Bugs in croup: how to get rid of once and for all. How to get rid of bugs in cereals and in the closet: borax bait recipes, herbal remedies, folk methods Where do bugs appear in flour

Small nasty bugs in flour and cereals can be a real disaster. And there is such a misfortune, not only among sluts and lazy people, not a single decent housewife and clean-up is immune from this.

You just need to know a few basic rules and a couple of little tricks in order to eat calmly and not suffer from the presence of these little ubiquitous bugs, which, by the way, can spoil not only nerves, but also health.

What bugs start in cereals and flour

Ways to get rid of bugs

To get rid of bugs, it is necessary to carry out a whole range of measures in order to destroy not only themselves, but also their offspring, waste products. And above all, it is, of course, to carry out high-quality cleaning. Armed with rags and sponges, you will have to open all the kitchen cabinets and empty and process all the shelves and drawers.

It is necessary to carefully sweep away all the remnants of cereals that could wake up and wipe everything simply with a dry or slightly damp cloth. After that, you can proceed to processing:

Now let's move on to storage containers:

After the main shelters of the bugs have been eliminated and processed, it is worth moving on to the rest of the items. It is desirable to wipe everything with vinegar solutions: a refrigerator, a microwave oven and other appliances and furniture:

• Feverfew helps well, it is such a flower powder that is made from Caucasian chamomile, absolutely organic and safe for humans and pets. It should be carefully sprayed in cabinets. To do this, you can simply pour a little on a dry palm and gently blow in the direction of the shelf you need. Try to ensure that the powder gets into the cracks and joints.
• If your pest food moth, then to the above procedures, it is necessary to add processing by any chemical agent from the common moth. Moreover, it is also necessary to sprinkle carpets, rugs, upholstered furniture, if any.

If you choose glass or plastic containers for storage, then you need to not only wash them, but also pour boiling water over them well, which will kill the eggs of the bugs

How to permanently get rid of bugs

Get rid of the bugs forever does not work. Every time you come back from the store with another bag of cereals or flour, with a new freshly baked bun, you run the risk of bringing insects into the house.

You can only prevent their occurrence as much as possible by following simple recommendations. And reduce the risk of contamination of all products in the kitchen, as well as the reproduction and prosperity of uninvited guests.

There is no 100% way to protect yourself from bringing contaminated cereal into the kitchen. It somewhat reduces the risk that goods packed in sealed bags can get into such bugs mainly at the stage of manufacturing and packaging of goods.

Every time you return from the store with another bag of cereal or flour, with a new freshly baked bun, you risk bringing insects into the house.

Causes of bugs in cereals and flour

By themselves, bugs do not appear out of nowhere, and they almost never enter a person’s housing:

Prevention of the appearance of bugs

In order not to fight pests, it is better to protect yourself from their appearance and reproduction in advance. General advice– keep clean and make sure that the cabinets are periodically ventilated.

It is impossible to eat infected cereals and flour along with bugs. But after processing the products, it is possible, although, most likely, it will simply be unpleasant for you. Here you need to understand that even if you sort or sift the cereal, you still cannot get rid of the larvae, waste products, excrement and insect scales.

All these particles in small doses are not dangerous for a healthy person. But for a child or simply a weakened body, weak immunity can have consequences in the form of intoxication. As a result, you can get indigestion, vomiting and fever.

If there are no health problems, then you can remove the psychological moment and eat it after a certain processing. Whether it's freezing or heating.

Almost all bugs and their offspring die when frozen to -15 degrees or heated to more than +50:

• To freeze, you need to place a bag of cereals in the freezer for a day, or if the process takes place in winter, then take the food out to the street or balcony, just keep in mind that the temperature should not be more than -15 degrees.
• Pour cereal onto a baking sheet, spread evenly over the entire surface and place for half an hour in the oven, at a temperature of 180-200 degrees.
• Flour after freezing or heating can be sifted through a fine sieve. By the way, the sieve holds not only the bodies of bugs, but also their larvae, and even eggs. Therefore, flour, after all the manipulations carried out, can be safely eaten.

• The main advice is, of course, cleanliness along with a few little tricks.
• When buying cereals or flour, do not rush to immediately fill it in a jar and put it in a cupboard. It is better to put the bag in the freezer for the night, or for a day. If the croup is infected, then this, of course, will not save it from bugs. But at low temperatures, they will die, like their larvae and eggs, which means they will not breed and move to your other stocks.
• Make it a rule when you clean your cabinets to wipe them down with a vinegar or saline solution. Dilute vinegar 9% with water 1: 1 or add 1 tablespoon of ordinary water to 1 liter of water. baking soda and salt.
• Nutmeg is very aromatic. Grind the nut as much as possible on a grater or in a mortar, and so that it does not scatter over the entire surface, take a wide adhesive tape and pour evenly thin layer on its strips the resulting nut powder. Then shake off the excess from the strips and cut into the amount you need. Arrange such nutmeg strips of adhesive tape in boxes. An effective and pleasant means of prevention with bugs. You can pour on scotch tape and already ground nutmeg, from sachets.
• Lavender is another fragrant and simple remedy. Just lay out the dried herb on the shelves.

Which saturate the body with the necessary energy. In 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 provide adequate nutrition to the household.

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 get the bugs out of the cereal so that they do not spread further. Of course, it is much easier to foresee their appearance than to fight the invasion later.

We will try to consider the main points in the article, thanks to which you will learn how to properly store cereals and deal with uninvited "guests".

What kind of bugs start in products?

In the kitchen, Surinamese flour eaters and weevils (rice and barn) are more common than others. Insects do not harm people, but spoil cereals and flour products. Weevils - bugs dark color with extended proboscis. In dry and warm conditions, they give offspring 5-6 times a year. More often they eat buckwheat, rice, old flour and pasta, as well as legumes.

If the bugs are dark brown or black in color, and you found them in pearl barley, semolina or oatmeal, then most likely you have got a Suriname flour eater. This insect lives in places where grain is stored (in warehouses, shops), as well as in apartments and shops. Depending on the living conditions, it can give offspring 2-6 times a year.

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

How do insects get into cereals?

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

Insects can also be brought in a bag of dried fruit. The risk is especially high when buying delicacies in 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 processing 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 rises to +50 ° C or when it drops to -16 ° C, stupor occurs, turning into death. This is the basis of the main preventive methods.

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

Before buying, carefully inspect products, cereals (even packaged). If you notice signs of infection - refuse to purchase them!

Shelf life

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

• Semolina, rice, buckwheat and flour are stored for 6 months - there is not much fat that is resistant to storage.
• 4 months - optimal time being in a closet oatmeal, millet and kernels. It contains more fat.

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

Tara

For storage of cereals choose perforated polyethylene, glass jars or metal boxes, linen bags.

Perforated polyethylene - great option for storage of cereals in the event that the packaging is made in accordance with the requirements. The main condition is that the container must "breathe", then the problem of how to remove the bugs from the cereal will not arise. But here it is difficult to determine the quality of polyethylene, so immediately after the purchase it is better to replace the packaging with a more reliable one.

Glass or metal jars are ideal if they are hermetically sealed. Pests can enter through a poorly closed lid. Linen bags are pre-boiled in a saline solution (about 5 tablespoons per 1 liter of water).

Hygiene

In the kitchen and in the pantry, where it is always clean, the risk of breeding bugs is minimal. Always wipe 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 a bug has already started in the cereal? First of all, carefully examine the rest of the food containers, not forgetting to inspect spices and dried fruits. As a rule, the insect does not live alone. If black bugs are seen in other jars in cereals, spices, dried fruits, flour, then the supplies should be disposed of immediately. Throw away, no doubt.

Clean cereals can be dried in the oven. Or - for prevention purposes - put in the freezer for a day. All shelves in the pantry and in kitchen cabinets wash warm water with soap. Prepare a weak solution of vinegar (1 tablespoon per liter of water) and wipe again. Well ventilate and dry cabinets.

Pest mixes

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 spring-cleaning. A popular pest control agent is a dry mixture of any floured cereal, boric acid and powdered sugar. Mix these components in equal proportions. The presence of cereals and powder will attract insects, and boric acid will get rid of bugs for a long time.

Suddenly there were bugs in the croup? How to get rid of harmful insects? No less effective is the following recipe. Sugar, dry yeast and borax are mixed in equal proportions, finely ground and laid out 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 the valuable basis of the grains, and the remains become bitter. The presence of empty cocoons, excrement and chitinous skins indicates that insects have been wound up for a long time and the cereal has been eaten thoroughly. There will be no benefit from such porridge. In addition, you can earn serious poisoning.

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

Since ancient times, our grandmothers and mothers have tried to maintain the quality of purchased products. Previously, cereals were stored in bags, which means 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 bowl of grits. Just do not need to cut it - it can rot and ruin the product. Garlic is also laid out on shelves in kitchen cabinets or in the pantry.
• A pod of hot pepper will keep the grits from musty smell and protect from pests.
• Wrap a couple of teaspoons of salt in gauze and put on the bottom of the container with cereals, flour or starch. Top add Bay leaf. You can also use dry lemon peel or a regular chestnut, which also does an excellent job with food and household moths.
• Turns out food pests can't stand metal objects. You can put iron spoons in jars or limit yourself to a piece of ordinary food foil.

Keep track of your food stocks, inspect them in time, get rid of contaminated products without regret. Do not buy a lot of cereals, flour, replenish stocks as needed. Maintain cleanliness and do not leave pests a single chance!

If you find somewhere a breeding ground for beetles - throw away the product. This is the most The best way, because, even if you sift, larvae will remain in it, which will still turn into bugs. And then they will go further and occupy new territories.

We draw your attention to the fact that it is better to throw it immediately into the street. Leave them overnight in a trash can - they will disperse anyway and at least one will be saved. And where there is one - there, consider, a hundred, in a couple of weeks.

You don’t need to flush down the toilet, after all, this is a product, it’s somehow not according to Feng Shui. Better take it to garbage container and the grain will be taken away by people who feed homeless animals.

Most common places

Do not think that bugs love only tasty things: cereals and sugar.

These are such omnivorous creatures that you can find them anywhere, even in packages (sealed!) with mustard plasters.

And also in spices, including red pepper.

And since they feel great in such a place, you yourself understand that folk remedies, which include something burning in the composition, will not help you. But, more on that later, but now let's identify the most likely places of their deployment, since you need to act quickly and for sure.

Carefully inspect all bags of cereals. Start looking for reptiles in open packages, they get there most often. If there are a lot of them, then you can not even doubt that they have already managed to penetrate into the closed ones, you just can’t see them yet, because the holes they gnaw through are very small.

Inspect all dry provisions, as they can be not only in cereals, but also in flour, pasta, sugar.

Unless - they do not favor salt, but, anyway, look, it will not hurt. Maybe you have some special salt-eating bugs? In this case, it’s better to “keep it up”, because if you leave their “nest” somewhere, you won’t even have time to blink an eye when they fill the kitchen again.

Beans - the best "house". Why bugs love her so much is not very clear, but the fact remains. If the beans are not stored in the freezer, but simply in a jar or bag, then sooner or later they will have to be eaten by beetles.

Most likely, it is in the beans that some special bugs are planted, the larvae of which are in it before, they just "sleep" up to a certain point. And as soon as they get into the heat, they immediately begin to turn into bugs that leave dark, large spots and holes on the grains.

It is the beans that are the most vulnerable, therefore, make it a rule to keep them in the freezer.

This is the perfect storage place. After freezing, the quality of the grain does not change at all and it can even be planted, it germinates perfectly.

Sort out spices and medicines. As we wrote above, bugs simply love mustard plasters. Though bitter, but no flour. So, see if they are there? And also open the packages with patches, tablets and wipe the cabinet itself well. Maybe they will crawl out when you start in the rustle box. And spices - peppers, seasonings, all kinds of herbs. They can be anywhere!

Tea, coffee, dried fruits- are also loved by them. Usually, it is for such things that hostesses forget most often. In the bank, they are practically invisible. They only pop up when you pour the drink. This is a very disgusting sight! Therefore, look, otherwise, the hour is uneven, disgrace yourself by pouring tea to the guest.

Pay attention to the boxes of vegetables. Imagine, bugs even love onions. There are many posts on the network on forums where women say that pests have wound up even there. The onion deteriorates and becomes soft. Therefore, do not be lazy and inspect all the vegetables.

Look behind the walls of furniture and into the cracks. Bugs are different. Some are cereal, and some are furniture. They are not particularly interested in provisions, but they perfectly ply around the kitchen, crap and spoil the mood with their appearance.

Perfectly settle down in kitchen cabinets, eating crumbs. Except kitchen furniture, open drawers in other rooms. If there are already a lot of them, then they could well settle throughout the apartment.

Check window sills. Particularly vulnerable kitchen window sill. They are often used by housewives as an additional workplace. Therefore, there can be all sorts of crumbs in the cracks, behind which bugs will stick. And there they will arrange a "den".

Take a good look at the floor. They can also be great there. Especially if your floors are wooden and have many small cracks. On the floor they are not so easy to find. Here it is necessary either to etch them with steam or wipe them with bleach. Then they jump out, and you will already know where to drive them from.

shake the whole household appliances . Surprisingly, bugs occupy even equipment. They can be found in mixers, meat grinders and even irons.

One woman on the forum wrote that she found bugs when she began to iron her blouse. I turned on the steam and they both sprinkled ... Brrr ...

So don't forget to take a look. It will be very disappointing if you start making minced meat, and there will be bugs in it.

How do they get into the house?

You buy bugs. By themselves, they do not start and do not fly from the street. Usually, loose cereals come with insects, which are cheaper than packaged ones.

But, they can be in sealed packaging.
So watch what you take. Although, in fairness, larvae that cannot be seen are usually "sold".

The best way to deal with bugs in the kitchen

So, how to get bugs out of cereals in the kitchen? There is nothing better than the good old Dichlorvos.

Muck, of course, is rare, but it kills bugs on the spot. But before you process surfaces, find yourself a place where you can then sit out at least half a day so that it disappears.

The procedure in this case is as follows:

1. 1. Go through everything you can and take it outside (or another room)
2. 2. Wipe cabinets, floors, baseboards with a damp cloth
3. 3. Dishes and jars for cereals - wash and pour over with boiling water (in order to kill the larvae)
4. 4. Treat everything with Dichlorvos (necessarily in a mask and glasses) and retreat to visit someone

No, if you have extra funds, then you can call in order not to breathe chemicals yourself. But, if we talk about efficiency, then there is no difference: you yourself will carry out the processing or pay people, no matter what they say there, that it is unrealistic to etch at home.

More humane ways (for pensioners)

This is not about humanity in relation to bugs, but about humanity to provisions, and therefore to pensioners. Still, if there is not enough money, taking and throwing away the cereal is just the height of madness.

Therefore, you can use this method of struggle:

1. Step 1. Sift the cereal through a fine sieve, sort through it well.
2. Step 2. Then bake it in the oven or put the bags in the freezer for 3-4 days.
3. Step 3. Try to use this grits as quickly as possible.
4. Step 4. Finish the cabinets, floor and other surfaces. If you can’t use chemistry, then at least wipe it with vinegar, pour boiling water over the cracks, or you can use laundry soap(rub it and make a soapy solution). You can also make a solution of boric acid.
5. Step 5. Be sure to wash the dishes, as there may be larvae.

After you put the cereal back into the box, you can place "traps" there. Pour into lids sunflower oil and the remnants of the bugs will certainly taste this treat. And they will drown in it, and you will just fly out this oil and that's it.

Then, you can lay out bay leaves and garlic in lockers. We do not guarantee that this is very effective and will help to permanently remove the bugs, but it calms the soul.

How to prevent a new invasion?

There is no way you can prevent this. Not much depends on cleanliness, rather - on attentiveness.

The only thing that can be advised is to keep the cereals in hermetically sealed glass jars, specially designed for the storage of bulk products (here on this topic).

Although, this is not a panacea, but then at least they will not scatter to other places.

Also, be sure to close packages with spices, even with ordinary paper clips.

And, in general, there is only one prevention: just try not to buy anything for the future. In the yard, I suppose, not the 17th year and at any time you can go to the store. It is better to buy less and a little more expensive than a lot, cheap, but send half to feed the yard dogs.

What store insect repellents exist

What works best and how exactly you can get bugs out - we have already written. But, in addition to such means, there are all sorts of traps, for example, pheromones. You can buy a couple and arrange, for prevention purposes and to lure those individuals who have survived the main treatment.

Using only traps is unreasonable and expensive. They do not act as quickly as we would like, judging by the reviews on the Internet. In the meantime, there are bugs in the kitchen - the cereal will become unusable.

Types of bugs

And finally, let's tell you what pests are and what they are called. Perhaps you will recognize them from the photo and then it will be easier to choose chemistry in the store if bugs are wound up.

	Mukoed Surinamese - light, with long horns.
	Bread grinder - small brown bugs, the most common type. They are also called Pharmacy beetle and Kozheed.
	Flour beetle - looks like a real beetle, with horns, but very small.
	Red flour-eater - how to deal with them, it is written above. Getting these bugs out is as difficult as any other.
	Rice weevils - look from afar - like ants.

Separate case. The tips given above will not always help, you will have to buy products that are hung in the kitchen, because these are flying insects. It remains to wish you only one thing - that our advice will come in handy very soon!

If you have any related questions, please ask them in the comments.

For a good housewife, there is nothing more terrible than one day to discover that new “owners” have wound up in carefully stocked cereals in the kitchen - disgusting little bugs. This spectacle, of course, is not a pleasant one, and there can be no talk of eating such products at all! It is especially disappointing when there are a lot of food supplies.

Where do bugs come from in cereals? And what to do with it - do you really have to throw it away or cook porridge "with meat" for the dog?

Why do bugs start in cereals?

You are an excellent housekeeper, you do daily wet cleaning, with enviable regularity, clean and wash all the cabinets on which provisions are stored, so where do these pests come from in the kitchen, why do they appear?

Do not blame yourself and doubt your own housekeeping and cleanliness. As a rule, insects in cereals start as a result of non-compliance with sanitary control at the factory: unscrupulous manufacturers often do not produce the necessary heat treatment products, as well as improper storage.

And even if you buy bulk products exclusively in vacuum bags, there is no guarantee that there are no living creatures in them.

Bugs in the croup can also start due to the wrong neighborhood - they can simply move from those bought by weight and not immediately processed from possible pests dried fruit, pasta, flour, tea, coffee or even hot spices.

What are these beetles?

Often, small beetles, red flour-eaters and bread grinders settle in dry cereals.

Small flour beetles are small, only 3-3.5 mm in size, reddish-brown beetles with short antennae, rounded sides and small wings (however, they cannot fly).

These insects enter the kitchen from the brought bags of starch or flour, from where they spread throughout the territory, crawling into cracks, latches, loosely covered containers with dry products. These creatures especially “respect” flour, rice, buckwheat, semolina, Artek cereals, millet and dried fruits.

Under favorable conditions, flour beetles reproduce well, bringing up to four generations a year.

Food damaged by the beetle becomes lumpy and, of course, unsuitable for food. Their use is fraught with the appearance of allergic reactions, indigestion or even poisoning.

Red flour-eaters, as a rule, live on industrial enterprises- mills, bakeries, feed mills. These are small (1.5-2.5 mm long) coleopterous rusty-yellow insects covered with small silky hairs with long, widely spaced antennae.

The taste preferences of these bugs are rather limited - flour eaters do not damage products whose moisture content is less than 15-17%, they are mainly content with rotting flour or cereals (most often corn) and dry animal feed. Gathering in groups in products, flour-eaters increase their humidity, pollute them with excrement and shells from larvae.

A characteristic sign of the presence of a flour eater is the flour sieves gnawed by it.

Bread grinders are the most tenacious, prolific, voracious and unpretentious pests. It takes a lot of effort to get them out. These are small beetles (1.8-3.7 mm long) cylindrical shape from light brown to red-brown, covered with short silky hairs.

Often in a dwelling where grinders are wound up, living or dead insects can be seen on the windowsills. They like to eat dry animal products and plant origin: various cereals, grains, tea, coffee, flour products, crackers, animal feed, biscuits, dried fruits, nuts, dry medicinal plants(even poisonous!) and tobacco.

Traces of the presence of grinders can also be found in book bindings, herbariums, where they leave many passages, laying their waste products in them.

The special insidiousness of bread grinders lies in the fact that with a slight infection, their stay in the food substrate is secret - they do not show up. But at high density Pest populations can be found on windows, walls and indoor floors.

The use of products in which bread grinders are wound up, especially without heat treatment, is harmful to health!

How to remove bugs settled in cereals?

If the degree of insect infestation is low, you can sift the cereal through a sieve and heat it in the oven at a temperature of 100-110 ° C, and before cooking, soak in salt water and rinse thoroughly.

But if the bugs wound up in the croup in large quantities, you won’t be able to save it, it’s better not to take risks and throw away the product.

To do this, the following measures must be taken:

• bags and packages in which cereals were stored must be discarded, replacing them with airtight, well-closing plastic or glass containers;
• If contaminated food has been stored in jars, it should be soaked in saturated soapy water, soak for half an hour, then rinse, rinse running water and dry;
• it is important to carefully inspect all food supplies at home for the presence of insects;
• all cereals in which no bugs were found should be placed in the compartment freezer for two days;
• kitchen cabinets, tables, window sills and floors should be washed with laundry soap with the addition of soda, and then wiped with a cloth soaked in a solution or 9% vinegar;
• all the cracks in the floor, the valves in the cabinets should be doused with boiling water.

How to prevent the appearance of bugs?

These simple preventive measures will not only help save food supplies, but also save time and money, and most importantly, save your nerves.

Small bugs, if they are wound up in cereals or flour, can cause a lot of trouble. Firstly, the products where they settled will have to be thrown away, since the pests will certainly lay their eggs in them, and secondly, it is very difficult to get rid of them.

But still there are a few effective ways control of these pests. You will learn about them by reading this article.

Uninvited guests

There are several types of insects that can ruin your food supply:

1. bread grinders - unfortunately, live in bakeries and bread factories. Their food is dry bread products: crackers, gingerbread, cookies, drying. They enter the house with purchased affected products. They are small size, up to 3 millimeters, light brown. They fly very well and have a habit of flying into the light. In apartments where they are wound up, they can be found on the windowsills. They eat not only bread products, but also dry herbs, tea, coffee, bird food and even books;
2. red flour-eater - feeds on wet rotten flour and grain. Inhabits mills, granaries, warehouses big stores where the mode of storage of cereals and cereals is not observed. You can bring it into the house with low-quality feed or cereals.

In appearance, these are small red bugs. They quickly die at home, as they cannot eat dry ingredients;

1. flour beetle is the most frequent and dangerous inhabitant of kitchen cabinets. This is small insect, up to 4 mm, red-brown, slightly shiny. They usually live in flour, semolina, starch, but they can spread throughout the kitchen and hit a variety of products. They easily penetrate into loosely closed containers with cereals and other bulk components. Favorite food: wheat and Rye flour, semolina, hercules. But they can damage buckwheat, rice, dried fruits. They reproduce very quickly, laying their eggs in food. Affected components become dangerous to humans, as they can provoke allergies or, in combination with mold, cause poisoning;

1. food moth - very harmful insect capable of a short time mess up a large number of products. This is a small butterfly, gray or light brown in color. It multiplies very quickly and contaminates any products from flour and cereals to tea, jam and other things. Most of all, it affects dry components: nuts, dried fruits, legumes. It is quite difficult to remove it, since its larvae develop quickly and the moths that have become adults are immediately ready for reproduction.

What to do if the bugs are wound up in flour or cereals?

1. Having found bugs in flour, cereals or other products, it is necessary to get rid of spoiled products. Unfortunately they cannot be eaten. If you feel sorry for throwing away stocks of cereals, then you can cook it and feed it to poultry. You just need to do this as quickly as possible so that the bugs do not hit all your food and bird food supplies;
2. Then it is necessary to thoroughly wash all the dishes and wash all kitchen textiles: towels, tablecloths, napkins that have come into contact with products where pests have been found. Banks where contaminated flour and cereals were stored must be washed and disinfected;
3. You should also thoroughly rinse all kitchen cabinets by adding detergent or vinegar. To completely get rid of pests, this procedure must be done several times.

Mistresses at all times waged an uncompromising struggle with these kitchen pests. Over the years, methods have been developed to get rid of flour bugs. If there are bugs in your flour supplies, you can resort to folk remedies. They are simple and often give good results.

Folk remedies:

• if there are bugs in your kitchen, you need to do the following: put small jars with chopped bay leaves in washed cabinets;
• soak small pieces of paper or cotton pads with lavender oil and arrange them in cabinets;
• grandmother's trick - put a washed steel nail or screw on the bottom of a jar of cereals. Bugs won't start!
• helps fight bugs ordinary garlic. Arrange its slices in places where pests were found.
• These insects do not like the smell of cloves, mint, allspice.

Prevention measures: how to store flour and cereals so that bugs do not start in them

It was described above in detail why bugs start up in cereals, grain products and flour. So that they never appear in your kitchen, you need to choose the right products when buying and, of course, store them correctly.

In order to avoid the appearance of bugs in your kitchen, when buying and storing flour and cereals, follow these simple rules:

• if the packaging allows, then carefully inspect the product in the store. Smell it for a musty smell. This will exclude the purchase of products affected by the red flour-eater and other insects;
• storing products in glass, plastic, metal cans and boxes with tight lids will protect them from bugs;
• bugs can get in your closets by getting into the kitchen with bird and pet food. For example: hamsters. Store food and food separately from each other. Don't let them touch.
• and the most main recommendation. Do not create at home kitchen cabinet large stocks of flour and cereals, do not store them for a long time.
• if the bugs are still wound up in flour or cereals, wage an uncompromising fight with them.

We hope that the knowledge of why pests start up in the kitchen and how to deal with them will help you if bugs start up in flour or cereals. See you soon!