Ok, so I took out my fiddle last night and started to practice then I noticed the frickin rosin started to move.
Of course, it wasn't actually the rosin but a few tiny little white spiders walkin up and down my fingerboard. They were really really tiny. Like the size of this dot ---- (.)
I freaked out and squished 'em all. But I dont know what they were. Do any of you have any idea? are they eating my fiddle??
They could be mites ? There's book mites that live on paper, glue, any similar organic material. I had a very old wooden violin case lined with marbled paper. I noticed some book mites in that.
I don't know ss, this is the first I've ever heard of 'bow bugs', very interesting. I'm surprised I haven't come across this before, living in the swampy tropics and all. Have you tried the gas yet? It won't screw with the fiddle, I would think, unless you spray it right on the instrument.
I don't think that horses are cut up to provide bow hair...at least I hope not.
Session savage, things like gas and moth balls may work but think twice before doing it...you will probably never get the smell out of your case.
Bow bugs hate light. Try leaving your case open and exposed to light for a day or two to get them to leave. It's also a good idea to store your bow outside of the case exposed to a bit of indirect light, and only put it in the case when you're taking your fiddle somewhere.
If your bow was in the case and the bow hair looks fine, you may not have bow bugs after all. Clean everything up, vacuum out the case and leave it open exposed to light for a while, and put the bow somewhere else. If you don't see any bugs anymore, then no problem. If you see them again, though, it may be time to think about gas.
I had the bow bugs about five years ago. My dear wife had heard about them and helpfully dropped a moth ball into my case. The smell was strong for at least three years and I can still detect it.
Before the moth ball, I throoughly vacuumed the case and left it out open in direct sunlight for several hours. Haven't seem the varmints again.
At least we're not talking about the Concertina Pad Beetle here......
Oh, and they don't kill horses, per se, to make fiddle bows, but they do kill horses, and then try to recycle all useable bits - hides for leather, hooves for glue ( very good for building violins ), meat for petfood, bone for bonemeal for your garden.....and tails for fiddle-bows, or rocking horses - a good rocking horse will have a genuine horsehair mane and tail. ( Ex- veterinary Pathology technician ).
I don't know how big baby silverfish are, but they eat the hair off your bow. I'd nuke the case with the bow in it meself, just in case. haha just in case.
Rook... I'm an endangered species (there's only one of me) and I was here first so Greenpeace can go sh*te, the bow bugs will die.
At any rate, I had the bow and fiddle left out of the case yesterday and the bugs seem to have gone (unless they are just hiding in the fiddle body). Maybe the survivors ran away in terror after a giant index finger came from the sky and brought death and carnage to thier brothers!!!
Session Savage - Do you have a valuable fiddle? It could be that these 'tiny white spiders' are actually micro-robots, sent out by some violin-dealing bigshot, programmed to dismantle your fiddle, cell-by-cell, transport it to a secret location and there reassemble it. If you don't tackle these creatures immediately (you need feel no pathos for them as they are not sentient beings), you'll have to buy your fiddle back at auction for $300,000.
Tiny white spider???
Tiny white spider???
Ok, so I took out my fiddle last night and started to practice then I noticed the frickin rosin started to move.
Of course, it wasn't actually the rosin but a few tiny little white spiders walkin up and down my fingerboard. They were really really tiny. Like the size of this dot ---- (.)
I freaked out and squished 'em all. But I dont know what they were. Do any of you have any idea? are they eating my fiddle??
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by session savage
Re: Tiny white spider???
baby spiders.
sounds like your fiddle was near a spider web where there was an egg sack.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Nate Ryan
Re: Tiny white spider???
Oh damn, they could be bow bugs!!! That would be bad.
Do you keep the bow in a dark case? Are there hairs that look like they've been cut from the bow?
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Marklar
Re: Tiny white spider???
bow bugs????
is there such a thing as bow bugs that eat horsehair?
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Nate Ryan
Re: Tiny white spider???
Ya learn something new every day...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermestidae
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Tiny white spider???
Aw man... please be messin with me.
I dont remember anything wrong with the bow.
I keep the fiddle in a closed case with a few sachets of silica gel.
I hope I just murdered baby spiders...
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by session savage
Re: Tiny white spider???
did you count their legs before squishing them?
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: Tiny white spider???
ha ha.
No michael, Honestly you couldnt count the legs cause they were that small.
I have the fiddle out of the case now. .. should I gas it?
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by session savage
Re: Tiny white spider???
They could be mites ? There's book mites that live on paper, glue, any similar organic material. I had a very old wooden violin case lined with marbled paper. I noticed some book mites in that.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by wolfbird
Re: Tiny white spider???
I don't know ss, this is the first I've ever heard of 'bow bugs', very interesting. I'm surprised I haven't come across this before, living in the swampy tropics and all. Have you tried the gas yet? It won't screw with the fiddle, I would think, unless you spray it right on the instrument.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Tiny white spider???
No, I'm getting some gas today and I'm gonna spray the sh*te out of it, cause I cant squish the little lads on the inside!!
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by session savage
Re: Tiny white spider???
HA! OK, we got our fingers crossed for ya, let us know how it goes!
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Tiny white spider???
Christ, I've been trying to work out the bugs in my bowing, but this is just too much!
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Nate Ryan
Re: Tiny white spider???
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by session savage
Re: Tiny white spider???
Bow bugs are the price all fiddlers must pay for benefiting from the cruel cutting up of horses for desired parts.
For using hooves for glue, paperback binders pay the price of occasionally glancing at passages from the romance novels they stick together.
For devouring horse meat, the price the French must pay is having to be French. For all of their time on earth.
Isn't it time we set free all the horses?
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by NEW Pure Drop® Ear Canal Oil
Re: Tiny white spider???
Bl**dy Savage that session savage. Live and let live, I say!
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by the wounded hussar
Re: Tiny white spider???
I don't think that horses are cut up to provide bow hair...at least I hope not.
Session savage, things like gas and moth balls may work but think twice before doing it...you will probably never get the smell out of your case.
Bow bugs hate light. Try leaving your case open and exposed to light for a day or two to get them to leave. It's also a good idea to store your bow outside of the case exposed to a bit of indirect light, and only put it in the case when you're taking your fiddle somewhere.
If your bow was in the case and the bow hair looks fine, you may not have bow bugs after all. Clean everything up, vacuum out the case and leave it open exposed to light for a while, and put the bow somewhere else. If you don't see any bugs anymore, then no problem. If you see them again, though, it may be time to think about gas.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Marklar
Re: Tiny white spider???
I had the bow bugs about five years ago. My dear wife had heard about them and helpfully dropped a moth ball into my case. The smell was strong for at least three years and I can still detect it.
Before the moth ball, I throoughly vacuumed the case and left it out open in direct sunlight for several hours. Haven't seem the varmints again.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Bob himself
Re: Tiny white spider???
Tiny White Spider. Now there's a good tune title.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Bob himself
Re: Tiny white spider???
At least we're not talking about the Concertina Pad Beetle here......
Oh, and they don't kill horses, per se, to make fiddle bows, but they do kill horses, and then try to recycle all useable bits - hides for leather, hooves for glue ( very good for building violins ), meat for petfood, bone for bonemeal for your garden.....and tails for fiddle-bows, or rocking horses - a good rocking horse will have a genuine horsehair mane and tail. ( Ex- veterinary Pathology technician ).
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Tiny white spider???
They are likely Fiddleticks.
An endangered species actually, and I am going to phone Greenpeace immediately.
I'm afraid your fiddle may be declared a wildlife preserve, and if so you may have to relocate to another violin.
Good luck.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Rook
Re: Tiny white spider???
I don't know how big baby silverfish are, but they eat the hair off your bow. I'd nuke the case with the bow in it meself, just in case. haha just in case.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by mcknowall
Re: Tiny white spider???
You need to download the latest firmware update if your rosin
version is too buggy. Make sure you have a current license key
before installation.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Hup
Re: Tiny white spider???
Rook... I'm an endangered species (there's only one of me) and I was here first so Greenpeace can go sh*te, the bow bugs will die.
At any rate, I had the bow and fiddle left out of the case yesterday and the bugs seem to have gone (unless they are just hiding in the fiddle body). Maybe the survivors ran away in terror after a giant index finger came from the sky and brought death and carnage to thier brothers!!!
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by session savage
Re: Tiny white spider???
"ALL IS LOST! ALL IS LOST!"
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Rook
Re: Tiny white spider???
Session Savage - Do you have a valuable fiddle? It could be that these 'tiny white spiders' are actually micro-robots, sent out by some violin-dealing bigshot, programmed to dismantle your fiddle, cell-by-cell, transport it to a secret location and there reassemble it. If you don't tackle these creatures immediately (you need feel no pathos for them as they are not sentient beings), you'll have to buy your fiddle back at auction for $300,000.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by granama
Re: Tiny white spider???
Wait a second, isn't that the plot of the new James Bond movie?
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler