Bug screens

Have you made changes to your coach? Improvements? Remodel? New technology? Tell the story and show some pictures here.
Babcia
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2020 8:25 pm

Bug screens

Post by Babcia »

There have been a lot of little repairs and improvements to our newly acquired 2008 Trek 29RBD. The project this week was adding screens to keep the bugs out of the water heater, furnace and refrigerator vents. Still waiting on the Koni shocks that have been on order since September.
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Nanette & Alan
2008 Safari Trek 29RBD
‘08 Scion XB
Moonwink
Posts: 50
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2019 7:46 pm
Location: Near St Louis, MO

Re: Bug screens

Post by Moonwink »

I've had bad luck using the white nylon wire ties outdoors. The age pretty quickly, get brittle and break. I'd recommend some stainless steel wire for a permanent fix or at least use the black wire ties which don't become brittle so fast.
The mud dubbers around my area cause all sorts of summer problems. The screens are a must. I had to put a plastic washer under the water heater latch to keep them from finding their way through and making nests even after I put the screen on it.

(Glad to see another Trekker on this board!)
Don Ford
2004 Safari Trek 31SBD (F53/V10 20,500GVW)
'15 Malibu 2LT or '97 Aerostar MiniVan (Remco driveshaft disconnect) for Towed vehicles
BlueOx Aventa II Towbar - ReadyBrake Inertia Brake System
RSBILLEDWARDS
Posts: 39
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2019 8:10 am

Re: Bug screens

Post by RSBILLEDWARDS »

Very nice looking job.
astrnmrtom
Posts: 167
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:49 pm

Re: Bug screens

Post by astrnmrtom »

Good move Bill. In the PNW I had the European Paper Wasp to deal with along with Mud Daubers. On the more benign side, Mason Bees would fill recessed screw holes on the rig with mud. The European Paper Wasp is the one what makes open paper comb nests and was the most common. A good trick to use if you suspect a nest, is check it early in the morning, or late at night when it's cold and they are groggy. I took care of a lot of those little beasts at work by knocking the nest down on a early cold morning and smashing it. This method was so effective I stopped using spray for 99% of the situations.

Here's a fun wasp story for you:

One time I was called to deal with a nest in the wall of a cafeteria. Having wasps flying around in a room full of 250 elementary school kids at lunch made for a lot of ear-piercing, high-pitched screams, and real chaos. For that one, I located the exterior entrance, and did a night-op where I got on the building roof and fogged the nest around 11pm. I had assure the Principal using my best "evil" smile that I'd get 'em all that night while they slept. It was a complete success, and then I noticed police cars taking up positions surrounding the school waiting for the "burglar" to climb down off the roof. Fortunately I had the forethought to wear my uniform which saved me when I met the officer at the bottom of the ladder. It was suggested the next time I needed to do a night-op, that I call the station during the day to let them know. I should have known better because the school was surrounded by apartments and someone looking out their window and seeing someone on the roof of the school in the middle of the night with a flashlight could only mean one things - and it wasn't killing wasps. It left me, and them I'm sure, with a good story to tell though. One thing that was a little unnerving about the op was when I approached the nest to fog, I came face to face with several guard wasps at the entrance hole. I watched them carefully for a few seconds to see how they were reacting and they were quite sluggish in the cold so I went ahead with my plan.

You may want to check your roof vent of your refrigerator. The screening the factory uses is coarse enough for wasps to slip through. I've also had some issues with the paper wasps making small nests under the aluminum cover of the window awnings. You can get the little stinkers dropping on you when you pull the awning open. Now THAT'S fun! If you have them in your area, take note that the European Paper wasp queens overwinter in snug hiding places like a rolled up awning or under the edges of a RV or boat cover. That's a good time to get them before they start their nest.
Tom and Pris Masterson, w/ Buddy the 18 year old Siamese cat.
1998 Serengeti 3706
300hp Cat 3126, Allison 3060
900 Watts of Solar
17cf, Fisher & Paykel residential Refrigerator
Dragging four telescopes around the US seeking dark skies.
Bilmac36
Posts: 75
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2019 10:06 pm

Re: Bug screens

Post by Bilmac36 »

Tom, excellent story. And interesting note about the guard wasp. Here in MS we have some large militant territorial Red wasp. I’ve seen them fly out up to 12’ away to buzz a person. I like your night ops. Have watched yellow jackets fly into their inground nest in late evening and then watched again fly out in the mornings. This one particular nest had them coming and going like a Jetson’s space portal. Eventually the nest was dug up by some night stalking critter, suspect a skunk, possum, or Armadillo. I discovered this over a two day time frame noting multi-tiered nest ranging in diameter of ~6” to 12” and one part was 4 tiered now above ground and their ‘space portal’ dug out and obliterated. (Was pretty amazing architectural work though to see those nest.)

Alan, who did you order your Koni shocks from? May want to try ultrarvproducts.com, +1 (360) 736-2158. I ordered a set earlier this year from an outfit whose name isn’t percolating up at the moment, but two weeks later I still did not have a confirmation and shipping date. I called the company, could not get a person on the phone so then went online and canceled the order. I Called UltraRVproducts and my shocks were in stock and I had shipping confirmation the next day. Shocks arrived couple days later.
r/Willie
'95 Safari Continental, Cummins 8.3L, Allison MD3060
Babcia
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2020 8:25 pm

Re: Bug screens

Post by Babcia »

Love all the bug stories. Part of learning how to live with these challenges. RVing people always resourceful! Thanks all for your comments and stories!

Thanks for the suggestion on ordering Koni shocks. My mechanic ordered them, so I don’t know from what supplier. Since they never arrived, I had him cancel the order. I then ordered them from shockwarehouse. I called them and they had them in stock. I order and they sent them out quickly. Now I just have to have them installed. -Nanette-
Nanette & Alan
2008 Safari Trek 29RBD
‘08 Scion XB
chuckster
Posts: 286
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2020 4:53 pm

Re: Bug screens

Post by chuckster »

:lol:

One of the most “entertaining” threads in recent times!
Chuck & Mitzi
'01 Safari Zanzibar 3646 (side entry)
Cat 3126B / Allison MD3060
Magnum M-Series "Blue Max" chassis
2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland toad
astrnmrtom
Posts: 167
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:49 pm

Re: Bug screens

Post by astrnmrtom »

More Ground Dwelling Yellow Jacket Fun Facts:

In the PNW, it's common for these nests to be built in the ground below a shrub root ball. A common landscaping plant on our grounds at work was a string plant. What fascinating is, not only to the Yellow Jackets to a marvelous job excavating the underground chamber, they also cut a path through the shrub itself to easily fly to and from the nest. They make an open "door" in the side of the plant. In the summer time we'd do a lot of shrub trimming and person stomping around the shrub with a gas powered trimmer was unwelcomed by the nest. Before starting, I'd walk past the shrubs watching for anything flying in and out. Another clue was a very neat "hole" in the side of the shrub. One large nest had cut a perfect square hole in the side of the bush. I carried a package of flea foggers, a roll of duct tape, and a long pole. I had two ways of destroying the nest. If it was early in the am and they weren't active, I'd just jam the handle of a shovel into the nest and scramble it. If they were active, I'd tape the fogger to the end of the pole, activate it and place it as close to the nest's ground entry as possible. Conventional wasp sprays can't reach the nest, but the fogger will, and will kill the nest dead. If you can get it spraying into the opening, it blocks the little stinkers from exiting to come after you. Otherwise, time to schedule another night-op. Oh, and as our license recert instructors used to say to us over and over again: READ AND FOLLOW LABEL INSTRUCTIONS!

One important trick I learned to use in my many years dealing with stinging insects that made nests in outside equipment was to always do a visual of an area for a couple minutes before opening any hatches or service covers - especially in the summer when they are most active. An active nest will have workers coming and going constantly and watching for them saved me from opening a cover only to get attacked and stung. Even if there wasn't activity, I'd still open the cover and take a couple steps back or tap on the door or cover first, then step back before opening it.

Once I learned what to look for, I never got stung again, and I was the guy called if anyone found a nest. Between working in the cold/cool hours, and being aware, I was able to destroy nests without pesticides and without getting nailed. I went from using a lot of wasp spray to almost none just by using a long extension pole to knock down the nest when it was cool and the "bees" sleepy, or a shovel handle to "scramble" the in ground nest when it was asleep. The other safety trick was to know when nest building had begin, and deal with them down while small, rinse and repeat. Even then, a few of them could try for me. Please be careful though if you want to try one of my methods. I was the pest guy at work for 16 years so I had a lot of practice. I learned how to evaluate the activity level, and knew when to, and when NOT TO go after a nest. A large nest can contain 10,000 workers, even smaller ones 100s, so going head to head is risky.

I had one close call when going after a large nest of Bald Faced Hornets. They make the enclosed ball, or cone shaped paper nest under eaves or hanging from tree branches. I'd been called to a middle school that a basketball sized nest hanging from the eave in the corner of a building. It was still fairly early but there was some activity but I decided to try to knock down the nest anyway. I grabbed my pole and gave a swing - and missed! - instead banging the building. Well, you can guess what kind of reaction that caused, and the chase was on. I could almost hear the little buzzing voices scream: "Let's get him girls!" I dropped the pole, and "bee-lined" it back to the truck, wasps in hot pursuit/ Got inside, slammed the door behind me, and watched the wasps look for me through the glass. That's when I noticed the kids in several nearby classrooms with outward facing windows laughing and pointing at me. I'd been great entertainment for a bunch of tweens that day. I did regroup, re-evaluate, change tactics and get me revenge - on the wasps, not the kids.

I had a similar nest, but larger, in the eaves at the peak of my garage many years before. This was in my pre-pest control days, and the wasps were bothering anyone so I let it be. It was large enough people driving through the neighborhood would stop their cars, look and point. After the nest was abandoned I knocked it down.

Thank goodness I retired from this fun in 2016. I lived and worked quite close to the area where the Giant Asian "Murder" Hornets were found this year. Now that's one beast I wouldn't want to stumble upon or get called to exterminate. The PNW was also too cold for Africanized Bees so I consider myself lucky.
Tom and Pris Masterson, w/ Buddy the 18 year old Siamese cat.
1998 Serengeti 3706
300hp Cat 3126, Allison 3060
900 Watts of Solar
17cf, Fisher & Paykel residential Refrigerator
Dragging four telescopes around the US seeking dark skies.
1Lotosrggp
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2019 6:08 pm

Re: Bug screens

Post by 1Lotosrggp »

Tom,
Just saw the the Chinese have adapted a drone to be a flying flamethrower to take care of nests up in trees. Must not have forest fires.

We've always had bees, wasps and mud daubers but a couple of years ago I got stung on two occasions from both the ground and in buildings. Early morning with a vacuum took care of my stinging insects.
Tom
97 Sahara 3550
3126 CAT 300hp
astrnmrtom
Posts: 167
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:49 pm

Re: Bug screens

Post by astrnmrtom »

Flame throwing drone?! Now that's an idea!

But do they have anything nearly as clever and fun as the US invented Rodenator? I bet it would work great for inground nests except you'd get pelted with little high speed projectiles with stingers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgztUzq ... =Rodenator
Tom and Pris Masterson, w/ Buddy the 18 year old Siamese cat.
1998 Serengeti 3706
300hp Cat 3126, Allison 3060
900 Watts of Solar
17cf, Fisher & Paykel residential Refrigerator
Dragging four telescopes around the US seeking dark skies.
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