[Nhcoll-l] freezing blown eggs

Fri May 21 12:29:41 EDT 2021

Hi Tonya,

I just want to echo what everyone is saying: freezing good, condensation
bad. So if you freeze them with plastic bags or any other plastic
protection, then the condensation will occur on the protection and not the
eggs. This is a general rule for freezing always. Don't put the
objects/specimens directly into the freezer, enclose them first. And when
they come out, don't take them out of the enclosures right away, wait 24
hours and let them acclimate.

About other materials you shouldn't freeze, there are some that could get
severely damaged by freezing such as bark paintings, glass negatives (and
most glass), fluid specimens, paintings and many other works of art or
historic materials you may have in your collection besides specimens. If
you have any particular questions, don't hesitate to ask. I know you're
trying to move into this new, clean facility and avoid bringing anything
with you, but it is important to think that this risk can get mitigated but
not completely eradicated, so monitoring post move is always a good idea,
so you can treat specific problems that may arise.

Best,
Mariana

*Mariana Di Giacomo, PhD*
*Natural History Conservator, Yale Peabody Museum*
Associate Editor, Collection Forum, SPNHC
Secretary/Communications APOYOnline

El mié, 12 may 2021 a las 18:52, Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace)
(<Tonya.Haff at csiro.au>) escribió:

> Thanks everyone for your responses to this question. It’s an interesting
> point about the potential for some of the writing on the eggs to be water
> soluble. In such a case is something like anoxia or high CO2 not preferable
> to freezing? And yes I guess I do know that the insides of eggs can be
> delicious to things like carpet beetle, and indeed I have seen some old
> evidence of such in our collection. We have 20k+ clutches going on 40k, and
> we are going to move to a new building in a few years. In light of that I
> would like the most practical solution that minimises risk to the egg
> collection but still ensures we aren’t accidentally bringing a pest problem
> with us. But it sounds like the consensus is that freezing would be ok, so
> long as we make sure everything is well sealed in plastic first?
>
>
>
> As a follow on to this, are there any other types of collections (other
> than slides and fluids) that people absolutely don’t freeze?
>
>
>
> Thanks!
>
>
>
> Tonya
>
>
>
> *From:* Thomas Labedz <tlabedz1 at unl.edu>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, 12 May 2021 10:58 PM
> *To:* Rogers, Steve <RogersS at CarnegieMNH.Org>; Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace)
> <Tonya.Haff at csiro.au>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> *Subject:* RE: freezing blown eggs
>
>
>
> Tonya
>
> Agreeing with Stephen I’ve seen insects in egg collections. I agree
> strongly with freezing in a plastic container such that condensation does
> not occur directly on the egg when removed from freezer. While having no
> direct evidence I suspect that some inks used for curatorial markings on
> eggs might be water soluble or be poorly bound to the egg surface and
> condensation poses a risk of information loss.
>
> Thomas
>
>
>
> Thomas E. Labedz (Mr.), Collections Manager
>
> Division of Zoology and Division of Botany
>
> University of Nebraska State Museum
>
> Morrill Hall
>
> 645 North 14th Street
> Lincoln, NE 68588-0338
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> *On Behalf Of *Rogers,
> Steve
> *Sent:* Wednesday, May 12, 2021 6:13 AM
> *To:* Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace) <Tonya.Haff at csiro.au>;
> nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> *Subject:* Re: [Nhcoll-l] freezing blown eggs
>
>
>
> Non-NU Email
> ------------------------------
>
> Greetings Tonya,
>
>
>
> The entire inside lining of the egg is certainly susceptible to being
> eaten. I blew a series of eggs once and did not put them in my screened in
> drying cabinet. I ended up getting a few phorid flies find their way
> through the holes, breeding and multiplying. I have also seen various small
> beetles inside older eggs in the collection within the genus *Anthrenus*.
> The cotton surrounding the egg set showing past infestations.
>
>
>
> I would recommend freezing them like you would other dry specimens, inside
> plastic so no condensation on the specimens happens after bringing them up
> to room temperature.
>
>
>
> Stephen P. Rogers (Mr.)
>
> Collection Manager of Section of Birds
>
> Carnegie Museum of Natural History
>
> 4400 Forbes Avenue
>
> Pittsburgh PA 15213-4080
>
> Phone: 412-622-3255
>
> Email: rogerss at CarnegieMNH.org
>
> ***************************************************
>
> The views, opinions, and judgments expressed in this message
>
> are solely those of the author. The message contents have not
>
> been reviewed or approved by Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
>
> ***************************************************
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> *From:* Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Haff,
> Tonya (NCMI, Crace) <Tonya.Haff at csiro.au>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, May 12, 2021 12:35 AM
> *To:* nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
> *Subject:* [Nhcoll-l] freezing blown eggs
>
>
>
> Hello all,
>
>
>
> I am wondering if any of you have thoughts on freezing egg collections for
> pest control? I imagine that it is probably ok, but then I wonder if there
> could be problems to the shell structure. Note I realise that there is not
> much for museum pests to eat in a blown egg, but there are lots of places
> for them to hide in and around the their housing. As usual, any thoughts or
> feedback would be very appreciated!
>
>
>
> Cheers,
>
>
>
> Tonya
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------
>
> Dr Tonya Haff
>
> Collection Manager
>
> Australian National Wildlife Collection
>
> National Research Collections Australia, CSIRO
>
> Canberra, Australia
>
> Phone: (+61) 02 6242 1566 (office)
>
> (+61) 0419 569 109 (mobile)
>
>
>
>
>
>
> The information contained in this message and/or attachments is intended
> only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain
> confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission,
> dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon,
> this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient
> is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and
> delete the material from any system and destroy any copies. Any views
> expressed in this message are those of the individual sender.
> _______________________________________________
> Nhcoll-l mailing list
> Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l
>
> _______________________________________________
> NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
> mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
> natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
> society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.
> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20210521/81aa97d0/attachment.html>