Cockroaches Anyone?

[bottlebomber]

I've never seen a cockroach before a week ago. My wife is a neat freak, and if there's a cheerio on the linoleum she has a radar that alerts her to its presence.

Im not a slob, but when it comes to my brewing station there's a little base malt sprinkled on the floor and maybe a beer soaked shop rag from time to time.

I go out to my garage a week ago at night to grab a beer from the fridge, and there were 3 of those little b@stards scurrying around on the floor. I flipped out, the first thing in my hand was a box of aluminum foil and I dealt with 2 of em. Got my beer, drank it. Went back out and there were a few more. Needless to say I didn't sleep well that night.

The next day I armed up- spray killer, and poison food traps. The food traps stated "contains 2 foods roaches love". I opened the celophane on the package, and the unmistakable aroma of malted barley wafted out. I was starting to put it all together...

I was later researching more about how to put an end to these disgusting creatures, and I came across some home remedies- Put a slippery sided jar up against a wall, or make some sticks ramping up to it, and fill it with an inch of beer. Cockroaches cannot resist beer, so they will climb in and drown. Bingo.

Happily when i went out two days ago there were several of them writhing around on the floor. Long story short, I am now a neat freak like my wife. Seeing those little guys skittering around in the garage (thank god they didn't make it into the house) was enough for me to make sure EVERYTHING is cleaned up after a brew. Because evidently, we aren't the only ones who love beer.

Has anyone else ever had a problem like this they'd like to share?

 

[Germelli1]

I run into cockroaches A LOT in one of my hobbies so they don't really bother me. Plus I respect anything that can live through nuclear fall out.

However, I expect to run into them where I go for that. But around food and stuff they still "bug" me a bit.

That is a cool story you have with the malt/beer! And I am even more impressed you were able to dispatch two manually. The ones I see are FAST

 

[Seven]

In Florida they are called Palmetto Bugs... but they are still roaches and they're bigger than any I've ever seen. Up to 2-inches long.

Usually when you see a roach or two it means there's a lot more hiding elsewhere. Stay vigilant!

 

[JonM]

No roaches, but I did have an incredibly dense mouse that liked to sleep out in the open, well within whacking-with-a-shoe distance.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/mouse-likes-fermenter-254797/

 

[passedpawn]

In Florida they are called Palmetto Bugs... but they are still roaches and they're bigger than any I've ever seen. Up to 2-inches long.

Usually when you see a roach or two it means there's a lot more hiding elsewhere. Stay vigilant!

They don't bother me at all. BTW, you forgot to mention that our Palmetto Bugs down here fly. Your lazy northern roaches (german) don't do that.

Get yourself some Demon WP, mix it up, and spray along baseboards. Sweep up dead critters for days. You can buy packets at local DIY pest control stores. I use a diasy sprayer and do the whole house every spring.

[edit] I have experience with this powder. I can guarantee you that it works. I use to have a pro do my house; I asked him what he was spraying, and this is what he used.

 

[KevinW]

When I lived in Southern Cal I remember seeing them outside all the time. I was going in the house one night and went to open the door one of those "bugs" was nestled against the door on the door jamb. If I had opened the door he/she would've just boogied right in the house! Sneaky little SOB! Needless to say that is one roach that did not make it!

One remedy that I recall that does work is to put boric acid (from a local pharmacy/supermarket) in places the roaches may crawl. Behind refridgerators, in cupboards, underneath sinks, places like that. The areas must remain dry to be effective.

Roaches are very, very, festidious about cleaning their bodies. They have sensory hairs that help detect air pressure changes (why they are so hard to smack) so they must stay clean. When they walk through the boric acid poweder it clings to tiny hairs on their feet/legs. When they clean themselves the powder will scrape the waxy coating that covers their body and they will dehydrate in a day or two!

Smashing them works too!

 

[nefarious_1_]

In Florida they are called Palmetto Bugs... but they are still roaches and they're bigger than any I've ever seen. Up to 2-inches long.

Usually when you see a roach or two it means there's a lot more hiding elsewhere. Stay vigilant!

Yes.
If you see one, there are a lot more hiding. If you see say 10 or 20, there are MANY in hiding. I don't mean to scare you, but after working in a restaurant for 5 years with different exterminators, this seems to be the general consensus.

They're a pain in a** to get rid of too. Spray like crazy because those traps hardly do anything.

Stay clean and they won't have a reason to come around.



Eh... *shudders* ...roaches...

 

[Seven]

Get yourself some Demon WP, mix it up, and spray along baseboards. Sweep up dead critters for days. You can buy packets at local DIY pest control stores. I use a diasy sprayer and do the whole house every spring.

Thanks for the tip about Demon WP. I've been wondering what to do about these little suckers and I have a feeling they are just laughing at the roach traps that I purchased from Home Depot.

 

[bluemoose]

Put a slippery sided jar up against a wall, or make some sticks ramping up to it, and fill it with an inch of beer. Cockroaches cannot resist beer, so they will climb in and drown. Bingo.

Careful, you might come in to find an HBTer or two in there!

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Careful, you might come in to find an HBTer or two in there!

Well played, sir!

 

[KevinW]

Well played, sir!

So, in effect, we are all pretty much like a bunch of cockroaches?

Sweet, now I know why I always run for cover when my SWMBO tries to swat me with a rolled up newspaper!:cross:

 

[frailn]

I have tried everything you can imagine to get rid of roaches. The one thing that consistently worked well for me is Bengal roach spray. I haven't found anything better.

 

[bottlebomber]

Wow I am somewhat comforted to hear im not the only one that's had to deal with this... a lot of you guys are way more good natured about it than I was. Like I said I've never dealt with them before so they creeped me out. This is not the german variety but the american, they are about 1.2 inches long. To be honest when I first discovered them I wanted to get out old nelly and start blowing 12 guage holes in the dry wall till I found where they were hiding. Thanks for the poison tips, I will DEFINITELY track some of that down

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

In SC... they're everywhere. It's just a fact of life. You do your darndest best to not leave any food out and you dispatch them when you run into them. I'll occasionally see one in my bedroom, which is odd because I never bring any food in the bedroom...

M_C

 

[bottlebomber]

I think they can live off of flakes of dead skin and stuff... *shudder*

 

[gclay]

I grew up in Toronto and we were overrun with them, I mean I used to fight them for my cereal in the mornings. Same with a few apartments I had. The best thing I found was boric acid along all baseboards. It takes fprever to get rid of them and if you're in a townhouse, your neighbors have them too so unless they kill them too you'll never get rid of them. they can even get into big rubbermaid tubs. good luck I'm glad there's none here.

 

[beaksnbeer]

In Florida they are called Palmetto Bugs... but they are still roaches and they're bigger than any I've ever seen. Up to 2-inches long.

Usually when you see a roach or two it means there's a lot more hiding elsewhere. Stay vigilant!

Not even close to the same, The German (no offense) cockroach feeds on the same things we eat, Palmetto bugs die in the houses down here because they don't eat the same stuff. We get them in the house when they hide in the cracks over doors or the rain floods them out of the palms. And they buzz like softball going by your head, crazy night fishing.

 

[ChillWill]

I used to work at a lcd repair centre, we got one tv sent in and it was filled with roaches! We cellophane wrapped it up completely, sent it back and rejected the warranty. Gross.

 

[matt415]

its funny this thread just popped up. two days ago i discovered another great use for star san....it kills roaches. i had a tapped keg out in the garage. i went out there at night and there were roaches were on the keg. i grabbed a nearby bucket of star san and poured it on top. a few seconds later they were dead. now i have some in a spray bottle. works great and its safer than pesticides.

 

[DoubleAught]

ants here...they resist anything I throw at them. Found them in my DME this week, so everything is in zip lock bags now

 

[bottlebomber]

its funny this thread just popped up. two days ago i discovered another great use for star san....it kills roaches

Starsan, I salute you. The next ones I see writhing around from the poison are going to be getting a nice blast of the stuff, just to teach them to stay away from the brewing scene

ants here...they resist anything I throw at them. Found them in my DME this week, so everything is in zip lock bags now

I bet... for some reason there's almost no ants in my neighborhood, I haven't seen one since I bought this house. I have a big plastic screw top container that's designed to hold 50 lbs of dog food and keep out ants that I use for my brewing stuff. I keep crushed grain in the freezer..

 

[bottlebomber]

I run into cockroaches A LOT in one of my hobbies so they don't really bother me. Plus I respect anything that can live through nuclear fall out.

However, I expect to run into them where I go for that. But around food and stuff they still "bug" me a bit.

I reread this and I just gotta ask what that hobby is that you run into roaches a lot...

 

[Pivzavod]

Haaha

Years ago in Brooklyn my friend lived an apartment with 2 big dogs and 4 people family and on the first floor. This is around 15 years ago and one time I was in his house. His little brother got a sandwich and OJ and left it on computer table. We all stepped out of the room for a few mins and when we came back there was 2 in OJ and a 5+ all around the sandwich. It was disgusting!!!

Luckily for me with my beer brewing sloppiness I honestly barely see roaches and I've skipped on the exterminator because on the days he showed up I was actively using areas I would spray.

 

[Thundercougarfalconbird]

I brew in an college apartment that is probably about 20 years old. Due to other patrons poor maintenance and the fact my place is so poorly insulated (you can see light through the cracks in the front door) the roach problem is like none I've seen, even in the south.
I kill 5-10 of the bastards a day. I'll be moving to a different apartment in the same complex in a few weeks. When that day comes I'm gonna spray/insulate/ect.
Though they don't seem to have found my beer closet they love my kitchen far too much.

 

[littlelord]

i have a stack of old Mother Earth News back issues from the 70's... i remember reading that roaches detest cucumbers of all things. cucumber peelings scattered around the places you've seen roaches is supposed to do the trick.