There are brown bugs in the cereal cupboard. How to get rid of bugs in cereals once and for all? Red flour beetle - harmful to kitchen supplies

Every thrifty and clean housewife may one day find uninvited “guests” in her kitchen in spices, cereals and other bulk items. Bugs can become a real disaster that destroys food supplies. Therefore, it is necessary to arm yourself effective recommendations and tips to quickly and permanently get rid of pests.

Reasons for appearance

Unpleasant insects appear on kitchen shelves quite quickly and multiply just as quickly, regardless of the amount of cereals stored. When pests are first detected, it is necessary to quickly take measures to destroy uninvited “guests”.

The most common way bugs get into food supplies is by purchasing food that has already been infested by these insects. Only such a winged pest as a moth can penetrate a home on its own.

Therefore, before purchasing cereals that are sold in transparent packaging, you should carefully study its contents.

As a rule, conscientious manufacturers, before packaging their products, treat bulk products with special compounds that destroy pests, if any. But not every company carries out a similar procedure with the product, due to which the products appear on store shelves along with insects. The risk of purchasing such flour, pasta or cereal increases many times over if the product is purchased in supermarkets or markets by weight.

This is due to the fact that contamination of products can occur from various products, for example, dried fruits or dried mushrooms lying nearby. IN separate category Spices that are at risk are not in the original packaging, but those purchased from private manufacturers, where sanitary and hygienic standards during production leave much to be desired. Under threat of defeat harmful insects there are opened bags of supplements that have been in the drawer for quite a long time.

Another option for bugs to enter a home is ventilation holes, hoods, as well as even minimal cracks in walls and floors, through which small bugs can easily enter the house from neighbors.

In order to promptly determine the presence of pests in products, you should pay attention to the following signs indicating the presence of beetles:

the presence of visually distinguishable lumps in the package of cereals;
stirring in a bag of pasta, porridge or flour;
presence of small holes on the packaging;
deformation of grains - holes appear on the grain;
living pests may be indicated by a specific brown coating on cereals and other bulk products;
the presence of long cobwebs in cereals and bulk cereals;
When examining a package of cereals, you can see grains at the bottom that have turned into flour.

If at least one of the signs discussed above is detected, you should immediately establish the type dangerous insect and take measures to destroy it.

Types of pests with names

Obviously, bugs appear only in places where there is access to food. Moreover, not only porridge in packages or bags, but also minimal remnants of cereals, spices or flour on the shelves can become a bait for them.

However, in cereal crops, seasonings and pasta infest not only crawling pests, but also flying ones. This concerns food moth. In addition to the usual cereals, these bugs do not disdain crackers, bread and sugar; in some cases, the uninvited “guest” can even be found in instant cocoa or coffee.

The number of insects dangerous to humans is increasing rapidly, and at the same time the level of damage to food products is growing. However, in order to remove the bugs forever, it is necessary to clearly determine its type, and based on this, select the appropriate means to combat it. To establish the type of pest, it is necessary to study the main ones. As a rule, kitchen shelves with supplies are dominated by bread grinders, food moths, red flour beetles and flour bugs.

The first variety has wings; usually the insects are very small and light in color. In most cases, they are found in baked goods, but can exist and reproduce in dry herbs, drinks and cereals. If a bread borer was discovered, we can safely say that they were infested as a result of purchasing low-quality products; sometimes the pest enters the house in loose pet food.

Bread grinder

Based on the name, you can guess that the flour bug, as a rule, lives in flour, but it happens that the insect chooses a pack of starch as its habitat. Infection of products occurs through the penetration of insects into packaging from other bulk products standing on a shelf at home or on the counter in a supermarket. It could be semolina cereals or any type of flour. Sometimes the bug settles in buckwheat or dried fruits. Female insects prefer to lay eggs in the cracks of furniture or in the cereals themselves, so the spread of pests occurs very quickly.

Red flour eater – little bug, which ends up in the home if low-quality loose food was purchased for feeding cats or dogs. Gradually it settles in cereals or flour. Insects love spoiled foods, so they actively reproduce in bulk foods that are stored in improper conditions.

Flour bug

Red mukoed

The food moth looks like a gray butterfly; as an adult, the insect can have a body length of about 10 centimeters. The pest lives in buckwheat, semolina, flour and rice. Such pests are found in the kitchen for a reason: gross violations food storage requirements.

Without difficulty, moths can enter a home through ventilation or even opening windows and vents.

food moth

Methods of disposal

Today there are quite a lot effective options, allowing you to deal with uninvited “guests” in kitchen cabinets, so every housewife who is faced with a similar problem can choose the most successful method for herself. Of course, timely detection of insects in cereals increases the chances of a positive outcome. In addition, it is important to exterminate pests not only in the packages of grains and cereals, spices and flour, but also to treat furniture and nooks where pests could lay eggs.

First of all you need to remove all supplies from the cabinets and carefully examine the contents. This will help identify the main location of accumulation - the source of infection. If black or brown pests are present in single quantities, it is quite possible that the cereals can be preserved after special gentle processing of cereals, which will not cause harm to human health. These methods include exposure to products using high or, conversely, low temperatures, as well as sifting through a kitchen sieve. When large number beetles, the entire contents of the cabinets will have to be disposed of. .

The correct thing to do would be to hermetically seal the affected products and throw them away, but it is best to take them directly to the trash container so as not to store them in an apartment or house in a trash can, since bugs will again be able to reach the products from there.

All shelves in cabinets, as well as containers intended for storing cereals, must be subjected to mandatory treatment. This can be done using soap or soda solution, in some cases you can use a weakly concentrated solution of table vinegar.

Mechanical and folk remedies

Among the large list of methods to combat insects Several effective recipes should be highlighted.

Freezing. This method will only bring results in the case of a small cluster of bugs that entered the house not so long ago and did not have time to give birth. The essence of the method is to pre-sift the products, after which it is necessary to replace the packaging of porridge, pasta or flour and send them to freezer for 15–20 minutes.
Using a microwave oven. Because this Appliances present in almost every kitchen, its use for pest control has been experimentally proven. An uninvited guest is destroyed by processing cereals in the microwave under the influence of high temperatures. To do this, bulk supplies must be poured into a special container for use in a microwave oven, and then placed inside for processing for 5–7 minutes. After the time has passed, you can check the result: if the bugs are still alive, then the processing time needs to be doubled. Next, the products should be sifted to get rid of larvae, eggs and the pests themselves.

Using saline solution. This method is suitable for killing beetles in legumes. The solution is prepared by dissolving two tablespoons of table salt in a liter of water, after which the product must be placed in a convenient container and filled with salty liquid. After some time, the pests will find themselves floating on the surface of the water.
Borax. A folk remedy that has been used for quite some time. It is completely harmless to humans, but is a real poison for pests. The use of borax involves the disposal of all contaminated bulk products, the treatment of shelves, after which the product must be placed inside the cabinets. You can prepare it as follows:
- crushed millet, borax and sugar, taken in equal quantities, are combined and rolled into small balls;
- the second option involves the use of dry yeast, sugar and borax.

In the first case, the poisoned balls need to be distributed among cabinets and drawers in the kitchen or pantry. The second method assumes that the product will be free-flowing, so it is scattered into small envelopes and also sent to insect habitats.

Use of boric acid. To prepare the composition, you need to combine flour, sugar and acid in equal volumes. The product should be placed on plates and placed in a closet.
Products that have a rich odor. Strong aromas are good insect repellents. The essence of use is to place citrus peels, peeled garlic cloves, and bay leaves in boxes. You can use nutmeg as an aromatic, effective seasoning.
Using plants with rich aroma. Such crops include dried lavender, fir, rosemary or cloves. Instead of dry plants, you can use the essence and oils of these plants. This option is more pleasant from a human point of view, and as a poison for insects, the crops will help destroy all types of pests. As an option, it is allowed to use natural antiseptics, which are calendula and chamomile.

Professional chemistry

Along with folk and by mechanical means to combat insects in the kitchen, there are specialized store-bought formulations that will help with a large lesion, as well as when the above remedies did not bring the expected result and the bugs continue to destroy cereals and multiply.

Karbofos and Antizhuk are considered drugs that have earned a good reputation. The latter composition will have a complex effect, since it is capable of destroying not only food bugs, but also insects that cause harm wooden surfaces and furniture in the house.

Such work must include:

regular inspection and cleaning of the contents of the kitchen table;
timely disposal of expired products;
compliance with recommended storage periods and conditions;
heat treatment of purchased products, flour, pasta and other bulk products;
refusal to store bulk products together with dried fruits.

Should you eat contaminated cereal?

Some people, after finding a small number of pests in flour or porridge, sift them, heat them in the oven and use them for cooking. But, as experts advise, it is best to avoid eating such cereals, even washed and processed ones. This is explained by the fact that in the total mass there still remain products of decay and vital activity of insects, which in themselves can pose an even greater danger than a living individual.

Any product requires compliance the right conditions storage after release, as well as at home after its acquisition. The most the right option placement of cereals will be the use of perforated bags or glass containers with lid. Cans or boxes made of metal or plastic are considered good containers for cereals, flour or sugar.

More and more modern housewives are returning to our ancestors’ storage options for such products - buying or sewing special bags from natural fabrics. In such material there is good air circulation, and insects, as a rule, do not infest.

Most often, such bags are boiled in salt water, which helps repel and even destroy pests.

You should avoid purchasing large quantities of bulk products, because the shelf life of cereals such as buckwheat or semolina is only six months.

However, the most important issue regarding storing cereals with minimal risk of detecting bugs in them is following the recommendations regarding storage periods, air temperature and humidity in the room.

To learn how to get rid of bugs and moths in cereals, watch the following video.

Which saturate the body with the necessary energy. During times of food shortages, when it was quite difficult to “get” cereals, many housewives preferred to buy several kilograms of them at once in order to ensure good nutrition household members.

It is clear that such stocks had to be stored for several months, and after a while unpleasant insects appeared in the products. We need to solve the problem of how to remove bugs from cereals so that they do not spread further. Of course, it is much easier to predict their appearance than to fight the invasion later.

In this article we will try to consider the main points that will help you learn how to properly store cereals and deal with uninvited “guests”.

What bugs are found in food?

Suriname mucoeds and weevils (rice and granary) are the most common in the kitchen. Insects do not harm people, but they spoil cereals and flour products. Weevils - bugs dark color with an elongated proboscis. In dry and warm conditions give offspring 5-6 times a year. They often eat buckwheat, rice, old flour and pasta, as well as legumes.

If the bugs are dark brown or black in color, and you find them in pearl barley, semolina or oatmeal, then most likely you have a Surinamese flour beetle. This insect lives in grain storage areas (warehouses, shops), as well as in apartments and shops. Depending on living conditions, it can produce offspring 2-6 times a year.

Have similar bugs appeared in cereals (photo)? Act immediately to prevent them from multiplying further.

How do insects get into cereals?

The source of bug penetration most often is the dry bulk products themselves, which you purchase in a store or market. The risk of infection is higher if cereals are sold by weight or the manufacturer does not care too much about maintaining quality. Typically the product good quality passes necessary processing when packaging. If you prefer products famous manufacturers, then the problem of how to remove bugs from cereals should not arise.

Insects can also be brought in a bag of dried fruit. The risk is especially high when purchasing delicacies at spontaneous markets from visitors from Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan. A similar situation arises with spices if they are purchased by weight or stored for too long after opening the package (more than 6 months).

Preventive treatment of bulk food products

It is clear that bugs in cereals and flour multiply when favorable conditions. But, like any living organism, both the insects themselves and their larvae are sensitive to temperature changes. So, for example, when it increases to +50 °C or when it decreases to -16 °C, torpor occurs, turning into death. The main preventive methods are based on this.

Immediately after purchase, place the cereal on a baking sheet and place in a preheated oven for 20-30 minutes.
Place the bag of cereal in the freezer for 24 hours, and then store in a dry, ventilated container.
Any dried fruits purchased for future use must be scalded with boiling water, rinsed thoroughly and subsequently stored only in the refrigerator. This will prevent food contamination and insect breeding.
If you notice bugs in spices, throw them away immediately.

Before purchasing, carefully inspect products and cereals (even packaged ones). If you notice signs of infection, do not purchase them!

Shelf life

The best option is to purchase various cereals in 1 kg quantities. If you need to quickly cook buckwheat or rice porridge, you always have a small supply on hand. However, bulk products contain a certain amount of fat, which spoils before other substances. Based on this fact, it is important to strictly monitor compliance with deadlines, and bugs will appear in the cereal.

Semolina, rice, buckwheat and flour are stored for 6 months - there is little storage-resistant fat here.
4 months - optimal time presence of oatmeal, millet and kernels in the pantry. It contains more fat.

It is believed that polished rice tolerates storage well. For example, basmati, beloved by many, only improves its quality over the years.

Tara

Perforated polyethylene is chosen for storing cereals, glass jars or metal boxes, linen bags.

Perforated polyethylene - great option for storing cereals if the packaging is made in accordance with the requirements. The main condition is that the container must “breathe”, then the problem of getting bugs out of the cereal will not arise. But it is difficult to determine the quality of polyethylene, so immediately after purchase it is better to replace the packaging with a more reliable one.

Glass or metal jars are ideal as long as they seal tightly. A poorly closed lid can allow pests to enter. Linen bags are pre-boiled in a salty solution (about 5 tablespoons per 1 liter of water).

Hygiene

In the kitchen and pantry, where it is always clean, the risk of bugs breeding is minimal. You should constantly wipe the surfaces with a damp cloth or sponge. The dishes in which cereals are stored are scalded with boiling water and wiped dry.

But what if there is already a bug in the cereal? First of all, carefully inspect the remaining containers with food, not forgetting to inspect the spices and dried fruits. As a rule, the insect does not live alone. If black bugs are noticed in other jars in cereals, spices, dried fruits, flour, then the supplies should be disposed of immediately. Throw it away, don't hesitate.

Clean cereals can be dried in the oven. Or - for preventive purposes - put it in the freezer for a day. All shelves in the pantry and kitchen cabinets are washed warm water with soap. Prepare a weak solution of vinegar (1 tablespoon per liter of water) and wipe again. Keep cabinets well ventilated and dry.

Pest mixtures

If you are interested in the question of how to remove bugs from cereals, forget about using chemicals. Only a complete inspection of the kitchen, containers and general cleaning will save you. A popular remedy for pest control is a dry mixture of any cereal ground into flour, boric acid and powdered sugar. Mix the indicated components in equal parts. The presence of cereals and powder will attract insects, and boric acid will get rid of bugs for a long time.

Bugs suddenly appeared in your cereal? How to get rid of harmful insects? The following recipe is no less effective. Mix sugar, dry yeast and borax in equal parts, grind finely and place them on shelves in the kitchen or pantry. The bugs disappear after a while.

When the product is heavily contaminated, then taste qualities lost. The bugs eat up the valuable base of the grains, and the remains become bitter. The presence of empty cocoons, excrement and chitinous skins indicates that the insects have been infested for a long time and the cereals have been thoroughly eaten. There will be no benefit from such porridge. In addition, you can get seriously poisoned.

You can try to sift the contaminated flour. But here another problem arises. When bugs eat valuable protein, the flour loses its ability to knead. As a result, you will not be able to use it for its intended purpose.

Since ancient times, our grandmothers and mothers have tried to maintain the quality of the products they purchased. Previously, cereals were stored in bags, which meant that they had to be taken care of much more carefully. We bring to your attention some tips, the effectiveness of which has been tested by time.

Place 1 clove of unpeeled garlic in a container with cereal. Just don't cut it - it can rot and ruin the product. Garlic is also placed on shelves in kitchen cabinets or in the pantry.
A pod of hot pepper will preserve the cereal from a musty smell and protect it from pests.
Wrap a couple of teaspoons of salt in gauze and place at the bottom of a container with cereal, flour or starch. Add on top Bay leaf. You can also use dry lemon zest or regular chestnut, which also works well against food and household moths.
It turns out that food pests cannot tolerate metal objects. You can place iron spoons in jars or limit yourself to a piece of ordinary food foil.

Keep track of your food supplies, inspect them on time, and get rid of contaminated products without regret. Do not buy a lot of cereals or flour, replenish supplies as needed. Keep it clean and don't give pests a chance!

Sort and sift the cereal through a fine sieve, and then heat it in the oven. It is advisable that the temperature in the oven is not lower than 120 degrees. After processing, the cereal must be used as soon as possible. If the bugs in the cereal are in very large quantities, there’s nothing you can do, you’ll have to get rid of the cereal. Such cereals or flour should not be consumed. Firstly, the nutritional value cereals in which bugs appeared is significantly reduced. Secondly, according to doctors, eating such cereals can provoke various allergic reactions.
Preventive measures to combat bugs in cereals.
You should not make too large reserves of cereals and flour. As they say, you can’t save enough for a lifetime! In any case, when making your next purchases, remember that when long-term storage cereals lose not only their taste, but also their nutritional value.
Cereals and flour should be stored in a dry and cool place. It is advisable that the storage location you choose is well ventilated. Glass and ceramic jars with tight-fitting lids are ideal for storing cereals.
IN winter period It is best to store cereals in a special cabinet on the balcony. This is a kind of guarantee that bugs will not get into the cereal - they really don’t like the cold! For the purpose of prevention, you can put a new bag of cereal purchased in a store in the freezer for several days.
If you find bugs in one of the cereals, check all supplies, and thoroughly disinfect, dry and ventilate the kitchen cabinet. You can clean the cabinet saline solution with the addition of soda.
Observe the shelf life of cereals. Remember: rice and buckwheat can be stored for up to six months; millet for no more than three months; It is not recommended to store flour for more than a year. Preliminary industrial heat treatment allows some cereals to be stored for more than six months. For example, rolled oats are perfectly stored.
If you put several metal lids in a jar of rice, then bugs will not appear in the cereal. Bottle caps are most often used for this purpose.
Grated nutmeg works well against bugs. It is enough to lay it out on the shelves of the kitchen cabinet in which cereals are stored, and you can forget about the bugs for a long time.

March 7, 2018
Specialization: master in construction plasterboard structures, finishing works and styling floor coverings. Installation of door and window units, finishing of facades, installation of electrical, plumbing and heating - I can give detailed advice on all types of work.

Bugs in cereals and other products in the kitchen are an unpleasant surprise that causes a lot of problems for housewives. In this article we will figure out how to solve this problem with minimal costs time and effort and how to carry out prevention to prevent the appearance of bugs later.

How to get rid of bugs in cereals in the kitchen cupboard

To understand the topic in detail, we will divide it into several parts; you need to carefully study all the information below in order to understand what and how to do. Everything is quite simple, the main thing is to follow safety measures and do everything carefully.

Causes of pests

Cereals, flour and other products are stored in loosely closed containers. Many people simply place open packages on shelves and use them as needed. That is, insects have free access to all your supplies, and if several insects get into the kitchen, they will multiply very quickly in such conditions;

Old, dry furniture. Despite its non-obviousness, this aspect greatly increases the likelihood that bugs will appear in the cabinet, since they live and multiply in the cracks of dried wood and in old furniture are being created ideal conditions. To eliminate such problems, repair and replace furniture on time;

Large stocks of cereals, flour and other products. You shouldn’t stock up on everything for the year ahead; the more products you have stored, the higher the likelihood that one of the packages contains beetle larvae, which will damage not only the contents of one package, but over time will penetrate the contents of other packages. All savings turn into additional costs when you have to throw away half of the supplies;

Purchase of cereals by pests. Most often, it is very difficult to distinguish between eggs and larvae; however, carefully inspect the packages and try to buy those packages in which the contents are at least partially visible. If appearance is suspicious or you see foreign inclusions, then it is better to refuse the purchase. Sometimes the bugs are visible to the naked eye, as in the photo below, which is why transparent bags are preferable;

Clutter in the lockers. If cereals and flour spill on the shelves and cleaning is not carried out for a long time, then the danger of pests increases sharply. You need to clean the cabinets in a timely manner and try to prevent spillage of bulk products.

Remember that pests feed not only on flour and cereals. Other products must also be protected: pasta, cookies and crackers, bakery products, various nuts, dried fruits, food concentrates.

Types of bugs in the kitchen

Most often in the kitchen one of the the following types pests:

Illustration	Description
	Mukoed Surinamese. Small bugs with a body size of no more than 2 mm prefer cereals and quickly breed in most bulk products that are stored in the kitchen. The bug is bred in grain drying complexes and elevators, and enters the house in bags of semolina, pasta or rice. The tiny eggs laid by the pest cannot be distinguished with the naked eye, so it is impossible to completely guarantee safety when purchasing. The red flour beetle, as this bug is also called, feeds not only on cereals, but also on breadcrumbs, dried fruits, dried fruits and much more.
	Flour beetle. These pests are much easier to detect as their size reaches 4 mm. They live in cereal bags, bread bins and crevices in kitchen cabinets. It feeds on almost all bulk foods and multiplies very quickly if no measures are taken to eliminate it.
	Grinder beetle. Grows up to 3 mm and has different colors- from dark yellow to brown. In the kitchen there is a so-called bread grinder, which feeds on any cereals, dried fruits, bakery products. It multiplies very actively and can occupy your cabinets in just a week.
	food moth. A relative of the pest that starts in wardrobes. Lepidoptera insect small size causes great damage to all bulk products in the kitchen. Moreover, the main problems are caused not by small moths, but by their larvae - voracious caterpillars.

Folk remedies for getting rid of bugs in the kitchen

Remember a simple rule - the sooner after detection you begin to fight pests, the easier the job will be. You need to perform a number of important steps:

Illustration	Description
	An audit of all available bulk products is carried out. Carefully remove the contents from the cabinets and carefully review all products that may contain pests. It is important not to miss a single package, since a good effect can only be guaranteed if all insects are completely eliminated.
	Damage caused to products is assessed. There may be several options for the development of events: If there are few bugs, you can sift the food and steam it or freeze it in the freezer; If there is a significant spread of insects, as in the photo, it is better to get rid of all affected products.
	Getting rid of pests is done like this:: All bulk products with insects are hermetically packed in plastic bags; They should not be placed in the trash bin; all products should be placed in the container immediately. It’s better to play it safe and throw away all suspicious products; you won’t lose a lot of money, but you will significantly reduce the likelihood reappearance pests.
	Cabinets need to be thoroughly cleaned and washed.. For this, a simple disinfectant solution is used, which is easy to prepare: 1 tablespoon per liter of water. All surfaces are wiped with the composition, after which you need to wait until all the cabinets are completely dry. If there are cracks inside, they should be filled with a special compound, since these are the places where pests most often live.
	All products must be poured into sealed containers. These can be glass jars or special plastic containers. There should be no bags, as these are potential places for pests to spread.
	Baits are prepared and placed with boric acid or borax. They are located near cabinets, on window sills and countertops. The composition is poured onto pieces of cardboard or into can lids. It is important that the products are closed, as indicated above, so that pests do not enter them after they have tasted the bait.
	Folk remedies are used to repel pests: Pyrethrum is a special type of chamomile, the smell of which is not tolerated by pests; Cloves also repel insects and can be placed in kitchen cabinets; Bay leaves can be placed near cereals; insects do not like its smell either; Peeled garlic cloves reduce the likelihood that pests will appear again.

Let's figure out how to prepare bait, everything is quite simple:

You will need boric acid or borax. These compounds are sold in hardware stores and are inexpensive. As for the release form, a powder version is used to prepare dry bait, and for bait with honey it is better to use a liquid form;

The second component that will be used to remove pests is powdered sugar. You need about the same amount of it as the first composition. Can buy ready-made option, or you can grind regular sugar, it makes no difference;

Preparation is simple: the components are mixed in a 1:1 ratio. After this, a little of the composition is poured into the lids, which are placed near the places where the pests were found. You can also place baits in the corners of the kitchen, since it is possible that insects have scattered around the room.

Prevention of bugs

In order not to think about how to remove pests from kitchen cabinets, you need to follow a few simple recommendations:

Buy cereals only in transparent bags. More often visual inspection gives an idea of the quality of the cereal; if there are a lot of impurities in the packaging, then most likely the product has not been processed thoroughly enough. At the slightest suspicion, refuse to purchase. Ideally, if you know which manufacturers' products have high quality and you constantly acquire only it;

Very often, pest larvae are found in cheap cereals that are offered for sale.

All bulk items, as well as flour, pasta, dried fruits, etc. store in airtight containers. After purchase, unpack the packaging and pour it into a container, then immediately close it tightly with a lid. Ideally, if the jars are transparent, then you will be able to see the condition of the products and immediately notice any problems if they arise;

Do not store large amounts of flour and cereals. At room temperature they begin to rot, which is why the likelihood of bugs and moths appearing increases tenfold. In addition, large volumes are difficult to control and most often the problem is discovered only when it is impossible to save the products, and your savings turn into large costs;
Do not buy bulk products in large packages. The likelihood that a ten or twenty kilogram bag contains pest larvae is many times higher than in small packs. In addition, it is unlikely that you will have enough containers to hermetically pack the entire volume. And even if all the food in the kitchen is stored properly, an open bag will be a potential hazard;
Maintain order in lockers. At least once a month, a general cleaning is carried out by removing all the contents and wiping the walls with a disinfectant composition. Never put spilled cereals or flour in the cupboard; clean it up immediately and the likelihood of insects appearing will decrease significantly. Try to arrange the products so that they are all visible and can be visually inspected from time to time;
Fix problems with furniture. It was already written above that cracks in wood are ideal for pests, and they live and reproduce there. Fix all problems not only in cabinets, but also on window sills and other elements.

Conclusion

Now you know about all the main pests that appear in the kitchen and can effectively deal with them. But it is better to carry out timely prevention so as not to solve such problems. The video tells Additional Information on the topic, and if you suddenly don’t understand something, write questions in the comments.

March 7, 2018

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Why do bugs appear in cereals, how to get rid of pests and which cereals are most susceptible to their influence? First of all, you need to understand that bugs only appear where there is constant access to food. Insects are attracted to loose materials not only in open containers and bags, but also when scattered on shelves and in cabinets.

Cereals and pasta are a favorite treat not only for bugs, but also for food moths. Insects also actively eat cereals, crackers, dried fruits, bread; they can be found in spices and food concentrates.

What bugs are found in the kitchen and how do they get there?

It’s not enough to discover that there are bugs in flour and cereals, damaging products with lightning speed. To pick up effective means To combat pests, you need to clearly know what type they belong to. There are several main types of bugs that damage bulk products:

bread grinder;
flour bug;
red mucous eater;
food moth.

Bread grinders are miniature light brown bugs that can fly; they most often settle in cereals; they enjoy baked goods, old medicinal herbs, as well as tea and coffee with great pleasure. They enter the apartment with contaminated store products, as well as animal feed.

Flour bugs settle in flour more often than in any other product; they can often be found in bags of starch. Insects simply penetrate boxes in the kitchen with bulk products, including packages of rye, rice flour, rolled oats and semolina. Infrequently, you can see pests in dried fruits, rice or buckwheat.

The peculiarity of insects is the ability to reproduce quickly. Female beetles camouflage their oviposition in crevices of furniture in the kitchen, in cereals, flour, and on cabinet shelves. A new generation of pests quickly spreads throughout the home in search of food sources.

The red common mucoed is no more than 2.5 mm long. It most often enters the premises together with low-quality animal feed. The pest's favorite food is cereals, grains, flour with an expired shelf life and a moisture content of no more than 15%. In order for the red flour beetle to stop spoiling food and breeding in the kitchen, it is enough to block access to food sources.

The food moth infests in buckwheat, rolled oats, semolina, rice, flour. A mature individual visually resembles a silver butterfly and reaches a length of 10 cm. Its appearance in the kitchen is associated with violation of food storage rules; in addition, the insect enters the house through ventilation holes and open windows.

In addition to the fact that insects are found in semolina, millet and other cereals, in some cases tea and cocoa, dried fruits, and pasta are also infected.

It is not difficult to identify pests in products - they leave behind a thin web woven from small yellow worms.

Preventive measures: how to prevent infection?

To prevent insects in cereals from complicating your life by requiring a number of operations to destroy them, you can follow simple recommendations regarding the prevention of their appearance. These include:

Warm up the purchased cereals in the oven at low temperature for half an hour.
Freezing bulk products in the freezer for 24 hours (use dry, ventilated packaging).
Dried fruits are treated with boiling water, followed by washing and storing exclusively in the refrigerator.
Thorough inspection of purchased products (including vacuum packaging) with the disposal of cereals and flour with signs of infection.

Bulk materials should be stored in perforated polyethylene or closed glass containers. As an alternative, metal boxes and ecological bags made of natural linen are suitable.

One of the reasons why bugs appear in flour and cereals is failure to comply with the shelf life of products. To avoid creating conditions favorable for pests, it is worth buying cereals and other bulk products, as well as dried fruits, coffee and tea with a minimum supply.

It is believed that rice, semolina, flour and buckwheat can be stored for no more than six months; oatmeal and millet can be stored for no more than 4 months due to their high fat content.

The record holder for shelf life is polished rice. Many varieties become even better after several years of storage, acquiring additional taste.

If you still cannot avoid contamination of food in the kitchen, you can get rid of bugs in cereals, flour and spices in several ways.

Recycling is a simple and reliable method

When there is neither the desire nor the ability to fight the increasing population of harmful insects in bulk products in the kitchen, it is worth moving on to a radical method - recycling damaged cereals.

Packages, sacks, containers with bugs are carefully packed in sealed cellophane and taken out of the house.

Places where contaminated products were stored (shelves, cabinets, mezzanines) are thoroughly treated with soda, vinegar or chlorine solution, followed by rinsing with clean water.

Thermal fighting - what effect does it give?

If there are bugs in the cereal, you can try to remove them by raising the temperature to +50 degrees Celsius. We are talking about treating containers with pests with boiling water or steam. The method is especially effective for removing pests in hard-to-reach places.

To free cereals and other bulk products from insects, you can dry them in the oven at temperatures up to 70 degrees for half an hour, or achieve the result by placing contaminated products in the freezer. Most bugs die at a temperature of -15 degrees Celsius.

After destroying the larvae and beetles from kitchen cabinet, shelves, it is important not to forget to treat the surfaces, as well as all available cereals, nuts, and beans. As a result of this treatment, it will be possible to get rid of the remaining insects that will simply float to the surface. However, given that products contaminated with insects are unfit for consumption, it is easier to get rid of them by replenishing supplies with fresh cereals and flour.

Chemicals in pest control

If there are bugs in the cereal, what should you do when the previous methods above do not give the desired effect? In such cases it makes sense to use chemicals. Active drugs are "Karbafos" and "Antizhuk". The second has a universal effect, helping to cope not only with kitchen bugs, but also with wood bugs that damage furniture, windows, laminate and parquet. The drug must be used with extreme caution, following the instructions.

Another remedy against pests, Rogneda, is a powerful antiseptic that allows you to dispose of a number of domestic insects, including mucous beetles, weevils, cockroaches and ants.

You can also remove bugs from the kitchen using the drug “Lovin Fire Protection”, which allows you to achieve quick effect. The product has high level toxicity, used in the absence of pets and children.

Working folk methods: which ones to choose?

Those who believe that chemicals are too dangerous and that recycling and exterminating insects by lowering or raising temperatures is not so effective should try to solve the problem with folk remedies. Recipes for some of them are below:

Table vinegar. All surfaces infected with the bug are treated with a vinegar-based water solution, along with the simultaneous disposal of cereals and flour damaged by pests.
Bay leaf, pepper, garlic, sulfur. All these are products whose smell is feared not only by flour bugs(the photo below will not allow you to make a mistake in identifying pests), but other types of insects.
Antiseptics natural origin- chamomile or calendula can also repel pests.

An interesting option that allows you to forget, if not forever, then for a long time, what bugs in cereals are (a photo will help you correctly identify the type of each) is a trap based on boric acid.

Bait works on a simple principle: insects are attracted to the bait. Hungry bugs try a poisoned treat, become infected with toxins and poison the rest of the colony.

To prepare the bait, mix in a container boric acid with powdered sugar, semolina, honey, syrup. Treats will only attract pests when fresh. It is recommended to use traps when children and pets are not at home, placing them in insect habitats.