storing birdseed without bugs? (1 Viewer)

[DougL]

So I got to the store and get a big sack of seed. The bag is pretty well sealed, as it is being used. But a few months down the line,the bag is FILLED with bugs. No doubt they came with the seed. Left alone, the bugs gradually turn the seed into dust. My question is, how can one treat a bag of birdseed to kill bugs? One option is freezing the seed, but it would take a lot of work to shuttle that much birdseed through the freezer. Another option is to throw some mothballs in the bag. No, the fumes they produce should not contaminate the seed. Once aired out, the seed should be pretty clean. A sledgehammer approach might be to put a cup of bleach in the bag, and then squirt in some acid. Then quickly seal up the bag for a week. Ba ba boom. Chlorine! Again, once aired out, the seed should be safe.

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi there and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum!
We're glad you found us and please join in wherever you like.

What I do is keep the seed in large plastic container with a sealed, liftable top and it works well for me.

 

[DougL]

Thanks. Except, as I said, the bag was well sealed. The infestation came with the bag. Now, when I get bulk grains at stores, I ALWAYS freeze them before storing to kill anything in them. If you don't do that, you'll end up with an infestation. Same thing.

 

[KC Foggin]

Well I haven't experienced any bug infestation as of yet. But freezing is a good idea should I come across this problem.

 

[Tired]

I would very much avoid any poisons anywhere near food.

Birds aren't going to mind bugs in their seed. If it was me, I'd probably just buy small batches, so it all gets used up before it turns to dust. Alternately, switch brands. A contaminated batch now and then is understandable, but any brand of birdseed whose seed is reliably infested isn't a great brand.

 

[DougL]

Yeah, birds don't mind bugs in their seed. But if the bugs have turned the seed to dust, they'll probably mind. I'm serious. When I found the infestation, about a quarter of the seed volume had been reduced to dust.

In the possible chemical strategies that I suggested, once the grain is aired out, there are no poisons anywhere near the food. If you're that worried about chlorine, NEVER bleach your laundry, and if your worried about mothballs, never put them anywhere near your clothes.

Fair point about this maybe not being a great brand, but I don't have a lot of choices.

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum.

Have you tried contacting the store or manufacturer?

 

[pianoman]

I use those sealable bins you can get from pet stores for storing dry pet food. No good obviously if the food is already contaminated, but I must say I have never had that problem before. If there is the smallest way that fungal spores or bacteria can get into a bag, they will.

 

[DougL]

This is the first time it has happened to me but, as I said, it is a common occurance in bulk purchases of grains and flours (as in, when you scoop the stuff out of a bin in order to buy it). Those storage modes are highly accessible to flying insects. Sealable bins area fine idea, unless the stuff you're sealing in is already infested.

You'd like to believe that before packaging, the seed might be treated (maybe by freezing, poison gas, UV radiation) to kill off any free riders.

 

[tucansam]

Large bags of corn, so far, knock on wood, are the only dry goods I've ever received with a pre-installed insect infestation. I found the little weevils all over my home and had no idea where they were coming from, until I went to refill a corn feeder, and discovered thousands of them inside the bag of corn.

That corn got promptly dumped in the yard (about 30lbs worth), and that pile got promptly consumed.

The critters in my neighborhood have since had to endure a hard life without corn, at least in my yard.....

So far, the black oil seeds, shelled peanuts, meal worms, and other seed types have not yet come with their own insect colony built-in.