First and foremost, microwaving bird seed is a bad idea. The microwave process will "cook" the seed. This can make it undigestible to birds and in some cases make the seed hazardous for them to ingest. Though most cooked seed will be passed through their digestive track with little or no injury, they will not be able to extract any nutritional value from the feed which in turn will indirectly hurt them because they'll be essentially eating "useless" food. For these reasons it's strongly suggested you refrain from "cooking" your bird seed before serving it.

Second, you cannot blame the bird seed companies for packing up insects with their product (well, you can but this frustration would be misdirected). I say this for a few reasons. The first is that unlike food for human consumption, bird seed has a much lower standard. This lower standard allows for insects to be included. And since the federal government sets the standard, these companies are merely following the rules. So if you want the quality of their product to improve, you'll have to change the guidelines they follow and these are controlled by the government. Get the government to increase the standard and you'll get cleaner seed.

Third, remember that birds in fact thrive on insects so serving them infested seed is actually good for your birds.

Lastly, if you don't want to keep infested seed in your home, there are two things you can do which will easily control the problem. The first is to store your seed in the freezer. This will shut down the growth of any included eggs or pupae that your seed contains. For people who keep small amounts of seed in the house, this is a practical and easy solution. But if you're like me, you'd have to buy a separate freezer for just your bird seed so instead I store my seed in a plastic bin that has a tight cover. I actually keep 3-4 of these seed bigs which are basically nothing more than a large plastic tupperware container. Each container is about the size of a 100 quart cooler and can hold several 50 lb bags of seed comfortably.

I store all my wild bird seed, cracked corn (deer food) and lawn seed in these bins and they work great. In each container I keep a single INSECT STRIP which keeps the meal moths (and all other insects) under control. Basically the active ingredient in the strip is a biodegradable, slow releasing fumigant which works in small confined areas like a container or closet. It does not leave a residual or contaminate the food because once it's exposed to the sunlight or even just the open air, the active breaks down within minutes and is gone. These same Insect Strips can be hung in any closet where you're storing clothing or other fabric you want to protect from damaging insects.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Insect Strip:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/repellents/fumigant/hotshot-no-pest-strip

Meal Moth Control:  http://www.indianmealmoths.com/meal-moth-control

Steaming them won't help. In fact, it will probably make the problem worse. The one thing this stage (larvae) needs beyond food is moisture. So once you start using this in the home and in particular, close to where they are no doubt nesting, the better the odds will be in their favor of surviving.

For now I suggest you treat as described in our MEAL MOTH CONTROL ARTICLE. In the article we talk about treating baseboards and other areas with a product called PERMETHRIN. Odorless and fast acting, it's labeled for use on carpeting and will do the job. Basically one treatment is all you'll need and it will last 30 days for sure. This way any larvae embedded or any that attempt to traverse over the treated area will die.

I also suggest you get a can of DFORCE for treating any cracks and crevices where more might be hiding. Though you might be seeing some out and about in the living area, no doubt many more are out of view in tiny, hard to treat voids and cracks. The Dforce is ideal for this kind of treating.

Lastly, set out a couple of MEAL MOTH TRAPS. This way if a problem is developing, you'll know as soon as it starts so you can take further protective measures.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Meal Moth Control Article:  http://www.indianmealmoths.com/meal-moth-control

Permethrin:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/liquid/permethrin-10

Dforce:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/aerosol/d-force-14-oz-aerosol

Meal Moth Traps: http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/pheromone-and-food/meal-moth-2-pk

If you read our MEAL MOTH CONTROL ARTICLE, you'll learn the moths you're seeing are  hatching from their third stage. This stage is called pupae. As you'll learn, you cannot kill the pupae so all the ones in your home will be hatching in the coming months and only when they're completely used up will you stop seeing the adults. In other words, I'm sure this will be happening for the next 1-3 months.

And in case this cycle is not clear, here is a brief outline of what to expect. First, eggs are laid by adult female moths. The eggs are the first stage. The location of the eggs will typically be on or close to a food supply so when the eggs hatch, the "little worms" can feed. These worms are the second stage. After feeding, the worms spin a cocoon in which they remain for several weeks and undergo a metamorphosis. This is when they change from a worm to an adult moth. This cocoon is the third stage and referred to as the pupae. And once this change is complete, they'll hatch as the adults you're now seeing. Adult moths represent the fourth stage.

So to break the cycle, you need to first remove their food supply. Second, you'll need to treat with a product like DFORCE everywhere the moths are seen. Since adult moths will be laying eggs, having the Dforce in place to kill the worms when they hatch is critical to solving the problem. Next, you'll need to set out lots of MOTH TRAPS. 3-6 are usually required per home. These will trap adults and in the end, help to both monitor the local activity and reduce the chance of re-infestation.

In summary, it sounds as though you've removed a lot of their potential food. However, it's unclear if you've sprayed enough or if you've set out enough Moth Traps to make the proper impact. Remember, these guys can eat most anything and though removing their original food can have a big impact, once they're inside the home they'll be able to target an alternate food to sustain their population if you don't take complete protective measures.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Meal Moth Control:  http://www.indianmealmoths.com

DForce:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/aerosol/d-force-14-oz-aerosol

Moth Traps:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/pheromone-and-food/meal-moth-2-pk

Actually it won't pose any kind of danger or harm. Though most people believe there could be something bad about feeding their pet food which contains a few meal moth larvae, the fact is that dogs are able to digest and process these little guys quite well. Remember, they are dogs and their system is was built on being able to eat most anything. Since insects are mostly protein, any that are eaten are mostly beneficial from a nutrition point of view. However, there is another kind of risk you need to watch out for..

By knowingly storing food which contains an active infestation of any insect, there is a good chance some will escape and migrate into your home. This would be bad. I would not be surprised if you develop a problem in the home due to the fact that you're doing nothing other than storing infested food. I've seen this many times. If you review our MEAL MOTH CONTROL ARTICLE, you'll learn more about this insect and why it can become such a nuisance. The bottom line is you may want to reconsider keeping the food if you don't want a moth problem in the house. I say this because once they start, they can be a nightmare to get rid and problems can last for many, many months.

Ideally, getting rid of the infested food would remove the threat of this happening. But if you must keep it as you say you will, then store it in a heavy plastic bag that you keep tightly sealed. Next, only remove what the pet will eat within a few minutes. Any food not consumed within a few minutes must be removed from the house by either dumping it out in the yard or by feeding it through your food "sinkerator" so the food and the pests are effectively washed down the drain. I say this because I've seen where merely tossing out the uneaten food in the garbage will allow some to migrate out. And since all it takes is one to start a problem, this can lead to an infestation.

Another choice would be to save the food and keep it frozen all the time. I do this with bird seed. By keeping the food frozen, any eggs and other stages of insects that might be living in the seed are kept from developing. This way they don't get into my home. You can do the same with any pet food.

Here are direct links to the information mentioned above:

Meal Moth Control:  http://www.indianmealmoths.com/meal-moth-control

We are worm breeders and currently have an infestation of moths. We are trying to resolve this problem but are taking care of it pretty slow. I wonder if you have ever dealt with this type of problem and if there is any solution without having to bomb our rooms.

We would like to keeep our bins which are filled with wheat bran and worms without having to do a room change. Is this possible?

Please let me know if there is anything we can do without moving everything?

This is a tough one. On one hand I know you're trying to avoid the preparation work (in this case moving the worms and food) to another location while the infested room is treated. No doubt this would most likely be both time consuming and laborious to say the least. But in order to answer, I'll need more information so for now, I'll lay out some scenario's which might provide enough of an understanding of the real "problem" so you can make a decision on how to best deal with the current problem as well as prevent future infestations.

In situations where animals are being farmed, there can be unique problems associated with any insect infestation that ensues. In this case, I'm fairly certain the meal moths are a direct result of all the wheat bran you keep. That means the wheat bran is what must be addressed and to what degree you want to regulate the moths will determine to what degree you will want to "pre treat" the bran. Let me further explain.

Lets say you're okay with having infested bran; whether it has insects while still in sealed bags or when being dispersed as food for your worms. If that's true, then nothing special will be needed to treat the bran prior to feeding your moths. That being said, if you simply store the bran in a freezer all the time, the amount of activity you note should be reduced. This is because you'll be effectively "stalling" the development of any eggs and larvae that might be arriving in the bran when you either get it or store it. But it's important to understand just freezing the bran won't solve any problem. Bran that's brought out into the open can harbor eggs and pupae which won't die in the freezer so even if you go this route, I expect there will still be an ongoing problem to some degree. Maybe this will acceptable, maybe not. For now, lets say it's not and you want to go to the next level of control.

The next level would involve keeping the bran elsewhere so you'll be able to treat it prior to feeding it to the worms. For this option, you could forego having to freeze the bran all the time because you'll be keeping the storage room treated. The advantage of this approach would be that you'll actively be controlling any insects which means the bran being distributed to the worms won't be infested. By doing so, there is a much less likelihood of the worm keeping rooms and bins getting infested. To accomplish this, you could use an aerosol or a fumigation type product. The easiest aerosol to employ would be the KONK FLYING INSECT KILLER along with an AEROSOL DISPENSING MACHINE. This would handle up to 5000 cubic feet no problem and cans should last about a month depending on how often you configure the machines to release product. In my experience, start with once an hour and increase releases as needed.

A second option would be to install some INSECT STRIPS in the storage room with the bran. They'll act the same way and can treat about 1200 cubic feet. That's the equivalent of a room that measures 10'x13' with an 8' high ceiling.

In case you're wondering; both treatments listed above do not provide any kind of residual. This means once the bran is removed and set out in an untreated room, it will loose any of the actives that were in the storage room and in doing so can be used as food safely for your worms.

Now the room with the worms is a different story. In my experience, keeping the breeding bin rooms free of insects can be tricky. In some cases, if the moths are already pupating "out of the soil bins", a good cleaning will many times remove most of the cocoons and this can help quite a bit. Next, install both regular MEAL MOTH TRAPS along with the SUPPRESSION MOTH TRAPS. You'll need both since the regular traps only catch males. This alone might do the job but you won't know until you get traps installed and see what kind of population reduction you experience. At that point only you can make the call as to whether or not the amount of control you're having is adequate. In some cases I've seen the use of traps do a great job by themselves and were the only means of "control" needed. But I've also seen extreme cases that have needed more work.

Having bred worms (in a much smaller scale I'm sure), I had to deal with several different insect infestations over the years. In once instance I had meal moths. They were so bad (feeding on the oat bran I was using in the worm bins) that the soil I kept the worms in was infested. So if you believe your the worm bin soil is infested too, you may have to do some soil treatments. What I did that was safe for the worms was to first remove as many worms as I could from my soil worm bins. Next I mixed up some INSECTICIDAL SOAP with water in a bucket and then took the bins outside in my yard. Next I poured the finished solution through the soil. No doubt this "purged" the soil of all the living insects. This treatment is organic and won't last but a few hours. The next day I was able to use the soil again for my worms without putting them in any danger of any active that might be hanging around; Insecticidal Soap has no residual so it was essentially gone by the time I reused my soil.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Konk:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/aerosol/konk-974-py-6-5-oz

Aerosol Machine:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/foggers/aerosol-dispenser-1000

Insect Strip:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/repellents/fumigant/hotshot-no-pest-strip

Meal Moth Traps:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/pheromone-and-food/meal-moth-2-pk

Suppression Traps:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/pheromone-and-food/meal-moth-suppression-kit-5-pk

Insecticidal Soap:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/organic/liquid/insecticidal-soap

I had a pretty bad infestation back in October 2010..went on vacation and found dog food infested with them when we came home….immediately got rid of the dog food but by then my dining room was pretty much infested….larva on the ceiling and in my china cabinet…we took up the carpeting and repainted…cleaned out every kitchen cabinet set off bombs and all …today I still see one flying around occassionly. ..I see no larva anywhere…just a lone moth here and there…I am constantly searching my food..we have set out the phermone taps and caught some..who long will this stage last and how long can i expect to see them.

As explained in our MOTH CONTROL ARTICLE, it can take a year or longer for the hatching pupae to run out and be "gone". Since larvae only migrate after they feed, it's not likely you'll see any if they have some other food source you haven't discovered. And once they get their fill and go into their pupae stage, they can hold up for many, many months so it's not been nearly long enough just yet for this to be over. Pupae are what hatch out adults and these are usually in locations away from the food and well hidden. Hopefully these emerging adults won't have a chance of mating and laying eggs so be sure to keep enough MOTH TRAPS set to make sure this doesn't happen. And at some point you may need some SUPPRESSION TRAPS. For ongoing problems, these traps can be needed to break the cycle for good.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Moth Control Article:  http://www.indianmealmoths.com/meal-moth-control

Meal Moth Traps:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/pheromone-and-food/meal-moth-2-pk

Suppression Traps:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/pheromone-and-food/meal-moth-suppression-kit-5-pk

If you read our MEAL MOTH CONTROL ARTICLE, you'll learn this insect feeds as a larvae stage and not as an adult. That means the little white larvae are in boxes of food like cereal, pasta, rice, etc. feeding and only emerge after they get their fill and are ready to molt and emerge as an adult. So to answer your questions and concerns; you and your child have nothing to worry about from the adults you see flying. They won't bite you or your baby. But if you want them gone, you'll need to set out some MOTH TRAPS to help collect the foraging adults. Next, you'll need to locate the infested food and get that removed and if needed, you may even have to treat with some of the products we have listed in our article.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Meal Moth Control Article:  http://www.indianmealmoths.com/meal-moth-control

Moth Traps:  http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page74.html

As explained in our MOTH CONTROL article, there are just too many ways pantry moths can survive if you don't treat the surrounding area where the food is stored. Yes it's true there are is a chance you are bringing some of these pests home in the food you buy but it's more likely these moths and their young are nesting and thriving in you home.  Untreated cupboards, pantry storage spaces and maybe even other living areas around the home can all provide ample locations for safe harborage of young meal moths. These local populations will thrive indefinitely until you interrupt the cycle which is apparently well established based on the ongoing problem.

As for your concern regarding any treatments in the home; I suspect they are most likely unfounded and based on mis information. In other words, the products we're recommending pose no hazard to people or pets when used properly so they can be safely applied as described in our safety video's in and around the home. Unless you have some information to the contrary, the products we're recommending along with the methods and procedures on how to use them present no risk or danger when used in accordance to their labels. In case you missed our video clips, they are quite informative and should better prepare you for using our products for the task at hand.

As you'll see in the video, we always recommend children and pets should be away from the area when the treatment is being done. But you'll also learn that soon afterward they can safely return without concern once the treated areas have been able to settle and dry. Remember, you should be applying small amounts of product in very tiny areas and these doses when applied properly are just barely able to control the target insect let alone affect large, more complex mammals like people or pets. More information on this can be seen in our videos here:

http://www.bugspray.net/video/product-safety-first

jonathan

www.bugspray.com

If you read through our MOTH CONTROL article, you'll learn the larvae don't travel much until they've fed well. Seeing some crawling around on your ceiling leads me to believe they are hatching from eggs not on the food your froze. In other words, I'm pretty sure there is another population of them living somewhere in the home. You see, even though they could survive the freezing temps, chances are you would have seen something when handling any of these "frozen" items in the days since they've been out in the open. Since this hasn't happened, I suspect there is another food source still not identifed.

Additionally, the pupae stage is most definitely still around in the home, away from the food and the "likely" locations. As our article explains, this stage is strong and typically in locations away from food and where the larvae molts into the adult moth.

Now if you're seeing larvae crawling then the only way to know for sure they'll die would be if where you're seeing them where it has been treated. If this part of the ceiling has with sprayed with something like the D-FORCE or PT PHANTOM AEROSOL, these larvae will die for sure and not be able to morph into adults. But if your service company didn't treat these areas, chances are increased for the problem to persist.

Lastly, we always recommend throwing away all the food which is suspect of harboring any activity. Think about it: even if the larvae did all die, are you comfortable feeding dead insects to your family? Probably not. Throwing away the contaminated food is almost always the best way to proceed in this process of elimination. Next, treating the vacated cupboards the way our article details is required along with the surrounding rooms to make sure any migrating larvae can't establish themselves. If you haven't had this type of complete treatment done I'm sure the problem will persist indefintely. And yes, the traps do help cut down on the males flying around but remember, it only takes one of them to impregnate a female so relying on the traps alone won't solve the problem.

If you'd like to see any of the products mentioned above, just click on them where they appear in the post or follow these direct links:

http://www.indianmealmoths.com/meal-moth-control

http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/aerosol/d-force-14-oz-aerosol

http://www.bugspray.com/item/phantom_aerosol.html

And if you have further questions, give us a call on our toll free 1-800-877-7290 line.