Moths in preps

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   This summer we had our kitchen invaded by those little "grain moths" and we had to throw out most of our flour, dried beans, etc.  They were in heavy plastic bags, but the larvae of the moths can chew right through it.

I thought I'd pass on tips for preventing/dealing with this:

Store all your preps in tightly sealed glass jars. We found cocoons of the larvae up on the sides of the jars just under the edge of the lid, but they could not get into the food because the lids of the jars were tight. 

Freeze all dry food (nuts, raisins, flour, noodles, etc) for a day or two before putting them into storage. This kills any eggs in them and will prevent the moths from ever getting into your house in the first place.

If something is infested, throw it out! If you even see one moth, check EVERYTHING or you'll be sorry, because they will multiply. These are little (1/2 inch or less) grayish brown moths. The larvae are tiny tiny caterpillars, They leave webs in the food, so if you look at your preps and see grains sticking together, hanging by invisible threads, etc., get ride of them.

Get moth traps. I got some from ebay, but you can also find them on other sites, or at your hardware store. These only catch the male moths, but they do show you if you have a problem and cut down on the moth reproduction to some degree while you take care of it manually (cleaning shelves, tossing infested food).

Good luck!

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Iron Mommy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List V.I.P. Member Joined: June 02 2006 Status: Offline Points: 69	Post Options Post Reply Quote Iron Mommy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Moths in preps Posted: October 04 2006 at 6:46am
	This summer we had our kitchen invaded by those little "grain moths" and we had to throw out most of our flour, dried beans, etc. They were in heavy plastic bags, but the larvae of the moths can chew right through it. I thought I'd pass on tips for preventing/dealing with this: Store all your preps in tightly sealed glass jars. We found cocoons of the larvae up on the sides of the jars just under the edge of the lid, but they could not get into the food because the lids of the jars were tight. Freeze all dry food (nuts, raisins, flour, noodles, etc) for a day or two before putting them into storage. This kills any eggs in them and will prevent the moths from ever getting into your house in the first place. If something is infested, throw it out! If you even see one moth, check EVERYTHING or you'll be sorry, because they will multiply. These are little (1/2 inch or less) grayish brown moths. The larvae are tiny tiny caterpillars, They leave webs in the food, so if you look at your preps and see grains sticking together, hanging by invisible threads, etc., get ride of them. Get moth traps. I got some from ebay, but you can also find them on other sites, or at your hardware store. These only catch the male moths, but they do show you if you have a problem and cut down on the moth reproduction to some degree while you take care of it manually (cleaning shelves, tossing infested food). Good luck!

Guests Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group	Post Options Post Reply Quote Guests Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: October 24 2006 at 11:39am
	What can you do around your preps to prevent these moths besides traps?

Trailsend Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Adviser Group Joined: September 26 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote Trailsend Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: October 26 2006 at 12:02pm
	I've had these horrible moths before and they have even gotten into jars. Iron Mommy is right, nip them in the bud, or else!
	"I got the rockin' pneumonia...and the boogie-woogie flu..." James Taylor