Cereal dishes are among the most popular in the daily diet. Many housewives prefer to buy cereals in large quantities in order to always be ready to cook a particular dish. But such thrifty can go sideways if insects settle in the stocks. If bugs appear in the croup, how to get rid of them will be the first priority. How should you deal with uninvited guests, and what to do to prevent their appearance?
What bugs are found in foods?
First of all, it is worth figuring out which insects can settle in cereals. So it will be much easier to choose methods of struggle and assess the danger.
Among the most common "inhabitants" of cereal bags are:
- Surinamese muco-eater - beetles are light, have long horns.
- Bread grinder is one of the most common pests, small brown bugs.
- The flour beetle - beetles with horns and shells, but very small in size.
- Red-haired muco-eater - they differ from the Suriname muco-eater with a red tint.
- Rice weevils - from afar, they can be mistaken for ants.
Also, food moths can settle in the cereal. In this case, it is important to consider that she not only crawls in the croup, but can also fly around the kitchen.
How do insects get into cereals?
Most often, beetles appear in the apartment already with cereals. When you buy low-quality cereals by weight or already packaged, insects or their eggs may already be there. If you buy cheap cereals from unreliable producers, the risk of infection becomes much higher. To be sure that pests do not appear in your kitchen, it is better to give preference to well-known brands that value their reputation. Such goods are repeatedly tested, and the conditions of their production exclude contamination.
Also, insects can enter the kitchen along with dried fruits. If you buy them by weight in trays or markets, you can get the goods with the appendage in the form of bugs. They are especially common in goods from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The same applies to spices and other bulk goods offered by weight.
Effective control methods
If flour bugs appear, how to get rid of them is important for all housewives. The most effective way to kill any insects is Dichlorvos. Not the most harmless and safe to use, but it kills any insects with a 100% guarantee. But before processing, it is important to take into account that the product will disappear from the apartment for a couple of days, and during this time you will have to live somewhere else.
The procedure for etching out beetles with "Dichlorvos" is as follows:
- All things that can be accurately checked for the absence of bugs can be viewed and taken out of the room.
- Wipe cabinets, floor, baseboards.
- Throw away all the cereals, wash the containers from under them, as well as all the dishes.
- Put on personal protective equipment and treat the kitchen with Dichlorvos.
After the poison wears off, it is important to wash all surfaces in the kitchen well, and ventilate the room. It can be dangerous to return to the apartment before 12 hours after processing.
If you do not have the opportunity to move somewhere or you are afraid to use toxic substances in the kitchen, there are less radical ways to get rid of bugs in flour and cereals. Also, these methods are suitable for those who do not want to part with their stocks and lose money.
How to get rid of pests if bugs are bred in the cereal? In this case, proceed as follows:
- Sort the whole cereal and sift with a fine sieve.
- Put the bags with cereals in the freezer for a few days or pour the cereals on baking sheets and bake them in the oven.
- Use cereals as soon as possible, and when buying a new one, exclude their contact in order to avoid infection.
- The floor, cabinets, baseboards and other surfaces in the kitchen must be treated. If you don't want to use harsh chemicals, you can use acetic acid solution, laundry soap, hot water. You can also dilute boric acid in water.
- It is very important to thoroughly wash all dishes - bugs may remain in the cracks.
After everything is in place, you can make traps for the bugs in case they still remain. Vegetable oil is poured into the caps from bottles or cans and the remnants of the bugs you found are poured. This will lure their relatives, and the oil with insects drowning in it can simply be poured into the sewer.
You can also put garlic and bay leaves on the shelves. Both of these plants repel beetles, although they do not give a 100% guarantee.
How to prevent a new invasion?
Nothing can guarantee one hundred percent protection of your home from the return of bugs. Even if the photo of the kitchen is radiantly clean, it will not interfere with bugs. Unlike cockroaches, these insects do not require dirt to function properly. The most important thing is mindfulness. The quality of the purchased products should be approached with caution.
You should also pay attention to the banks in which you store cereals. It is best to choose glass jars with tight-fitting lids for this. Special cans can be purchased at the store. They will not help prevent infection, but they will not allow them to get into other foods. Packets and other packages of spices should be closed with clothespins or paper clips.
It is recommended not to make too large purchases if you are not sure that you will have enough groceries until your next paycheck. It is better to save money to buy food, rather than the food itself. Fortunately, the stores are open daily and the shortage does not threaten us yet. It is better to get some decent quality food than buying huge bags of cheap food and throwing half away from insect pests.
Preventive treatment of bulk food
Processing cereals is one of the best ways to eliminate bugs. Heating or cooling can be used to protect your kitchen. The bugs die at temperatures below minus 16 degrees or plus 50 degrees. To do this, you can put buckwheat or rice in the oven for half an hour. Spread on a baking sheet in an even layer. Or put a bag of oatmeal or semolina in the freezer.
After that, the cereals are placed in a dry package, preferably tightly closed, but with ventilation. For safety reasons, dried fruits can be scalded with boiling water and dried. If bugs are seen in any products, throw them away immediately.
Container
Cereals are stored in a wide variety of containers - in polyethylene bags, metal boxes, glass or plastic jars, fabric bags. If the packaging is done correctly and has holes for ventilation, then it is not necessary to pour the cereal somewhere. An additional plus is the reusable fastener on the bag.
Metal and glass containers can be selected only if they are equipped with a tight lid. Insects can enter the container through the gap between the wall and the lid. You can use cereal bags by boiling them in salt water.
Pest control mixtures
Strong chemicals are not the best way to get rid of brown bugs in the kitchen, so it is better to give preference to simple and proven remedies.
Boric acid has a good effect against insects. It can be mixed with powdered sugar and flour. Insects will be attracted by flour and sweet, and boric acid will save you from the problem.
Another common recipe is a mixture of sugar with yeast and brown. An equal amount of ingredients is ground until smooth and laid out on the shelves of the cabinets.
Useful tips for housewives
Previously, cereals were very often stored in large bags, so there are many folk recipes recommending what to do if bugs got in the cereal. Garlic cloves can be placed on the shelves with cereals. You cannot cut it - it can start to rot and spoil the food. As it dries, the garlic is changed to fresh.
Prevention of pests and musty odor - hot pepper. You can also put a mixture of starch, salt, flour and bay leaf on the bottom of jars with cereals. Chestnuts and peel of any citrus fruits will help to remove food moths and midges.
Plastic or glass cans can be wrapped in foil - bugs do not like metal containers, so the risk of infection of cereals will be lower in such packaging.
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