Because they are cold-blooded organisms, insects do not survive very well in
extreme cold or hot temperatures. Each insect species has certain
temperature and humidity conditions where it thrives. Although there are
some differences between species, it should come as no surprise that our
domestic cockroaches are best adapted to temperatures that we maintain in
our homes. They do not develop or reproduce when temperatures are too cold
(below 45degrees F) or too hot (above 115degrees F).

Hot and cold temperatures can be very effective in killing cockroaches, but
the adverse temperatures must be maintained for a period of time. Hot and
cold treatments are also most effective when they "shock" the cockroaches'
system. If cold temperatures are gradually lowered, insects have
physiological mechanisms that allow them to survive the cold. But, if you
take a jar of cockroaches from room temperature and put it into a sub-zero
freezer, the insects will be dead within a half hour. They just cannot adapt
that quickly.

Because cockroaches cannot survive temperatures above 115degrees F to
120degrees F, it is possible to use heat to eradicate cockroaches from
restaurants and food service establishments. After all heat sensitive
equipment is removed from the building, the temperature is increased to
about 140-150degrees F for five to six hours. It may not be possible for the
homeowner to increase the heat that much inside the home. But if a small,
infested appliance has many small crevices and can withstand 150degrees F
heat, a similar procedure can be used. The procedure is simple -- place the
heat-proof metal appliance in an oven, and after several hours at 150degrees
F, the roaches will be dead.

Cold can also be used to kill cockroaches, but it takes a prolonged exposure
to low temperatures to kill egg cases. Appliances or furniture can be left
in a garage when temperatures are below 0degrees F for several days. If
moving, leaving possessions in a truck or van will do the same thing.
Infestations in wall voids or indoor cavities can be subjected to extreme
cold by using a CO2 (carbon dioxide) gas canister. This will freeze a
localized area. Infested appliances can also be fumigated with CO2. Place it
in a plastic bag or other airtight container and inject carbon dioxide gas.
Allow freezing to occur. If a small item can be subjected to freezing, it
also can be placed in a freezer for several hours (or overnight) to kill the
cockroaches.



Jack

"Steve Christensen" wrote in message
...
In article , Rosalie B.
says...

x-no-archive:yes "Paul" wrote:

Errr....why not just go buy a chunk of dryice, toss it in and close
the
boat up?

One extra Oxygen molecule.

But it's not available is it? I thought it would be bound up and
unusable.
We spray it on a fire to choke it out so I figured it may have oxygen
but
it's not available. For that matter, water has oxygen too doesn't it?
But
you can't breathe it since it's not available.

I may be wrong ... I'm just wondering.

Carbon dioxide (from dry ice) is a simple asphyxiant. If it displaces
the oxygen in the air it will kill you, but it takes quite a bit of
it. You can be exposed to 30,000 ppm for 15 minutes and still be OK.

Carbon monoxide at 1500 ppm may lead to death, and the 15 minute
exposure limit is 35 ppm for an hour. This is because without the
extra oxygen molecule, CO has a 200 to 300 times great affinity for
hemoglobin than oxygen does. So even if there is enough oxygen
present, the CO will kick it off the hemoglobin and you will die. So
it isn't just a simple asphyxiant any more.


Roselie is correct about the CO being more than an asphyxiant. But the
object
of all this is to kill roaches, right? It's been awhile since college
zoology,
but I don't think roaches even have circulatory systems, let alone
hemoglobin.

I have frozen roaches in liquid nitrogen (when bored during a late night
in the
lab) only to have them thaw out and crawl away. Hardy little beasts.
Does
anyone even know whether depriving them of oxygen (with CO, CO2, N2,
whatever)
will kill them? I bet it's damn hard to do.

Steve Christensen

On 23 Oct 2003 07:24:20 -0700, Steve Christensen
wrote:
snip
Does
anyone even know whether depriving them of oxygen (with CO, CO2, N2, whatever)
will kill them? I bet it's damn hard to do.

I think the lethal mechanism of CO2 is not oxygen displacement, it's
CO2 concentration, and partial pressure across a membrane, acidosis,
and whatever. For example, an atmosphere of 90% oxygen and 10% CO2
would still be lethal.....not the lack of oxygen, but the lethal
concentration of CO2.

.....but I might be talking out my bottom.

Skip Gundlach wrote:
"Dale" wrote in message
link.net...

This stuff works better than anything I have ever seen. 4 parts Boric
Acid powder, 2 parts flour and 1 part cocoa powder (like Hersey's) and
spread it liberally around the boat, under cabinets and things. I know
this is ridiculous to say but don't let it get wet. It will make a
mess. I know one person who used this in their apartment and it cleaned
out the entire building. It takes a few weeks to work though.


Heard a variation on that theme: use boric acid and powdered sugar, put in
bottle caps to keep from spreading around. They love the sugar so swarm to
it, and it looks and feels like the BA...


Here's the variation that I heard: Boric acid and powdered sugar
mixed into a paste with canned milk. Roll the paste into little
balls and dry in the sun. Once dry, scatter the balls around the
boat. I've never tried it, but a friend who carelessly brought
cardboard boxes aboard in Mexico swears by it.

Here is one of my best tricks at getting rid of roaches on a boat. Make
sure that you can open all the windows and hatches from outside the boat.
You do not want to go inside the boat to open the hatches. Put a 5 gallon
container inside the boat with a few fans to circulate the air. Pour equal
parts of Clorox and Ammonia into the five gallon container. Now run like
hell and get away from the boat. Clorox and Ammonia mixed together produces
a vary deadly substance called Chlorine Gas. Chlorine gas is odorless and
colorless, and highly deadly. Chlorine Gas will kill everything and anything
in a matter of a minutes. Many a house wife has died from mixing the two
chemicals together by accident.

I MUST REPEAT CLOROX AND AMMONIA MIXED IN EVEN SMALL AMOUNTS WILL KILL YOU
VARY QUICKLY.

The generator trick works well and the smell will be gone after airing out
the boat.

Jack
"Jack Rye" .# wrote in message
news:WQSlb.33413$Rd4.31832@fed1read07...
Because they are cold-blooded organisms, insects do not survive very well
in
extreme cold or hot temperatures. Each insect species has certain
temperature and humidity conditions where it thrives. Although there are
some differences between species, it should come as no surprise that our
domestic cockroaches are best adapted to temperatures that we maintain in
our homes. They do not develop or reproduce when temperatures are too cold
(below 45degrees F) or too hot (above 115degrees F).

Hot and cold temperatures can be very effective in killing cockroaches,
but
the adverse temperatures must be maintained for a period of time. Hot and
cold treatments are also most effective when they "shock" the cockroaches'
system. If cold temperatures are gradually lowered, insects have
physiological mechanisms that allow them to survive the cold. But, if you
take a jar of cockroaches from room temperature and put it into a sub-zero
freezer, the insects will be dead within a half hour. They just cannot
adapt
that quickly.

Because cockroaches cannot survive temperatures above 115degrees F to
120degrees F, it is possible to use heat to eradicate cockroaches from
restaurants and food service establishments. After all heat sensitive
equipment is removed from the building, the temperature is increased to
about 140-150degrees F for five to six hours. It may not be possible for
the
homeowner to increase the heat that much inside the home. But if a small,
infested appliance has many small crevices and can withstand 150degrees F
heat, a similar procedure can be used. The procedure is simple -- place
the
heat-proof metal appliance in an oven, and after several hours at
150degrees
F, the roaches will be dead.

Cold can also be used to kill cockroaches, but it takes a prolonged
exposure
to low temperatures to kill egg cases. Appliances or furniture can be left
in a garage when temperatures are below 0degrees F for several days. If
moving, leaving possessions in a truck or van will do the same thing.
Infestations in wall voids or indoor cavities can be subjected to extreme
cold by using a CO2 (carbon dioxide) gas canister. This will freeze a
localized area. Infested appliances can also be fumigated with CO2. Place
it
in a plastic bag or other airtight container and inject carbon dioxide
gas.
Allow freezing to occur. If a small item can be subjected to freezing, it
also can be placed in a freezer for several hours (or overnight) to kill
the
cockroaches.



Jack

"Steve Christensen" wrote in message
...
In article , Rosalie B.
says...

x-no-archive:yes "Paul" wrote:

Errr....why not just go buy a chunk of dryice, toss it in and
close
the
boat up?

One extra Oxygen molecule.

But it's not available is it? I thought it would be bound up and
unusable.
We spray it on a fire to choke it out so I figured it may have oxygen
but
it's not available. For that matter, water has oxygen too doesn't it?
But
you can't breathe it since it's not available.

I may be wrong ... I'm just wondering.

Carbon dioxide (from dry ice) is a simple asphyxiant. If it displaces
the oxygen in the air it will kill you, but it takes quite a bit of
it. You can be exposed to 30,000 ppm for 15 minutes and still be OK.

Carbon monoxide at 1500 ppm may lead to death, and the 15 minute
exposure limit is 35 ppm for an hour. This is because without the
extra oxygen molecule, CO has a 200 to 300 times great affinity for
hemoglobin than oxygen does. So even if there is enough oxygen
present, the CO will kick it off the hemoglobin and you will die. So
it isn't just a simple asphyxiant any more.


Roselie is correct about the CO being more than an asphyxiant. But the
object
of all this is to kill roaches, right? It's been awhile since college
zoology,
but I don't think roaches even have circulatory systems, let alone
hemoglobin.

I have frozen roaches in liquid nitrogen (when bored during a late night
in the
lab) only to have them thaw out and crawl away. Hardy little beasts.
Does
anyone even know whether depriving them of oxygen (with CO, CO2, N2,
whatever)
will kill them? I bet it's damn hard to do.

Steve Christensen

"Jack Rye" .# wrote in message
news:unTlb.33417$Rd4.8115@fed1read07...
Here is one of my best tricks at getting rid of roaches on a boat. Make
sure that you can open all the windows and hatches from outside the boat.
You do not want to go inside the boat to open the hatches. Put a 5 gallon
container inside the boat with a few fans to circulate the air. Pour
equal
parts of Clorox and Ammonia into the five gallon container. Now run like
hell and get away from the boat. Clorox and Ammonia mixed together
produces
a vary deadly substance called Chlorine Gas. Chlorine gas is odorless and
colorless, and highly deadly. Chlorine Gas will kill everything and
anything
in a matter of a minutes. Many a house wife has died from mixing the two
chemicals together by accident.

I MUST REPEAT CLOROX AND AMMONIA MIXED IN EVEN SMALL AMOUNTS WILL KILL YOU
VARY QUICKLY.

I have this neighbor....can I hire you?

ROTFLMAO

Sorry Doug I am no long sanctioned to do wet work.

Jack
"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
"Jack Rye" .# wrote in message
news:unTlb.33417$Rd4.8115@fed1read07...
Here is one of my best tricks at getting rid of roaches on a boat. Make
sure that you can open all the windows and hatches from outside the
boat.
You do not want to go inside the boat to open the hatches. Put a 5
gallon
container inside the boat with a few fans to circulate the air. Pour
equal
parts of Clorox and Ammonia into the five gallon container. Now run like
hell and get away from the boat. Clorox and Ammonia mixed together
produces
a vary deadly substance called Chlorine Gas. Chlorine gas is odorless
and
colorless, and highly deadly. Chlorine Gas will kill everything and
anything
in a matter of a minutes. Many a house wife has died from mixing the
two
chemicals together by accident.

I MUST REPEAT CLOROX AND AMMONIA MIXED IN EVEN SMALL AMOUNTS WILL KILL
YOU
VARY QUICKLY.

I have this neighbor....can I hire you?

"Jack Rye" .# wrote in message
news:eFUlb.33422$Rd4.3437@fed1read07...
ROTFLMAO

Sorry Doug I am no long sanctioned to do wet work.


Well, don't go around teasing people like that! I was gonna have you take
care of the guy AND his damned dog.

Well Doug, you can always by the books don't get MAD GET EVEN, and SCREW YOU
II. They are packed full of great nasties for your type of problem.

Good luck on solving your inconvenience.

Jack
"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
"Jack Rye" .# wrote in message
news:eFUlb.33422$Rd4.3437@fed1read07...
ROTFLMAO

Sorry Doug I am no long sanctioned to do wet work.


Well, don't go around teasing people like that! I was gonna have you take
care of the guy AND his damned dog.

This is bait & switch. I'm callin' the NY attorney general. :-)

"Jack Rye" .# wrote in message
news:POUlb.33423$Rd4.27387@fed1read07...
Well Doug, you can always by the books don't get MAD GET EVEN, and SCREW
YOU
II. They are packed full of great nasties for your type of problem.

Good luck on solving your inconvenience.

Jack
"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
"Jack Rye" .# wrote in message
news:eFUlb.33422$Rd4.3437@fed1read07...
ROTFLMAO

Sorry Doug I am no long sanctioned to do wet work.


Well, don't go around teasing people like that! I was gonna have you
take
care of the guy AND his damned dog.

In article unTlb.33417$Rd4.8115@fed1read07, Jack Rye says...

Here is one of my best tricks at getting rid of roaches on a boat. Make
sure that you can open all the windows and hatches from outside the boat.
You do not want to go inside the boat to open the hatches. Put a 5 gallon
container inside the boat with a few fans to circulate the air. Pour equal
parts of Clorox and Ammonia into the five gallon container. Now run like
hell and get away from the boat. Clorox and Ammonia mixed together produces
a vary deadly substance called Chlorine Gas. Chlorine gas is odorless and
colorless, and highly deadly. Chlorine Gas will kill everything and anything
in a matter of a minutes. Many a house wife has died from mixing the two
chemicals together by accident.

I MUST REPEAT CLOROX AND AMMONIA MIXED IN EVEN SMALL AMOUNTS WILL KILL YOU
VARY QUICKLY.

Jack

First, this doesn't make chlorine gas, it makes chloramine gas (which is still
bad stuff).

And second, do NOT try this. Your chance of being asphyxiated is pretty good,
like if you tripped getting away from the bucket. Getting rid of the bugs isn't
worth risking your life.

Steve Christensen