Biological problems with non toxic solutions

How about a thread about solving biological nuisances.

Lots of issues in Taiwan as we go from snow to tropical and wet to fairly dry. Bugs, mold, snakes etc. Most don’t need drastic action.

So things like prevention, not attracting them in the first place, can avoid extra work or health compromising activity.

Maybe we can collaborate and discuss the issue, root causes and solutions.

Good example is ants. In most basic terms their cause is both sugars and proteins. Eliminating that is easy on the 15th floor, but not the first. So Avoiding their food is hard, but killing them.is easy. Provide 2 kinds of traps based on their food stage preferences of sugars and protein and lace it with boric acid. Problem solved.

Perhaps a more clear logical layout would be useful to keep things streamline.

Problem/pest:

Food source:

Other attractants:

Solutions:

Notes:

Please add things you are familiar with, but at least be sure of the problems cause (e.g… many people might not understand a fungal infection from a bacterial one, and if not sure lets not pretend we know).

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I haven’t used boric acid but I have had success fighting ants by using dish soap, usually diluted with water in a spray bottle. Occasionally I will smear it undiluted in an area if they are particularly stubborn or the spray solution dries too fast.

Jesus Christ. That’s far too organized for this forum. :rofl:

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Problem: bugs

Solution: la chancla (azul)

image

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Dish soap diluted in water, sticky traps and drain covers for insects in the house. Vinegar for fungus and mold.

Perhaps the intent is important as well. Dissuade or kill.

I have a few old pictures when I first arrived armed with dish soap, note its much better than laundry detergent and isopropyl. The sticky substances work well for more solitary habit Thu GSM, but nestinGspecies with queens like ants it so g stop, just distract. The boric acid works based on the fact they eat it (when mixed with either a sugar type source or a protein based one. They eat it, bring it back home in the food and they die when consumed. The dead ants are eaten and the salt gets spread through the colony, and kills it. Flat out. Gone. Spraying ant lines might be fast but it only kills a very small percentage of the workers who do not breed anyway. Also being an airborne spray I don’t think anyone has any illusions on the health issues for us and our neighbours.

Dish soaps stop many things from coming back but is annoying to me to clean up. A simple bottle cap filled with boric acid laced sugar, and another with protein, put in contact with the ants search party solves the issue in 1 week and that nest is solved by the source.

Not a suitable solution for Buddhists. But effective.

Dr Milker haha. I thought was a real foot on my small phone for a minute…yuck.

The bear…yes so it’s a solution people need. Organising an experience into a few categories should be easy enough, eve. If for shots and grind after a few too many :slight_smile: if we organize, 200 year old problems don’t keep resurfacing :wink:

Problem/pest: Homo Sapiens Sapiens

Food source: Varied plant and animal. Over 2,000 plant species plus associated cultivars. Animals by direct (meat) and indirect (milk eggs) routes

Other attractants: Water

Solutions: Final

Notes: Co-exist with other pests, eg: rats and seagulls

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Solution: condoms, taint food with hazardous pesticides, create a lethargic and placid atmosphere with more plastic and other chemicals in food. They will decline in numbers over a generation or 2, and with aging populations wars and survival necessity will lower the pests populations drasticly. Other measures to limit reproduction likely not legal. And, unlike other genocides, human population control takes more than a week to be legally carried out. Though, 1 year plus seems socially acceptable, so plan your pest control strategy accordingly as to your local, state and federal governments acceptable time frame levels of genocide use.

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Thanks for the tips, do you know where to find borid acid in Taipei? Thank you in advance

starship%20troopers

The only good bug is a dead bug

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Most pharmacies have it.

I think the Chinese is this. In Taipei they should be more aware of chemistry so can ask them to check the chemical formula and make sure (only say this cause I have been sold citric acid a few times now)
硼酸
Péngsuān
H3BO3, technically all packaging should have this formula on it. Is common and cheap. Many commercial bug traps, look at cockroach and any baits, use boric acid. But by making your own you are elimating a crap load of pollution, waste and packaging and it can be made truly as easy as making a cup of tea. Plus you control the ingredients so you are likely going to be more successful in killing them. Normally I agree diy home projects turn into failed attempts and a waste of time, but the commercial guys use this too. So only the truly lazy can get this one wrong :slight_smile:

As a bug lover, I admittedly love starship troopers (not the second and third ones though) :):):slight_smile:

I have often mused over the ethics of genetically modifying certain strains of Mosquitoes. Seem to remember that some experts thought the effect on the food- chain would be very minimal . If they made mosquitos sterile , which I believe is possible , they would die out fairly soon . Of course the danger of a few frogs/ bird populations affected , far outweighs the millions of lives that may be saved :pensive:

Ha , typical just saw this on the BBC

It’s a somewhat old and interesting idea. Certainly it’s going to be risky and deserves some intense thought and testing, but it’s an interesting one. It is likely far safer than city wide fumigation as we are in Taiwan spraying peaticides everywhere. And like a far better idea than more typical biological warefar such as bacteria, fungus viruses etc.

Although technically anything from selective breeding onward is a type of GMO, but in these cases it’s hard for the average guys and gals to carry out DNA manipulation in the basement. So that one we shall leave up to the people with labs and far reaching collaboration and can test things out.