KEEPING WEEVILES OUT

[NC_DAVE]

i saw a post under aother tread about somebody have problems with weeviles in stored food. and thought if i replied it would get buried.

This is some thing I have come across serval times while reading up on gardening as i do bit of that as well. Thought this may be worth a try if you have weevils. But I have not peronally tired it.

BAY LEAF Grow bay outside in S.C. Buy dried bay leaf if you are unable to grow it; Dried basil works for keeping pests away. One bay leaf in white flour keeps weevils out and also protects barley, cornmeal, oatmeal, quinoa, and rice. Scatter a few leaves on shelves to repel moths, roaches, earwigs, and mice. Flies hate the smell of bay
i aslo think basil help with pest control as well.

[Icculus]

Ok I'm a newbie at the food storage thing but I'm going to give this a go. You are correct that bay leaves are great at keeping pests at bay. However, when it comes to weevils and stored grains the problem isn't that the weevils get in; its that the eggs are already in the grain and the weevils come out. Basically you need to eliminate the O2 in the packaging (vacuum seal or O2 absorbers) so the eggs can't hatch or the weevils survive. There also seems to be mixed opinions on whether or not freezing the grain before storing is enough to actually kill the eggs.

[bcarroll]

easy issue!!!! example put grain in a sealable 5 gal bucket. But before you seal it. Drop a hunk (size of a copenhagen can)of dry ice on top. Seal it. no air no hatching bugs.

[omega21]

where do you buy dry ice?

[jbsmwd]

local albertson carries it.

[NC_DAVE]

Do you have to seperate the dry ice from the food with anyting.

[bcarroll]

no you dont have anything to worry about. Just throw the dry ice on the flour or what ever. It dont melt so no water issue

[Abraxas]

Do you have to seperate the dry ice from the food with anyting.

Dry ice turns strait to gas, so no

[rkba01]

Dry ice is gas (carbon dioxide) cooled down to the point it freezes (-70F) into a solid (deposition). It goes straight back from the solid to gas (sublimation).

You can typically get it at grocery stores, ask for dry-ice. It is also heavily used by (out of state) hunters that want to keep their processed meat frozen during the trip back home.

When we were without power in 2005 we used dry ice in coolers to keep our frozen meat frozen. It was difficult to get dry ice in the 2008 event because the whole region was without power and plenty of people know how to use dry ice. We got a solid supply of dry ice from out of town family when they helped us rebuilt the fences that where torn down by the hurricane.