Hallelujah! Spring is HERE!!

[Tula]

Well, we found out the bog pipes burst over the winter.....I'm sure it was the frigid weather in Feb. Hubby said he forgot to leave the valves open

On a positive note, plants are greening up in the bog and the sand & gravel filter is fired up

 

[addy1]

bummer.................. I have not check any of ours yet.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Well, we found out the bog pipes burst over the winter.....I'm sure it was the frigid weather in Feb. Hubby said he forgot to leave the valves open

On a positive note, plants are greening up in the bog and the sand & gravel filter is fired up

Yay for plants greening up. OH, MY! I am SO sorry about your burst pipes. Ugg.

 

[GBBUDD]

Pesky bugs are a part of spring! This is the year of the 17 year cicadas. SO looking forward to that.

OMG i dealt with those things in Maryland 6 years ago it wasn't a huge amount of them but i had left my window open in the truck driving through wetlands and one of those things flew into my truck i didn't see it do so but as i was driving all of a sudden it let out that incredible screech i almost ended up in the wetland scared the heck out of me

 

[GBBUDD]

I should be ok we had a good snow cover almost all winter we still have snow, not a lot but it's there.

 

[poconojoe]

Kinda like ick, if it’s too warm for them to hibernate, they’ll hunt for food. If you have no reason to go down there, tape up door jams, windows, electrical outlets, etc, just need good masking tape to bar them from moving to other areas. Seal it off, up the heat, put out all your bombs and traps, and then check again a few months later. If it’s cold, they’ll wait it out, but if it’s warm, they don’t have such a good option, and will actively hunt for a host, burn up their energy reserves, and die. We moved into a house at one point that had them horribly. Sealed up the house, bombed it, then again once it was warm out, cleared out all the previous tenets stuff, bombed it again, then deep cleaned. That was a three month project of bombing, cleaning, and it seemed that by removing places for them to hide, heat, and bombs, we seriously reduced them. They did like you described, where you could see swarms of them climbing when we first went in. We were buying that place, so it was worth it, but then ended up loosing it because after all our work, the lady reneged on the deal and sold it out from under us.

Thanks for the great pointers, I really appreciate it.

Like I said, I didn't know about raising the heat to get them to come out. I was doing the opposite. Trying to keep it cold. I thought they would die off eventually if it was cold. I didn't realize they could hibernate for so long.

The other problem, as you mentioned, is we have a lot of stuff stored down there, so they have places to hide. But I'll do what you said, turn up the heat and hit them with everything I have.

 

[poconojoe]

Well, we found out the bog pipes burst over the winter.....I'm sure it was the frigid weather in Feb. Hubby said he forgot to leave the valves open

On a positive note, plants are greening up in the bog and the sand & gravel filter is fired up

Oh, bummer! Hope it's an easy fix.

I took a chance and kept my new bog running all winter here in Pennsylvania. I was a little paranoid, but kept an eye on it.

All my plumbing is within the pond/bog.

My spillway from the bog to the pond is in the center of the wall between the bog and pond, nowhere near the pond's perimeter.

I figured, even if there were ice buildup, chances are most likely the water will not escape. It would still end up in the pond.
So far, so good....

 

[Tula]

Oh, bummer! Hope it's an easy fix.

I took a chance and kept my new bog running all winter here in Pennsylvania. I was a little paranoid, but kept an eye on it.

All my plumbing is within the pond/bog.

My spillway from the bog to the pond is in the center of the wall between the bog and pond, nowhere near the pond's perimeter.

I figured, even if there were ice buildup, chances are most likely the water will not escape. It would still end up in the pond.
So far, so good....

That's good news . We shut ours down around Christmas, as our pipes are exposed. We got a real cold spell in Feb so that's probably when it happened. Hubby said he was so sure he'd left it open.........sigh. LOL.

Fortunately I don't think it's going to be a terrible fix.....just new PVC runs and a couple new connections.

 

[GBBUDD]

That's good news . We shut ours down around Christmas, as our pipes are exposed. We got a real cold spell in Feb so that's probably when it happened. Hubby said he was so sure he'd left it open.........sigh. LOL.

Fortunately I don't think it's going to be a terrible fix.....just new PVC runs and a couple new connections.

YOU GET A LOT MORE FORGIVENESS WITH FLEX PVC

 

[JamieB]

Thanks for the great pointers, I really appreciate it.

Like I said, I didn't know about raising the heat to get them to come out. I was doing the opposite. Trying to keep it cold. I thought they would die off eventually if it was cold. I didn't realize they could hibernate for so long.

The other problem, as you mentioned, is we have a lot of stuff stored down there, so they have places to hide. But I'll do what you said, turn up the heat and hit them with everything I have.

It’ll still be a fight, but it should speed up their hatch rate to get them to a point where you can kill them faster. And set the traps where it’s warmest, they’ll be seeking the heat source as a potential food source. Bowls of soapy water under a heat lamp, wide shallow bowls or big cake pans work great there. When you go down, a trick is to put flea collars around your ankles over your clothes, I’d get a bottle of tea tree oil, put a few drops at knee, waist, chest, wrist, neck, and a thing I do to fight biting bugs is I’ll put a few drops on the dryer sheets before I dry the clothes that I’ll be out working in. It’s a strong scent, not every one can take it directly on their skin, so test before you go full strength.

 

[poconojoe]

It’ll still be a fight, but it should speed up their hatch rate to get them to a point where you can kill them faster. And set the traps where it’s warmest, they’ll be seeking the heat source as a potential food source. Bowls of soapy water under a heat lamp, wide shallow bowls or big cake pans work great there. When you go down, a trick is to put flea collars around your ankles over your clothes, I’d get a bottle of tea tree oil, put a few drops at knee, waist, chest, wrist, neck, and a thing I do to fight biting bugs is I’ll put a few drops on the dryer sheets before I dry the clothes that I’ll be out working in. It’s a strong scent, not every one can take it directly on their skin, so test before you go full strength.

Thanks again. You have given me a wealth of information.
I'll do what you're saying, but I'll wear a tyvek suit when going down there. I will have full coverage that way. I'll keep the suit at the top of the stairs. I'll have to find some tea tree oil and put it on the tyvek suit.

 

[brokensword]

Thanks again. You have given me a wealth of information.
I'll do what you're saying, but I'll wear a tyvek suit when going down there. I will have full coverage that way. I'll keep the suit at the top of the stairs. I'll have to find some tea tree oil and put it on the tyvek suit.

what's that eerie sound? Reminds me of Jaws music...

 

[poconojoe]

what's that eerie sound? Reminds me of Jaws music...

What eerie sound? Or are you joking?

 

[brokensword]

What eerie sound? Or are you joking?

heh, just the way you were phrasing your 'plan of attack' made me think Jaws music was playing....ah, yes, j/k

 

[poconojoe]

heh, just the way you were phrasing your 'plan of attack' made me think Jaws music was playing....ah, yes, j/k

Yep, it's definately a plan of attack. Picture me in a tyvek hazmat suit creeping cautiously down the basement stairs, bug sprays in each surgical gloved hand. Music from Jaws would definitely fit the bill!