Bugs eating horns

[gibster]

I'm sure that this has been covered before, but I have a couple original horns in a display case and when I took one out this evening to look at it, I saw what looked like sand underneath it. There is damage on the horn where a bug (meal worm?) had a few meals. What can be put into the display case to stop this from happening. I definitely don't want the horns to be damaged further than they already are.  Any and all suggestions are appreciated, short of sending the horns to you for safe keeping .

[skillman]

There are many recipes for protection but Mr. Sibley says to just use raid on them. That seems to work. Sometimes I think the simple way is the best.

Steve

[T.C.Albert]

Raid...moth balls...yes, they work...I keep an opened box of mothballs in the crate with my raw horns...
I believe Jim Dressler recommended, even encouraged handling the horns often as well...that worked many years for his collection...
tc     

[gizamo]

Two freeze/thaw cycles in your freezer separated by a couple of days will kill any larvae.

[elk killer]

I live in the awful state of oklahoma, I think every bug known to man
lives here, plus a few that no one's ever heard of...!!
I coat all my horns with beeswax softened with turpentine 
works well they leave the horns alone

[Rick Sheets]

I believe Dresslar would actually use a bit of Raid on his horns. ha.

I do know that many museums treat their feather, fur and horn objects with a deep freeze of 24 hours followed by a thaw of 24 hours followed by at least 48 hours of deep freeze.
Supposedly some critters can protect themselves with a natural anti-freeze on the first freeze and think they are okay during the thaw. The second freeze kills them.

I wish everyone would inspect their horns every month or so.

Rick

[Tim Crosby]

 I just keep a rag sprayed with Raid in the boxes where I store horns. Have for years with no problems. I'm not to sure about freezing finished horns.

 Tim C. 

[Marcruger]

I am with Tim on freezing horns.  Too many parts expanding and contracting made of differing materials.  If you were to freeze one, I'd wrap it well for insulation so it cools and warms slowly.  I'd avoid unwrapping quickly after removing from freezer too. 

The horn eating bugs, according to my research, are carpet beetles.  They most often eat from the inside, out. 

The beetles like a secure place for their eggs that also has food.  They go in the open stopper end, and lay the eggs.  The larvae emerge and begin eating, and lay their own eggs. 

I am with Tim.  I wipe the outside down with Raid or Bengal, and spray a squirt of either inside and let it dry.  Put the plug back in.  Store your horns where you live, not where you store your tractor. 

So far, I cannot see that the bug killer in the horn changes my velocity or accuracy.   ;-)   Maybe Pletch or Daryl wants to come over and we can do a back to back test with sprayed and unsprayed horns.  Not likely to change anything, but it'd be a fun day shooting!   :-D 

God Bless,   Marc

[Mad Monk]

The horn eating bugs, according to my research, are carpet beetles.  They most often eat from the inside, out. 

The beetles like a secure place for their eggs that also has food.  They go in the open stopper end, and lay the eggs.  The larvae emerge and begin eating, and lay their own eggs. 

I am with Tim.  I wipe the outside down with Raid or Bengal, and spray a squirt of either inside and let it dry.  Put the plug back in.  Store your horns where you live, not where you store your tractor. 

So far, I cannot see that the bug killer in the horn changes my velocity or accuracy.   ;-)   Maybe Pletch or Daryl wants to come over and we can do a back to back test with sprayed and unsprayed horns.  Not likely to change anything, but it'd be a fun day shooting!   :-D 

God Bless,   Marc

Right you are about the bugs being carpet beetle larvae.  I got into the horn dye project thanks to those little critters.  They destroyed roughly 200 raw horns I had stored away in boxes.  What I saw was the attack from either the outside or inside.  If the horns have any powder in them the larvae will not be a problem.  Elemental sulfur is a good bug killer or repellent.  If you look at Rev War writings from Valley Forge they issued a certain amount of gunpowder that was to be opened burned in each soldiers cabins.  To kill bugs.  The wipe down with raid should do the trick.  I gave up on moth balls.  My boxes of horns were stored in an unheated shed out back.  In followed what I had read about putting moth balls in with the horns in the boxes.  That did not prevent them from eating the horns.  I was shocked when I saw holes in the moth balls as if they had been snacking on them.  That is when I asked myself how during the days of sailing ships they could transport raw horns all over the world without having the bugs eat them.  So I looked at how other protein based goods were protected during long periods of time in shipment.  The info on protecting horns, leather, etc., went back to the ancient Greeks who used a copper dye to protect the items.  That adventure was known as Project Green Horn.

[jdm]

I have bought or traded more than a few horns with Jim Dressler when he was a live . Often times the aroma of moth balls  was some what over powering .
Gibby it must be that darn Arkansas weather. I haven't had ( knock on wood ) any problem in K.C.  Come to the show in July. Jim

[White-tail]

These horn-eating insects are beetles in the Family Dermestidae and there's over 100 species.  These are the black carpet beetles, buffalo carpet beetles, and various larder beetles.  Most of the damage is done by the hairy larvae and they most enjoy eating dead, soft animal parts, cereal products, grains, rugs and carpets, upholstery, fur coats, mounted birds and mammals, and my archery turkey feathers.  They were very persistent in trying to "break into" my extensive insect collection to eat the bodies of the dried, preserved insects.  If I'm sure no dermestids are in my turkey feathers, I store the feathers in Zip-loc bags.  Sometimes moth balls and Shell No-Pest strips work, but don't count on that being 100% effective.  Constant and visual inspection (for dust left by the larvae) is necessary.
White-tail

[JCKelly]

Green Horn, Bill? Really?

Copper acetate is great if you don't mind a green -greenishblack horn.

I'll remember the sulfur thing.  Hmmm . . .  don't I also remember you using Pyrodex smoke to poison mice?

Scrimshawed a horn for Dad in 1984, bugs have "aged" it for me.

[bones92]

When I bought a buffalo horn off a member here, I noticed tiny little bugs that seemed to appear, probably larvae of some beetle that would eat it.  As the horn has yet to be finished, I sprayed it all over with starter fluid and let it dry.  That seemed to kill them all.