for changing the bulbs once a year, glue boards would be an option as the flies are only active for a short period of time but would require a little more maintenance (but on the other hand, I wouldn't have the beetle problem).
The good news is the beetles are isolated to only a few small areas directly below the zappers, so it'll be a hoover around and a dusting after.