8 ways to protect cereals from pests

In the kitchen, every caring housewife must have an assortment of cereals: buckwheat, rice, wheat, semolina, oatmeal and pearl barley. By including cereal dishes in your daily menu, you can get a nutritious, varied and healthy table. Cereals have a long shelf life, but if stored incorrectly or for too long, they create a threat of pests. They especially love bulk products: bread grinder, red flour beetle, flour bug, food moth.

To protect cereals from the appearance of tenants in them, you should follow the basic rules for their storage, starting from the day of purchase. Basic methods of protection.

Using spices

Shelves and cabinets with containers filled with cereals and flour can be made unpleasant for pests by placing dried cloves, garlic, bay leaves or red hot pepper pods on them. You can also put a small amount of spices inside the jar, but you will have to rinse the cereal well before cooking.

How to get rid of bugs in cereals and prevent them from appearing again

So what can you do to prevent food moths or bugs from infesting your kitchen?

– after purchasing products, you must carefully inspect the contents of packages of cereals and other bulk products, as well as vegetables and fruits, for the possible presence of adult insects or their larvae . If found, they should be disposed of immediately.

– it is not recommended to store cereals, bulk products, nuts, dried fruits in bags; it is better to do this in jars with tight-fitting lids. The jars themselves must be clean. If you have run out of semolina, for example, and you are going to pour new semolina into the same jar, then it is recommended to rinse the container well with saline solution, wipe with vinegar, wash and wipe dry.

– cabinets containing jars of cereals, bulk products, dried fruits, etc. must be dry and clean. Moths do not tolerate strong odors, and you can put bay leaves, clove buds, lavender sprigs, mint, and dried orange zest on the cabinet shelves.

– to prevent the appearance of moths, you can put 1-2 cloves of garlic in jars with cereals and other bulk products. By the way, if dried fruits contain prunes, the likelihood that moths will appear in them is reduced.

– to prevent moths from entering the house from the outside, it is advisable to cover the hood with an anti-mosquito net; the same should be done with ventilation shafts, vents, and windows.

– buy products only in trusted stores, and not in spontaneous markets. If for cereals, flour, nuts, dried fruits, etc. a big discount, perhaps this is not without reason, and it is worth carefully inspecting them for infection with larvae, moths, and simply compliance with quality standards.

– Conduct an audit of your supplies and general cleaning of cabinets once a month.

– observe the expiration dates and storage rules for cereals, flour, dried fruits, tea, etc., for example, if you have a lot of space in the freezer, then you can store dried fruits in a tightly closed plastic bag.

Neighborhood check

Periodic inspection of all cereals for the presence of food pests is mandatory. If you find the slightest hint of them, go through all the supplies, throw away the unusable ones, treat the surfaces with soapy water, paying special attention to the cracks between the walls.

The question of how to protect cereals from pests is very important and relevant. Having appeared in one of the types of bulk products stored at home, the bugs rapidly multiply and spread around, capturing more and more new places and infecting food products that come their way. Getting rid of them once and for all is difficult and painfully difficult. It will take a lot of time and every effort. It is easier to prevent their occurrence than to waste time and effort fighting them later.

How long can cereals last if stored correctly?

The storage requirements for all cereals are the same, but even if they are met, the period is different:

oat flakes - up to 4 months;
millet - 9 months (in the warm season no more than 6 months);
semolina and corn flour - 8-10 months;
wheat processed in different ways (bulgur, artek) - 12-14 months;
barley - 14-16 months;
pearl barley and buckwheat (chaff), polished rice - up to 1.5 years;
split peas, buckwheat (kernel) - 20 months;
polished peas - up to 2 years;
steamed rice - up to 2.5 years.

Please note that the deadlines are from the date of production, not purchase.

Folk remedies

Folk remedies are effective and safe for people and pets. That is why housewives resort to them first. Here are several ways to get rid of cereal moths.

Strawberry soap and lemon or orange peels	As you know, citrus peels emit a bright aroma that moths cannot tolerate. This repellent will reliably protect things and textiles from uninvited guests and scent items in the closet.
Black and allspice, tobacco, cloves, rosemary	The spicy smell of allspice and other seasonings effectively repels moths and creates an unfavorable environment for breeding offspring.
Laundry soap	Potato and clothes moths cannot live normally and produce offspring if laundry soap is nearby.
Vinegar and garlic	Diluted vinegar is often used to treat cabinets for preventive purposes. Placing garlic cloves in boxes works the same way. Butterflies cannot tolerate the persistent, aromatic root vegetable.
Fir oil	A study of essential oils showed that fir oil was effective in the fight against domestic insects. Apply the oil to a cotton pad and wipe the surfaces where traces of moths have been noticed.
Caucasian chamomile	This product is used in dry form - sachets of several grams are made and laid out around the apartment.
Chestnuts	Dried chestnuts are used to layer clothes and home textiles, thus preventing the appearance of butterflies.
Houseplants coleus (nettle) and geranium (pelargonium)	These indoor flowers have a bright aroma that insects cannot tolerate. Flowers placed around the room will repel insects and will not provide comfort for reproduction.
Lavender	The fastest way to get rid of moths and other pests in the house is lavender and its oil. It has long been known that sprigs should be kept in all wardrobes, and lavender oil should also be used on surfaces and upholstered furniture.
Sagebrush	The smell of wormwood twigs has an unusual property: it can disorient adult moths in space, thus the life cycle is disrupted and the pests disappear.
Newspapers	Printing ink is known to repel insects. Thus, things arranged with newspapers will remain untouched by harmful insects.
Vinegar	To treat surfaces with vinegar, you need to heat two tablespoons, then place the hot liquid in a cabinet for about 10 minutes. This time is enough to kill both larvae and adults with acid vapor.

Bugs in croup: names and photos

Many homes often have bugs that harm various products in the kitchen.

Varieties with photos and names:

Name	Short description
Small mealworm	The bugs have a red-brown tint. Length 2-3 mm. The body has the shape of a round barrel. Distinctive features: short antennae, small wings. They can't fly. In addition to cereals, bugs often infest flour
Bread grinders	These are prolific bugs that are difficult to remove or destroy. Body length: 2-4 mm, color has a dark red tint, cylindrical body shape, there is slight silky pubescence. Insects quickly destroy and spoil supplies. They are found in cereals, flour, bread, buns, pasta, tea leaves and medicinal herbs
Suriname mucoed	These are small bugs that are black in color. They spoil cereals, dried fruits, nuts
Granary or rice weevil	They most often start in the kitchen. In the photo, their body surface is quite long. They cause harm with their strong jaws, so they can easily chew through various packages. It can be cardboard, paper, polyethylene

Note! Another danger for housewives is larvae.

Bugs lay eggs that are difficult to see in cereals or flour. They also have a good appetite, so they quickly spoil all their supplies.

How does it reproduce

Food moths reproduce very quickly, so it is advisable to remove the pest as early as possible before its population destroys all your supplies. The journey from a small egg to an adult ready for reproduction lasts only a few weeks. The rapid development of the insect occurs in optimal conditions for it at 25 ° C heat and 50% humidity. At low indoor temperatures, the larvae develop slowly, sometimes the pupation period drags on for months.

In the photo: food moth butterfly

Like all representatives of this family, it is cereal due to the underdevelopment of the mouth and the lack of a digestive system. This is probably partly why she does not live long - a week or a little more. Soon after pupation, the female mates and devotes the remaining days of her life to laying eggs, trying to lay eggs where there is enough food for the larvae. Moreover, she makes several clutches so that the offspring do not suffer from overcrowding. The male has an even shorter life; if after mating he does not find another female, he quickly dies.

The great wax moth has the best hearing among all insects in the world. She is able to hear sounds with frequencies up to 300 kilohertz.

Package

Under no circumstances should supplies be stored in opened original packaging. Oxygen ingestion leads to fat oxidation. As a result, the cereal spoils and acquires a rancid taste. If there is no special storage container, the factory bags must be tightly closed with a clothespin or clamp.

The ideal container for cereal is glass. These can be jars or containers with tight lids.

All other materials have significant disadvantages:

Plastic containers quickly become cloudy, and flour (cereal dust) concentrates on them.
In plastic bags, the grain “suffocates”, becoming tasteless. In addition, it will not be difficult for pests to chew through such a package.
Metal boxes can quickly rust and deteriorate without providing proper sealing. Any metal container is opaque and not very convenient to use.
Using perforated bags can result in grain becoming damp or infested with bugs.

It is recommended to indicate on the container the date of manufacture and expiration date of the cereal, marked on the original packaging.