Has anybody got any ideas of how to get rid of earwigs.
We have just spent 4 days vanning at Windsor... infested was an understatement... thousands of the horrible beasties. Come home unpacked everything, shaked it... killed lots of them (sorry to nature lovers) washed windbreaks, and everything else but they are still appearing. I am slightly concerned they may have got in the van itself.
Is anyone aware of anything we can do... powder perhaps of something to ensure that we are rid of the little blitters.
OH not impressed apparently one was crawling across his head in our bed at home last night... I did not laugh (honestly).
We sometimes get a few earwigs, but have never suffered an infestation - thankfully.
We have never come across any proprietary substance for preventing/eradicating earwigs in caravans. If there is a preparation on the market, let's hear about it, because their presence is unpleasant even though they are not life-threatening.
a caravanning fact is that you camp in a field, so imho things are most likely to get in,we have had ants,spiders and the smallest things you imagine.i have found when cleaning the van tiny bugs smaller that a pin head.i always give the van a good clean after returning and when finished go round and spray a fly killer in the cupboards and under the bed boxes.this has worked,from doing this i have seen nothing.take care not to get it on the seat material.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
not sure but this may help.....
How can I get rid of or at least control a bad infestation of earwigs?
In general, bugs can fall into one of three categories: good bugs, bad bugs, or so-so bugs. Earwigs happen to be one of the so-so bugs. While they may have some negative characteristics, such as occasionally feeding on cultivated plants, they can also be one of the good bugs. Earwigs tend to eat mostly decaying organic matter and garden insect pests, so be sure the earwigs are actually causing a problem before you set out to eliminate them. If they’re eating garden plants, the best way to control them is with traps.
Hang a flowerpot upside down on a stake in the garden. Place a bit of dry moss, moistened straw, hay, or newspaper in the pot. The earwigs will climb up at the end of the evening to rest. Empty the trap each morning and dump the earwigs into soapy water.
Cut a piece off an old garden hose and place it in the garden. The earwigs will hide in the hose. You will need to empty it each morning.
Pour some beer into a shallow dish (empty tuna fish tins work well). In a shady spot, place the dish in the soil so the rim is just above ground level. Every few days, empty out the trap and refill. Use this method only when necessary as it also drowns beneficial creatures.
You can also use fruit juice, corn syrup, or fish oil in your trap. Dark beer is apparently better than light and should be mixed 1:1 with water, with a bit of sugar added.
You can also place these mixtures in a shallow dish that’s covered with a lid. There should be enough room between the lid and the dish for the insects to crawl in and drown.
They get into the van via your deckchairs, tables etc etc. anything that has a nice dark crevice or tube to hide in during the day. We store our director chairs outside in heavy duty poly bags, and keep the canvas in the van. You can guarantee that when you slide the canvas back into the groove, a hundred earwigs rapidly exit the other end...!!
When we were kids my dad built us a tree house in the back garden. My brother and me only slept in it that once, in fact after that one time, we never went into it again.
We'd taken blankets and old coats up into the tree house (this was in the days before sleeping bags!!) We were woken up in the night by what felt like water dripping on us.
My bro switched on his torch and ...........no...........it wasn't water.......it was every earwig in the world falling on us....I still shiver about it today..
The air vents on the floor of caravans have holes large enough for the largest of insects to crawl through and for my wife's peace of mind i bought one of those collapsible salad covers (A very fine mesh umbrella type device designed to keep flys off salads etc). and cut small circles from it the size of the vents.
Then using a bit of sealant produced a circular bead of sealant on each of the vents then placed the mesh on each vent.
I also ensured each pipe coming up through the floor had sealant around it to block each of the gaps around the pipes.
I was concerned that i still had sufficeint air flow with the fine mesh filtted on each of the vents, but when we were at the national at spring bank we had a gale force wind blowing through each vent which confirmed the air flow, but didn't have the worry of spiders coming in to get out of the wet and cold.
I also carry all chairs tables Awning and poles in the car to minimise any insects in the caravan.
I also have zip up storeage bags under the lockers for the bedding to ensure that any intruders that do get past the mesh don't get into the bedding!!!!
The wigs tend to come out in the moist/humid weather, just like of late!
A couple of years ago, we were all sat in our awning one evening and i kid you not....hundreds of the things were dropping of the ceiling of the awning!
We now sprinkle bug killer around the legs of the van and around the awning site(before you put the ground sheet down)
So far so good...we've only had the odd couple of very brave bugs since!
About 10 years ago we had the house infested with wigs...we had to get a man with a spray pack on his back to get rid of them! So you must be able to buy stuff to get rid of them.
And theres is a comprehensive list on this site including sprays, powder,plugin insect repeller and face mask,gloves with some kits lol, might look strange on site wearing that
Quote: Originally posted by HappyCamper2004 on 03/7/2007
sleep with cotton wool in your ears.. it is something you got to live with camping :O) enjoy :O)
Its a known fact that in an average lifetime humans eat at least 5 spiders when sleeping. Does this mean we have to tape up our mouths & bung our noses up??
At least the snoring would stop!!!
------------- I'm just a slave to the outdoor life!!!!!!!
I hate earwigs, I don't mind spiders, or anything else. We have had a few earwigs in the van, but not very many. Several years back, before we got our caravan, we hired a static caravan in Dorset, and this had so many of the blighters, that I hated the holiday they seemed to come out at night and they were crawling all up the walls loads of them.
Yuk Yuk Yuk Years ago when we had a tent I woke up one morning and there was loads in between the inner tent we were in and the outer part, for some reason shortly after this I went back to caravanning.
Sue
------------- Sue
Rowntree Park York/April
Hillside Brixham/June
Braithwaite Fold Bowness/September
(and as many weekends as
possible in between!)
sleep with cotton wool in your ears.. it is something you got to live with camping :O) enjoy :O)
Its actually a myth about them going in your ears, they are no more likely to go in your ears than anything else. I lived once in an area near the coast and every year for about a month we would be invested with them, we use to spray a solution of pariffin and insecticide around the doorstep at night to keep them at bay. Never been known to kill a human though !!!
Being in pest control for the last 12 years, I put down insect monitors throughout the caravan. This not only lowers the numbers of insects but also gives me a great monitoring system, knowing what is crawling about while we sleep or when the van is not used.
Because Earwigs can climb and squeeze into the smallest of crevices, it is difficult to treat all of these surfaces with an insecticide. Not impossible, but difficult in a caravan.
I am not attempting to sell you these insect traps but before you do buy some (and possibly get ripped off) please get in touch.
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Topic: Earwigs.....
