Diatomaceous Earth (DE)

Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2000 12:17:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: Barry Whitney
Subject: Re: Diatomaceous Earth EDE

Some more information (below) on Enhanced Diatomaceous Earth from http://res2.agr.ca/winnipeg/Heat-DE.htm#aboutde

from http://www.centralsan.org/education/ipm/cockroaches.html
Desiccating Dust (brand names):
Concern Diatomaceous Earth (our local garden store carries this at $7 for 1.5#
Crawling Insect Killer
Grow More Diatomaceous Earth
Surefire Crawling Insect Killer

More info
http://www.biconet.com/crawlers/DEarticle1.html

=============
About Diatomaceous Earth and Protect-ItTM
(http://res2.agr.ca/winnipeg/Heat-DE.htm#aboutde)

Diatomaceous Earth(DE) is a geological deposit made up of the fossilized skeletons of diatoms, which are unicellular algae that live in seas, lakes, streams, and ponds. Diatoms get their unique shape by absorbing dissolved silica which is then converted into highly ordered shells. When these microscopic plants die, they settle to the bottom of lakes and seas and can form thick layers of nearly pure silicon dioxide. With time and pressure these layers are compressed into the deposits that are known as DE.

Before DE can be used as an insecticide, deposits must be dried and milled to separate individual diatoms which are between 1 to about 100 microns in diameter. The fossilized diatoms are amorphous silicon dioxide which is nontoxic to mammals, and is registered as a food additive in Canada, USA and in many other countries. DE works by adhering to and absorbing the waxy coatings on insects causing their death by dehydration. It has been used to control stored-product pests for centuries. Extensive studies have been conducted on the application of DE as a stored-grain protectant (Banks and Fields, 1995).

There are a number of DE insecticides on the market in Canada and United States today: Dryacide, Insecto, Perma-guard and Protect-ItTM are the main ones used as grain protectants (Quarles and Winn, 1996). They have had limited use, in part because of the widespread use of effective chemical insecticides such as methyl bromide, Malathion, chlorpyrifos-methyl, and phosphine. In addition, earlier DE formulations required very high concentrations, were not always effective and caused other problems. For the DE product, we chose Protect-ItTM. It was developed jointly by Hedley Technologies Inc. and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Cereal Research Centre in Winnipeg and is produced by Hedley Technologies Inc. Protect-ItTM , an enhanced DE (EDE) formulation, has been extensively tested in both the laboratory and in field tests. In these tests, both as a grain protectant and as a structural treatment, it performed as well as or better than other commercial DE products (Korunic and Fields, 1995).

Since food processing facilities usually have low relative humidities, which are reduced even more during heat treatments, a series of experiments was designed to determine if DE could be used to increase the efficacy and speed of heat treatments. Combination treatments have gained acceptance as people search for new ways to control pest populations (Banks and Fields, 1995). Some examples are: phosphine, carbon dioxide and heat and low concentrations of phosphine over long durations with top dressing of diatomaceous earth. If successful, this heat and DE combination method would make it easier for facilities to use heat as a replacement for methyl bromide fumigation. Previous literature gave an indication that silica aerogel and heat are synergistic against the German cockroach at 43oC (Ebeling, W. 1994) (both DE and silica aerogel are made from silicon dioxide).

Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2000 13:40:35 -0700
From: "W.Guglieri"
Subject: Re: DE and mites

-----Original Message-----
From: Jill Morrow
In another vein - diatomaceous earth sounds like an ideal solution to mites.

If I'm not mistaken, the person who told me about the use of DE heard it from a friend/monitor who has almost exclusively TREe Swallows nesting in her boxes. She uses it routinely to control the mites that are so common in the nests of birds who use feathers in their nests. Just carry it in a spice bottle with a shaker top and sprinkle directly over the top over the nest.

Wendy Guglieri
Rescue, California
-in the Sierra Nevada foothills 40 mi. east of Sacramento-
wendyg"at"jps.net

Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 04:29:32 -0500
From: STANSBURY Jace Jace.Stansbury"at"FINA.com
Subject: Notes on the use of Diatomaceous Earth

I have a Purple Martin colony and it is common practice among martin landlords to place the DE (diatomaceuos earth) under the nest itself due to the fact that it can be irriatating to the soft tissues of the nestlings, especially before they develop feathers. The DE could also be inhaled by the nestlings causing respiratory irritation. DE is actually diatoms or the tiny shells of microscopic creatures. The sharpness of these" tiny shells" are what kill the mites by cutting them. Another reason for putting DE under the nest is because this is where the mites congregate when they are not feeding. Hope this helps.

Jace

Jace Stansbury
Nederland, TX

Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 06:41:54 -0700 (PDT)
From: Sandy Pasquariello sandy_flowers"at"yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Notes on the use of Diatomaceous Earth

This product is also recommended in gardens to kill slugs. The particles are so sharp it gets imbedded into their skins. Sandy, Myrtle Beach, SC

Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 10:07:16 -0700
From: John Schuster John"at"KABAaudio.com
Subject: Earwigs and more

Dear Dottie and friends,

Earwigs have forceps like appendages at the end of the abdomen. These forceps look like lethal weapons, but in reality are harmless to people plus in the opinion of Fish and Game are harmless to birds and other animals too. Earwigs are primarily nocturnal and are primarily scavengers feeding on dead insects and rotted plant materials.

For more information on Earwigs you can read about them on this web site.

http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/entomology/factsheets/earwigs.html 

Earwigs do feed on living plants. That's why I use the "Tangle Foot" in out fruit trees and other plants.

There is also a type of earth (the name escapes me right now) that you can apply around your plants (or base of your mounting pole) and when an insect crawls through it, this powdery earth blocks up the air passages of the insect suffocating it.

I wanted to use this earth material once but my nursery didn't have anymore so I just went with the "Tangle Foot" and have been using it ever since. If I remember the reason that this product was out of stock was that everybody likes it because it works great and is harmless to birds and animals.

If anyone is interested I'll call up my nursery and will post the research.

Four new baby BB to report with 1 egg to go (in that nesting box). This could be one of those eggs that just will not hatch. Will see what happens.

Happy Bluebird Trails To You,
John Schuster

Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 14:13:53 -0400
From: "MJShearer" eshearer"at"mediaone.net
Subject: Re: Earwigs and more

I believe you're thinking of diatomaceous (sp.?) earth, John. It's also recommended for quite a few other indoor and outdoor crawling insects. I bought a 5 pound bag for about $10.00 at a nursery. If I'm not mistaken, earlier this year someone on the list suggested using it on the floor of nest boxes to control blowfly larvae, mites, and ants. Maybe it was Keith???

BTW, the Bluebirds that lost their first two eggs to house wrens are now feeding 5 new nestlings. They succeeded in evicting the wrens from their territory.

MJ
(Mary Jane Shearer; Tucker, GA)

Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 15:26:50 -0500
From: "Bill Darnell" bdarnel3"at"bellsouth.net
Subject: Re: Earwigs and more

DE has been used for insect (mite control) but it may be dangerous to birds. DE is actually silicon dioxide, which causes silicosis of the lungs in humans. Also, I have NEVER seen any documentation that it has killed even one insect! If anyone knows any, please let me know! Until then, I will consider it "foo-foo dust" or "snake oil!"

Bill
TN

Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 14:27:55 -0700
From: John Schuster John"at"KABAaudio.com
Subject: Earwigs & Diatomaceous Earth

Dear MJ, and Bruce and friends.

Thanks for the input on Diatomaceous Earth (DE).

Here is an explanation about DE.
http://encarta.msn.com/index/conciseindex/2C/02C77000.htm?z=1&pg=2&br=1 

My thought is that DE should only be used on the ground (where it belongs) and not in a nesting box. I believe DE in the nesting box is just to abrasive in my opinion.

Placing DE on the ground should handle the earwigs and so on, but probably not the Blowfly larvae or mites.

I'm looking into some other solutions for nesting box parasites and will post my results.

Happy Bluebird Trails To You,
John Schuster

I was looking in the archives for info on using Diotamaceous Earth in nestboxes . 

From the archives "The fossilized diatoms are amorphous silicon dioxide which is nontoxic to mammals, and is registered as a food additive in Canada, USA and in many other countries. DE works by adhering to and absorbing the waxy coatings on insects causing their death by dehydration. It has been used to control stored-product pests for centuries. Extensive studies have been conducted on the application of DE as a stored-grain protectant (Banks and Fields, 1995)."

I read that Purple Martin landlords USED to put a dusting UNDERNEATH the nesting material to control mites.  (Some carry it in a spice bottle with a shaker top).  They put it underneath because it could be irritating to the soft tissues of nestlings, esp. before they develop feathers.  The kind people use to control insects is garden grade from a feed store - not the stuff used for swimming pool filters.

See PMCA's recommendations here: http://purplemartin.org/forumarchives/archive/DE.htm - they no longer recommend it because of dust blown around as PUMAs practice flapping their wings (concern about silicosis and lung disease)

Also see http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&issn=0273-8570&volume=075&issue=03&page=0232 - conclusion:  "Although DE was effective against both fleas and blow flies, it did not completely rid nests of either type of parasite."

It's too bad, because it's a natural product, and seemed like it would be good for blowflies esp. since they go to the bottom of the box under the nest during the day, and for mites that TRES bring into their nests with chicken feathers.

Any new info available? 

Bet from CT

From: Duane Rice [mailto:drbirdsong4"at"hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 9:20 PM
Subject: RE: Question about Diatomaceous Earth

Bet,
The experts I know use Sevin.
DR

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