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MY AFRICAN DRUM HAS BUGS. WHAT CAN I DO?

AN EMAIL COMPILATION FROM THE DJEMBE-L MEMBERS

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill smyth <rob4ny@hotmail.com>
To: Djembe drumming/hand percussion <djembe-l@u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, June 26, 1998 4:58 AM
Subject: head eating bugs, Help!

>Hi,
>  I've had a small djembe for 2 weeks which was headed in Africa. Yesterday I noticed a whith patch near the rim and one on the head. Further inspection showed me that these were caused by these critters eating the top layer of skin. There were about half a dozen of these small(1/2 inch), dark, slightly furry looking bugs (catapillers), which seem to be coming from where the skin wraps around the ring. They seem to have nany sets af small legs. Perhaps there were eggs on the hair
>that could not be reached to be scraped off?
>   Help! Is anyone familiar with these? Are they dangereous (besides eating drum heads)? What should I do about them? Are they African in origin?

-----Original Message-----
From: Happy <happy@drums.org>
To: Djembe drumming/hand percussion <djembe-l@u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, June 26, 1998 6:10 AM
Subject: Re: head eating bugs, Help!

>Yep - the bugs are DANGEROUS.  Not only will they eat the skin up, they will also infect the wood and eat that as well.
>Your best bet is:
A - Put drum in deep freezer for 48 hrs.  Be sure to loosen the diamonds,
>first.
>B - Put drum into 3 black 30 gallon trash bags with a Fogger.  Tie securely
>and leave outdoors for 24 hrs.  After fogging, let drum sit in sunshine for
>a day or two to be sure that the insecticide aroma has dissipated.
>
>That should do it!

-----Original Message-----
From: Johannes Schya <jschya@debis.com>
To: Djembe drumming/hand percussion <djembe-l@u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, June 26, 1998 6:48 AM
Subject: Re:head eating bugs, Help!

>Don't Panic !
>
>Well I don't know if the bugs are dangerous, but I highly recommend to put your jenbe in a plastic bag, better two, and seal it with adhesive tape. Why? Just to avoid that the nasty little critters spread all over your flat. Now they can't move around and you have time to think about a
>solution.
>
>Second step as recommended by some people on the list is, to freeze the drum, provided you have access to a big enough freezer, for 24 hours. Freezing means down to -20 degrees celsius. An alternative could be, to put the drum into a - preferable black - plastic bag, out in the sun.
>The temperature should kill the beasts.
>
>As I understand your message, you have only bugs in the skin. In that case I'd recommend, to remove the skin and burn it together with any cloth wrapped around the ring. If the skin has already been partially destroyed, the skin will most likely break if you tune the drum. So
>there's no need to preserve. If the skin looks okay, freeze the drum with the skin. I'd recommend to freeze the drum in any case. One of my teachers, who gets a lot of drums from Africa, makes this as a standard procedure with everything imported from there, be it a drum, mask, cloth
>etc. Freeze it for 24 hours and you are on the save side.
>
>It's hard to tell where the insects come from, without seeing them. But if the djembe has been recently imported from Africa, they are most likely from there. If the drum spent already some time in the states, they could as well has been infected after she left Africa.
>
>Try to get rid of the little creatures as fast as possible, you could preserve a few of the bugs in a little vial. Try to find an expert - biologist - to identify the bugs.
>
>
>Hope it helps

From James71821@aol.com

>You could also avoid the chemicals by removing the head completely, placing
>the drum shell in a plastic bag and freezing it. If it won't fit in the
>freezer at home you might ask at your local market. Three days at sub zero
>will kill almost anything with the exception of some bacteria.  I repeat do not
>freeze the skin (8^0>. Good luck.
>

From Jerry Z  congasan@webtv.net    

HI Mirek  -
     Dont be too fast to claim victory over the bugs. Its possible to
kill live bugs and the larvae can hatch later. keep an eye on it to make
sure no more wood powder leaks out after several days. The bugs can
sometimes be persistant!      I hope they are really gone.
                             Happy Drumming , JZ
PS I have played African drums that have survived infestation that are
really great!

=========================================================================

From: Dean@wiscasset.net (Alh. Seikou Omar Dean)
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2000 12:37 PM
Subject: [djembe-l] Reply2: Re: How to Debug your Shell

Hi all!  Greetings from Newcastle, Maine.

Kelly O <HippieChicPoet@netscape.net> wrote:
>I had this problem and bombed it.
>Didn't put it in the bag though which now I will.
>the bugs ate right through the head.

Debugging 101- understand your bug!
As a rule in Nature- being the action of God!- ashes to ashes and dust to dust!
..well, in our case- bugs to dust, will a djembe (and skin!) make.
Some of these bugs are actually very particular as to jobs they must
complete- in their microcosom of what God has provided them to eat before
procreating themselves.  Something like a dung beetle may find nourishment
in just the skin fats and tissue left hanging on, while a powder post type
bug eats well of wood, and leaves skin alone- except at the very rim where
it may break through to our universe. 
Resolution for humans wanting to maintain their drum will vary with the type
of bug, and whether it is related to skin or wood.
The simplest, by far, is to make toxic all the available food this bug seeks
out, once and for all.  Only thing is, after God's natural span of time this
little creature existed therein, it goes its way and won't come back to your
drum, anyway!  They're not like a shipworm in the keel of a boat that just
goes back and forth from surface to surface, whether the boat is floating or
sunk in the mud, til nothing remains to eat and procreate within.  So, one
may be left with some few holes here and there (easily pegged with slivers
of wood and a drop of glue!)  Or a reheading job with a new cleannsed skin.
Or...a now poisonous material under the palms and between the thighs.  I
wood choose to take the time to peg the little holes as they appear, or
rehead with a cleaned skin, and forget the bomb business... unless it will
become sealed under the surface finish in the first place, and not transfer
to my hands or clothes later (this is a carver job, and a decision at the
time of a shell's birth!).

The more complicated will be in taking time to appropriately cleanse
materials before they go into 'the drum'... this is the job of a carver
also, and his helpers.
Removing eggs waiting to be hatched is the primary purpose- while not
condemming the material to become a toxic wasteland for bugs and human use,
necessarily.   Any  sapwood, or decayed areas and deep surface checks (where
the little mothers may have laid the future generations to prosper after
their own deaths!) should be eliminated from the intended drum... this a
carver job!
Carefully washing with a mild disinfectant soap, and really rinsing sand,
dirt, blood and goatshit from skins first, will remove the unwanted eggs.
And, while yet there are exceptions to every rule, buy products only from
those that care about their job (...ergo, know your carver!...) and
patronize those willing to honor their customers- not just their pocketbooks
(...does your drum come with a materials guarantee!?)    If your drum shows
a bug problem, take it back for satisfaction... a new skin, or a new shell
even!  If you don't know who made it, and can't find who sold it to you, or
are so in love with it you can't bear the thought of its separation from
your life, do the research  specific to your bug, and wait for its cycle to
expire before fixing it up again.   Maybe it's an American bug, too! there
is always that possibility?! Moths and beetles are not specific solely to
Africa.

An ounce of prevention (...and some sharp, prepurchase questioning!) is
always worth pounds of cure, they say, and it is wise to not take for
granted that ever-smiling drum salesman's words, next time he whistles
through your town.  Ask some really penetrating questions about who made it,
where did they get their training, and how materials are handled during
construction.  And what about a guarantee?  Can you get another one if yours
has problems? People that do not answer these questions truthfully, are just
trying to get another drum sold!!   "Shopping around...", should not become
limited to just finding a 'cheap price', or 'its the only thing i found' !

Keep the pace -
Alhadji Dean
*****