← Grain and flour storage H56-05 · Module 5 of 7 · Pages: 19 · Worksheets: 6

Moths and weevils without chemicals

How to recognise weevils, moths and flour beetles, find them early and stop them with cold, heat, lack of oxygen and diatomaceous earth, without insecticides near food

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Moths and weevils without chemicals

In short

  • Below 15 °C (59 °F) weevils and moths barely breed; at 25–30 °C (77–86 °F) a new generation arrives in 4–6 weeks. A cool store is half the defence.
  • Freezing at −18 °C (0 °F) kills all stages: a jar or bag of up to 3 kg 3 days, a 10–25 kg sack 7 days.
  • Dry grain in an airtight container runs out of oxygen, and the insects die within a few weeks.
  • Diatomaceous earth, food grade only, roughly 1–2 g per kg of dry grain. Wear a mask when using it.
  • New grain never on old, bought grain into quarantine first. Insecticides and fumigation are not for a home larder.

What's inside

Chapters

  1. Know your enemy
  2. How they get in and spread
  3. Find them early
  4. First line: tidiness and cold
  5. Cold: freezing
  6. Heat
  7. No oxygen: airtight and CO₂
  8. Diatomaceous earth
  9. Old methods and plants
  10. Moths in the larder
  11. What to do with infested grain
  12. Common mistakes
  13. Printable checklist

Worksheets

  • Identification key
  • Diatomaceous earth and dry ice calculator
  • Freezing and check dates
  • Inspection and trap log
  • Labels for treated lots
  • A year without weevils

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