Buggin' Me

Question for Marmee:

Do you have grains you use that you have had for a long time?  How do
you know if you had/have bugs?  Will you see like a flour in the
grain?  I am sorry to be bugging you but I have had this question for
years but never knew how to find out the answer.

 

Marmee answers:
You aren’t bugging me. LOL!  Would love to help answer this for you and many more who may have the same question.

I have used grains after having them stored for over 8 years in
a sealed air tight container. If you had bugs, this is what you would see
depending on the type of bug:
1 - A black hard shell looking thing with legs like an ant type
insect...crawling allllll over the grain...all mixed in.
2- Grain in clumps like small balls the size of a dime -- and all stuck
together...there are bugs or bug eggs inside the clumps
2- Tiny pantry moth type things flying all over the container
4- Grain kernals that don't look firm, smooth and the original color...areas
chipped out of it that look all powdery...but this last one I don't see
much...and if there was no sign of a bug, or tiny worm when I rinsed a small
portion of it in a cup...I would still probably use it ;)
Does that help at all?
Hope so!

NOTE: MarmeeDear will soon have those wonderful moth trap lures that you can help eliminate pantry moths that invade grains in her PANTRY – check THE SHOPPE soon!