We are a medium sized school and have recently found insects in quite a
few of our food storage containers. We threw it all out and now want to
know a way to protect that room from more insects - and possibly also
kill off any that might still be hiding in the room.

Does anyone have any ideas? Are there appropriate insecticides that are
safe and effective? Someone here has proposed some kind of an
electronic device that supposedly can keep insects away. My own (very
limited) understanding is that this kind of thing will work on rodents
but perhaps not on insects. Have any of you heard of using such devices
to keep insects out of grains?

I would be most grateful for any roads you can send me down that might
work.

Mike

"mike" ) writes:
> We are a medium sized school and have recently found insects in quite a
> few of our food storage containers. We threw it all out and now want to
> know a way to protect that room from more insects - and possibly also
> kill off any that might still be hiding in the room.

What I do at home ...

Put bug-free (and egg-free) food in washed containers with tight lids.
Open containers only to remove food, don't leave open where insects can
lay eggs. Bugs may be in grains, etc. in the form of eggs. In time they
will hatch. Depends on food suppliers.

May not be able to get rid of bugs in storage room, depending on building
materials and construction. Vacuum to remove bugs and eggs, then wash the
room with water containing soap or deterent and bleach. However people
store food in sealed containers in buggy rooms without getting any in the
food if it's in containers with tight-fitting lids. I've never done
anything to kill bugs or spiders in the cold storage area of my basement.
I don't actually open any containers down there, just for storage. Usually
easier to seal the containers than to seal the storage room.

Hope that helps.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned

In article .com>,
"mike" > wrote:

> We are a medium sized school and have recently found insects in quite a
> few of our food storage containers. We threw it all out and now want to
> know a way to protect that room from more insects - and possibly also
> kill off any that might still be hiding in the room.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas? Are there appropriate insecticides that are
> safe and effective? Someone here has proposed some kind of an
> electronic device that supposedly can keep insects away. My own (very
> limited) understanding is that this kind of thing will work on rodents
> but perhaps not on insects. Have any of you heard of using such devices
> to keep insects out of grains?
>
> I would be most grateful for any roads you can send me down that might
> work.
>
> Mike

If you're in the US, check with your State university's extension
services division -- or try mine - U of MN.
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 11-9-05 finishing in four
parts the trip report from our vacation time in San Francisco
for Nephew Pat's wedding last weekend.

mike wrote:
> We are a medium sized school and have recently found insects in quite a
> few of our food storage containers. We threw it all out and now want to
> know a way to protect that room from more insects - and possibly also
> kill off any that might still be hiding in the room.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas? Are there appropriate insecticides that are
> safe and effective? Someone here has proposed some kind of an
> electronic device that supposedly can keep insects away. My own (very
> limited) understanding is that this kind of thing will work on rodents
> but perhaps not on insects. Have any of you heard of using such devices
> to keep insects out of grains?
>
> I would be most grateful for any roads you can send me down that might
> work.
>
> Mike
>


Adding bay leaves to canisters of flour is supposed to keep bugs out. I
don't know if it works or not, but if you buy a bulk package of bay
leaves from a Middle Eastern market, they are not very pretty but are
cheap and strong.

Some people just put poppyseeds in all their baked goods and this hides
any extra protein and B vitamins that might be in the flour. :-P

The eletronic ultrasonic things sound kind of like those magnets you put
on your car's fuel lines to get 100 miles per gallon (also, magnetic
water softeners.)

There's a company called "Gardens Alive!" that sells pheromone traps to
catch spice moths. I don't know how well they work if you don't have
the specific insect they target.

Best regards,
Bob

When we lived in the south, we found that bugs came with the grain and rice.
I onced asked a lady in the supermarket how she prevented that. She told me
you have to get used to it.

Andie Z


"mike" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> We are a medium sized school and have recently found insects in quite a
> few of our food storage containers. We threw it all out and now want to
> know a way to protect that room from more insects - and possibly also
> kill off any that might still be hiding in the room.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas? Are there appropriate insecticides that are
> safe and effective? Someone here has proposed some kind of an
> electronic device that supposedly can keep insects away. My own (very
> limited) understanding is that this kind of thing will work on rodents
> but perhaps not on insects. Have any of you heard of using such devices
> to keep insects out of grains?
>
> I would be most grateful for any roads you can send me down that might
> work.
>
> Mike
>

mike wrote:

> We are a medium sized school and have recently found insects in quite
> a
> few of our food storage containers. We threw it all out and now want to
> know a way to protect that room from more insects - and possibly also
> kill off any that might still be hiding in the room.
> Does anyone have any ideas? Are there appropriate insecticides that
> are
> safe and effective? Someone here has proposed some kind of an
> electronic device that supposedly can keep insects away. My own (very
> limited) understanding is that this kind of thing will work on rodents
> but perhaps not on insects. Have any of you heard of using such devices
> to keep insects out of grains?
> I would be most grateful for any roads you can send me down that
> might
> work.
> Mike

FWIW, I've heard that you can freeze the grain for a while when you first
get it to kill any critters that might be there. And do check with your
local health department for approved methods of storage & killings.
Edrena

The Joneses wrote:
> mike wrote:
>
>
>> We are a medium sized school and have recently found insects in quite
>>a
>>few of our food storage containers. We threw it all out and now want to
>>know a way to protect that room from more insects - and possibly also
>>kill off any that might still be hiding in the room.
>> Does anyone have any ideas? Are there appropriate insecticides that
>>are
>>safe and effective? Someone here has proposed some kind of an
>>electronic device that supposedly can keep insects away. My own (very
>>limited) understanding is that this kind of thing will work on rodents
>>but perhaps not on insects. Have any of you heard of using such devices
>>to keep insects out of grains?
>> I would be most grateful for any roads you can send me down that
>>might
>>work.
>>Mike
>
>
> FWIW, I've heard that you can freeze the grain for a while when you first
> get it to kill any critters that might be there. And do check with your
> local health department for approved methods of storage & killings.
> Edrena
>

How appropriate! I just visited the market today and bought 5 lbs of rye
flour and 5 lbs of all purpose plus a couple of lbs of dog treats. All
went into the freezer for a routine 3 day visit. Kills any miller moth
larvae, eggs, or moths and any other bug that may be in there. After
that they're just more protein in the food made with the flour. I don't
put bay leaves in with my grains anymore although my mother always did.
I just seal them up in air tight containers and have no problems.

Side note: it's turrible dry down here at the moment and them great big
woods roaches keep knocking on the door asking for water. Bengal roach
spray works wonders, just spray lightly anyplace they try to come in,
plumbing races, wiring races, under and around doors. The next morning
you find them with their multiple little feet up in the air. Some of
these boogers are 3 inches long. Anyone for roach racing?

George, waiting for three more contractors coming in tomorrow to give me
bids on Rita repairs.

On Thu 10 Nov 2005 07:13:33p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it zxcvbob?

> mike wrote:
>> We are a medium sized school and have recently found insects in quite a
>> few of our food storage containers. We threw it all out and now want to
>> know a way to protect that room from more insects - and possibly also
>> kill off any that might still be hiding in the room.
>>
>> Does anyone have any ideas? Are there appropriate insecticides that are
>> safe and effective? Someone here has proposed some kind of an
>> electronic device that supposedly can keep insects away. My own (very
>> limited) understanding is that this kind of thing will work on rodents
>> but perhaps not on insects. Have any of you heard of using such devices
>> to keep insects out of grains?
>>
>> I would be most grateful for any roads you can send me down that might
>> work.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>
>
> Adding bay leaves to canisters of flour is supposed to keep bugs out. I
> don't know if it works or not, but if you buy a bulk package of bay
> leaves from a Middle Eastern market, they are not very pretty but are
> cheap and strong.

Bay leaves do work, and are very effective even for long term storage.

> Some people just put poppyseeds in all their baked goods and this hides
> any extra protein and B vitamins that might be in the flour. :-P
>
> The eletronic ultrasonic things sound kind of like those magnets you put
> on your car's fuel lines to get 100 miles per gallon (also, magnetic
> water softeners.)
>
> There's a company called "Gardens Alive!" that sells pheromone traps to
> catch spice moths. I don't know how well they work if you don't have
> the specific insect they target.
>
> Best regards,
> Bob
>



--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
_____________________________________________

A chicken in every pot is a *LOT* of chicken!

mike wrote:
> We are a medium sized school and have recently found insects in quite a
> few of our food storage containers. We threw it all out and now want to
> know a way to protect that room from more insects - and possibly also
> kill off any that might still be hiding in the room.
>
<snip>
> I would be most grateful for any roads you can send me down that might
> work.
>
> Mike
>

Can't speak to insecticides in the room but airtight containers with
tightly fitting lids will keep the beasties out. Better yet: When
you put each container into storage after opening, drop a chunk of dry
ice the size of your fist and wrapped well in butcher paper into the
container (this is based on a five-gallon bucket, adjust dry ice
proportionately for other containers). Seal tightly for two hours,
open the container to burp it and reseal. The CO2 will kill off
anything living in it without the health risks of an insecticide. N2
works equally well but is nowhere near as easy to administer. For
long-term storage, freezing will kill eggs more reliably but you need
really cold (>-10F) for a couple of weeks to do the job.

Start by complaining to your suppliers and insisting on better QA for
bulk foods, follow up by revamping your storage techniques and
educating your employees to keep critters out and finish up by adding
dry ice. Problem solved.

If you are going to use insecticides, apply them around the perimeter
of the room, preferably on the outside. Anything you use inside the
room will need to be cleared with your County and/or State Health folks.

TK



TK

--
Cogito ergo bibo

George Shirley ) writes:

> Side note: it's turrible dry down here at the moment and them great big
> woods roaches keep knocking on the door asking for water. Bengal roach
> spray works wonders, just spray lightly anyplace they try to come in,
> plumbing races, wiring races, under and around doors. The next morning
> you find them with their multiple little feet up in the air. Some of
> these boogers are 3 inches long. Anyone for roach racing?

Sounds like the roaches Florida real esate salespeople call "love bugs".

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned

George Shirley wrote:
> Side note: it's turrible dry down here at the moment and them great
> big woods roaches keep knocking on the door asking for water. . .
> Some of these boogers are 3 inches long. Anyone for roach racing?


You're makin' me homesick for East Texas again, George.

Best regards, :-)
Bob

zxcvbob wrote:

> George Shirley wrote:
>
>> Side note: it's turrible dry down here at the moment and them great
>> big woods roaches keep knocking on the door asking for water. . . Some
>> of these boogers are 3 inches long. Anyone for roach racing?
>
>
>
> You're makin' me homesick for East Texas again, George.
>
> Best regards, :-)
> Bob

I can mail you some of them. Had one get up and walk away right after I
cornered him and put the boot toe to him. And Yanqui's wonder why we
Texans wear them pointy toed western boots. How else you gonna corner a
roach?

George

Edrena is correct, freezing will work. It takes at least 72 hours at
zero to kill eggs. Re-freezing every so often can prevent another
future occurance. CC

In article >,
George Shirley > wrote:

> zxcvbob wrote:
>
> > George Shirley wrote:
> >
> >> Side note: it's turrible dry down here at the moment and them great
> >> big woods roaches keep knocking on the door asking for water. . . Some
> >> of these boogers are 3 inches long. Anyone for roach racing?
> >
> >
> >
> > You're makin' me homesick for East Texas again, George.
> >
> > Best regards, :-)
> > Bob
>
> I can mail you some of them. Had one get up and walk away right after I
> cornered him and put the boot toe to him. And Yanqui's wonder why we
> Texans wear them pointy toed western boots. How else you gonna corner a
> roach?
>
> George

Ye gods, do those critters wear armor - it got up and walked away? What
kind of steaks do they make. "-)
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 11-9-05 finishing in four
parts the trip report from our vacation time in San Francisco
for Nephew Pat's wedding last weekend.

"William R. Watt" < wrote ...

>
> Sounds like the roaches Florida real esate salespeople call "love bugs".
>
> --


love bugs aren't roaches. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_MG068

Florida roaches are usually called palmetto bugs, and yes, those can be 3-4
inches long
--
lynn

In many places axe heads have a blade on both ends. In northern Ontario and
Quebec they only have a blade on one end. The other end is blunt. The
blunt end is for killing mosquitoes.

Melba's Jammin' ) writes:
> In article >,
> George Shirley > wrote:
>
>> zxcvbob wrote:
>>
>> > George Shirley wrote:
>> >
>> >> Side note: it's turrible dry down here at the moment and them great
>> >> big woods roaches keep knocking on the door asking for water. . . Some
>> >> of these boogers are 3 inches long. Anyone for roach racing?
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > You're makin' me homesick for East Texas again, George.
>> >
>> > Best regards, :-)
>> > Bob
>>
>> I can mail you some of them. Had one get up and walk away right after I
>> cornered him and put the boot toe to him. And Yanqui's wonder why we
>> Texans wear them pointy toed western boots. How else you gonna corner a
>> roach?
>>
>> George
>
> Ye gods, do those critters wear armor - it got up and walked away? What
> kind of steaks do they make. "-)
> --
> http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 11-9-05 finishing in four
> parts the trip report from our vacation time in San Francisco
> for Nephew Pat's wedding last weekend.


--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned

commercialcanner wrote:
> Edrena is correct, freezing will work. It takes at least 72 hours at
> zero to kill eggs. Re-freezing every so often can prevent another
> future occurance. CC
>

If you insist. More than one of my references say it takes over a
week at less than -10F to kill biologicals and/or their eggs.

I'll err on the side of caution, thank you very much.


T"It's not 'are you paranoid?' it's 'are you paranoid enough?'"K

--
Cogito ergo bibo

>We are a medium sized school and have recently found insects in quite a
>few of our food storage containers. We threw it all out and now want to
>know a way to protect that room from more insects - and possibly also
>kill off any that might still be hiding in the room.

If you are a medium sized PUBLIC or PRIVATE school then you'll need to
inquire to those who are familiar with the regulations in your state.
I'd start with your local Cooperative Extension Service agent and then
possibly your local Health Department if he can't help you. You have
limitations that we private kitchen folks don't have to contend with
and should not take the chance on running afoul of your state
regulations.

That said, the first thing to do is clean, clean, clean. Every shelf,
every cupboard, every joint or crack where bugs can hide and powdery
foods build up. Everything should be stored in insect proof containers
meaning air tight. No open bags of anything, no paper or cardboard
containers that aren't sealed inside of insect proof containers. That
alone would eliminate a bug problem over time, but it might take
awhile. If you have a really bad problem them going to some form of
pesticide may be your best option, but this is where you can get into
trouble if you don't use the approved pesticides in in the right way.

Once you have everything into insect proof containers move it all into
your walk-in freezer. If this stuff has been stored on room
temperature shelves that weren't subjected to sustained cool
temperatures then any lurking weevils or weevil eggs should not have
had time to acclimate to cold temperatures. Three days at zero degrees
Fahrenheit or less should kill everything unless the container size is
exceptionally large and completly full then you may need to leave it
for a week or so. Fifty pound bags will be good to go in three days.

Do check with the extension service or health department so you can get
appropriate advice concerning your state regulations.

......Alan.

Put some whole bay leaves in your bins of grains. It repells the insects.
Also, you can freeze it and that helps kill the insects.
tnbearcat