Almost every housewife faced such a problem as the appearance of home bugs in the kitchen. Of course, it is unpleasant, but this does not mean that you are a bad hostess.
Most often, these bugs start in those kitchen cabinets in which you store food. Unfortunately, there are quite a few varieties of bugs that can spoil our lives and products.
We will consider the most common and tenacious, and also give advice on how to get rid of bugs in the kitchen. Unfortunately, you will no longer be able to save the cereal, you can only throw it away and make general cleaning.
Bugs in groats - Mucoed Surinamese
The bug that most often appears in croup is the Mucoed Surinam ("Oryzaephilus surinamensis" lat.). Dark brown in color, sometimes up to black and 2-3.5 mm long.
For them, it doesn't matter where they get divorced. So they appeared at your place, most likely from a store or market.
But not the fact that they appeared there on their own. They feel great in elevators or granaries.
Watch the video, here you can watch the running bugs in semolina.
The bug lays eggs that can be seen with the naked eye. Together with cereals, they undergo primary processing.
And then, already packaged, along with rice, pasta, semolina and other cereals, they end up in our kitchen. However, if you think that by throwing away only the bag of cereal in which you found this pest, you got rid of it, then you are deeply mistaken.
This bug does not disdain not only all types of cereals, but also dried fruits, dry kvass, cookies, crackers.
Mukoed Surinamese
How to get rid of bugs in cereals
Defeating this little mucoed infection is not as easy as it seems at first glance. The fact is that they lay their eggs in any place and are completely invisible.
You may not even see them on a bag of spoiled cereal, where, after you shake it out, they continue to multiply. There is no effective way to get rid of brown bugs in the kitchen, but we will try to give you some tips.
You'll need
- Disinfectant;
- Glass jars with lids;
- Bay leaf;
- Muscat;
- Garlic.
Stages
- All infected packages should be sorted out. Even if there are not many bugs, the cereal will have to be thrown away, since the eggs still remain. Look at flour, unopened bags, crackers, and indeed all bread and cereal products. The favorite delicacy of these bugs is flour, so it is better to throw it away immediately.
- Rinse thoroughly hot water with vinegar or domestos or any other disinfectant lockers. For complete destruction, it is better to do this procedure several times. Grains that have not been infected should be placed in plastic bags and put on the balcony for a couple of weeks or put in the refrigerator. After this time, making sure that the bugs have not appeared, pour the cereals into glassware with lids. How to get rid of kitchen bugs? We've almost made it.
Advice! Solid containers, in order to avoid the appearance of larvae on the walls of dishes, should be thoroughly washed at least once a month.
- Arrange the bay leaf in the cabinets, peel the garlic and put it in the corners. Sprinkle nutmeg on the band-aid and place it in the corners of the cabinet as well.
Prevention measures
Suppose that you have destroyed the bugs and your cereals have lain in the cold for the allotted time.
How can you avoid such surprises in the future?
- Make bags out of canvas. Boil them in a strong saline solution for 30 minutes. Let cool also in the solution and only then squeeze the bags. Then you should dry them at room temperature, and iron them with a hot iron. In bags treated in this way with salt, bugs will no longer start.
- You can also bring bugs from the store, so after you have bought cereals, it is best to place them in a few days in freezer. It is better to store nuts and raisins in the refrigerator, and cereals in bags or glass jars. How to get rid of bugs in the kitchen is not as difficult a problem as it seems.
Grinder
There is another kind of harmful bugs that start up in the kitchen. They are called Grinders ("Anobiidae" lat.). Their head is shaped like a hood. Their body color ranges from dark yellow to brown. There are two types: brownie and bread.
In our cities, as a rule, a bread grinder is started. It is smaller in size than the brownie and, in addition to wood, eats bread and crackers.
It can also lay eggs in books. Let's figure out how to get bugs out in the kitchen.
How to fight
- close up everything wooden slots- floor, window sill, cracks in kitchen furniture Basically, everything you can find.
- Hermetically close the entire cereal. No packages, only dishes that are tightly sealed.
- They love sweets and carbohydrates. All dried fruits are best kept in the refrigerator.
- Lay the borax on the shelves, you can buy it at the pharmacy. But spraying with various chemicals is not the best way out.
Advice! Temperature attack does not work. Beetles can live and breed at temperatures ranging from minus 15 degrees to plus 50 degrees of heat.
If you find bugs in the kitchen, then you can assume that your food supplies such as flour and cereals are at risk.
It will not be possible to completely remove insects with ordinary sifting, since the eggs of the bugs are so small that they easily seep into the holes of the sieve.
Today you will learn how to get rid of bugs in flour and cereals quickly and without the use of harmful chemicals.
How to get rid of bugs in the kitchen: types of insects
Types of kitchen pests
Bread grinders, flour beetles, red flour eaters and food moths are most often planted in the house.
bread grinder
Bread grinders are small, light brown flying bugs. In size they reach 3 mm. These pests are attracted to dried bakery products, as well as coffee, tea, dried medicinal plants. They enter the apartment in packages with food and feed purchased for pets.
flour bug
Also often in kitchen cabinet you can see the flour bug. The length of the insect is about 4 mm. These red-brown pests are brought into the apartment in bags of flour or in bags of starch. It is not difficult for insects to penetrate into any boxes in which bulk products are located. They settle not only in wheat flour, but also in rye and rice flour, in hercules and semolina. Occasionally they can be seen in buckwheat, dried fruits and rice. Flour bugs multiply rapidly. They lay their eggs in cereals, flour, in the crevices of tables and cabinets. After hatching, the pests crawl around the house in search of suitable food.
Red flour eater
Red flour-eater - a bug 2.5 mm long. It enters the house with low quality pet food. The insect prefers to eat cereals, grains or spoiled flour, the moisture content of which exceeds 15%. If the pest does not find food suitable for itself, then it simply dies.
food moth
Food moth is another pest of flour and cereals in the kitchen. An adult insect looks like a gray butterfly up to 10 mm long. It appears in products as a result of their improper processing and storage. Moths also enter the kitchen through open windows or ventilation. It can often be seen in packages with pasta, in tea, cocoa, in a bag of dried fruits. On contaminated products, you will find thin webs and small yellow worms.
Many people are looking for the answer to the question of how to get rid of bugs in the kitchen. The fact is that all kinds of fungi and bacteria settle in products damaged by insects, which can cause allergies and even poisoning.
How to get rid of bugs in the kitchen: methods of struggle
If there are bugs in your kitchen, they need to be removed immediately.
1. If the degree of damage food products insignificant, then there is no need to rush to throw them away. Groats in this case should be sifted out with a sieve and heated in an oven at a temperature of 110 ° C.
2. Also, barn pests can be destroyed if you place the cereal in which the insects settled in the freezer for a day.
3. If you find bugs and larvae in beans or peas, you can get rid of them as follows. Pour the beans with salt water and leave for a few minutes. When the larvae and the insects themselves float to the surface, the water must be drained and the clean legumes dried.
4. It is better to throw away foods heavily damaged by pests, because by eating them, you can cause irreparable harm to health.
5. To forget about the bugs in the table or kitchen cabinet, first of all you need to get rid of the larvae and eggs of insects. All cabinets should be freed from products and wiped with a solution of vinegar. For one liter of water, it is enough to take one tablespoon of liquid. The slots of the drawers need to be filled with boiling water. Jars in which flour and cereals are stored should be thoroughly washed with laundry soap, and then doused with hot water. If fabric bags were used to store food, then saline solution is suitable for processing them. Rinse is not necessary, then the bugs will not lay eggs in them again.
How to get rid of bugs in flour and cereals: folk remedies
Also, to combat harmful insects in the kitchen, you can use folk remedies:
1. Feverfew powder saves from flour bugs. This remedy can be purchased at a pharmacy. It is necessary to process the shelves of cabinets once a week until the pests completely disappear.
2. Kitchen insects do not tolerate strong odors. Citrus peels, garlic, bay leaf and nutmeg. Arrange these products in the corners of the cabinets after cleaning.
3. Get rid of food moths will help fragrant lavender. You can use both a small bouquet of these fragrant flowers wrapped in gauze, and essential oil lavender applied to cotton swabs.
4. In places where cereals and flour are stored, place cotton pads with aromatic oils of any of these plants: rosemary, geranium, cloves, basil or fir.
5. Sprigs of wormwood placed in kitchen cabinets will repel insects.
6. Insects will forget about your products if fresh leaves are laid out in the corners of cabinets. walnut with a specific odour.
How to get rid of bugs in cereals with borax
Borax is a multifunctional tool that is widely used in everyday life. With it, you can not only perfectly clean the toilet bowl, but also effectively fight mold, mice and kitchen bugs.
1. You can get rid of insects in the house by preparing balls according to a special recipe. According to the proven method, you will need the following ingredients:
Powdered sugar;
Millet needs to be ground in a coffee grinder. Mix all the ingredients in equal proportions and roll them into balls. Lockers must first be washed and disinfected. We spread the prepared balls in the corners. We update them from time to time.
2. Another mixture also helps against insects. For its preparation you will need:
Dry yeast;
The components should be finely ground, poured onto pieces of paper and laid out in those places in the kitchen where they settled annoying insects. As experience shows, after a while the pests will disappear.
These methods differ not only in efficiency, but also in safety. So, formulations with borax are harmless to pets and people.
How to get rid of bugs in croup: prevention
1. Keep in kitchen tables and cabinets perfect cleanliness.
2. Use an airtight container to store cereals and flour.
3. Do not purchase products "in reserve".
4. Check food supplies for insects from time to time.
5. You can also make canvas bags for food storage. Before use, they must be boiled for half an hour in a strong salt solution. Iron them when they dry. In these bags, insects will no longer start.
6. Since pests are most often brought into the house from the store, after buying the cereal, it is recommended to place it in the freezer for a day or warm it in the oven. Under the influence of temperatures, the larvae will die and will not be able to populate the kitchen.
7. To avoid the appearance of bugs in nuts and dried fruits, store them in the refrigerator.
8. Make sure that the kitchen area is regularly ventilated. Many insects do not tolerate fresh air.
9. If you find insects or larvae in the purchased cereals, then it is best to immediately throw away such a purchase. For this reason, do not buy potentially dangerous products at a discounted price.
10. Ventilation holes in the apartment should be repaired in advance with a fine mesh.
11. It is advisable to put a clove of garlic in a container with cereals. On taste qualities products will not be affected.
12. Keep the sink surface and countertops in the kitchen always dry, as insects need a constant source of water.
13. Do not leave dirty dishes in the sink for a long time.
14. Hide leftover food in the refrigerator.
15. Clean your kitchen regularly.
Insects in the kitchen are not a sentence. Now you know how to get rid of pesky pests that encroach on food supplies. Using simple tips, you will forever forget about such a misfortune as kitchen bugs.
Every housewife, even the most clean and scrupulous, more than once had to meet with flour bugs, which brazenly manage the family stocks of flour and cereals. Sometimes they are discovered shortly after the purchase of products, but most often these unpleasant insects manifest themselves after a while, having managed to fill all the kitchen cabinets with their offspring.
Where do flour bugs come from, and is there a way to prevent their reproduction in cereals and flour?
Causes of the appearance of flour bugs
Among the people, these harmful insects are also called darklings or hruschaks. Naturally, by themselves, from the air, these insects cannot appear in a clean kitchen. Their source is flour or cereals infected with eggs of flour bugs or even adult insects.
It is worth at least one of these eggs to get into a container with flour or cereals, and soon all the bags, boxes and jars that had free access will be infected.
Flour beetles like a lot of foods, not just cereals and flour. The menu of these pests also includes the following products:
- pasta;
- dried fruits;
- cookie;
- kernels of nuts;
- caramel sweets.
These bugs most often choose rag bags and boxes for cereals as their place of residence. They also like to live in the remains of flour and cereals, scattered inside the cabinets and cleaned up by the hostess in haste. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out general cleaning in the kitchen regularly, at least once a month.
Ways to fight
How to get rid of flour bugs? This question worries every housewife.
As experiments have shown, Khrushchaks are not able to live in a very dry room.
So, if the humidity in the kitchen is reduced to 7-8%, they will simply die out. But with temperature regime everything is somewhat more complicated, since they live in conditions room temperature from 18 to 32 degrees.
In all kitchen cabinets, it is necessary to arrange an audit, shake out all the packages and wash the jars. You will have to throw away all cereals, cookies or dried fruits in which bugs are found, since they are no longer to be eaten, moreover, they can be dangerous to health. Therefore, you should not even try to get flour bugs out of the cereals, no matter how sorry it is to part with them.
You can try to save the flour, for this you need to sift it through a fine sieve and fry it in the oven to make sure that not a single bug survived. No jars, boxes and bags with suspicious contents should remain in the cabinets!
All shelves need to be cleaned. soapy water and wipe on all sides with a disinfectant, for example, diluted vinegar essence or chlorine solution. All containers for storing cereals and bulk products should be thoroughly washed and dried.
In order for pest control to be effective and complete, after thorough cleaning and elimination of all sources of insects in the house, it is necessary to take measures to help get rid of insects completely and prevent their reappearance.
- arrange on shelves in cabinets small containers and chopped bay leaf;
- hang dry lavender sprigs in the corners of cabinets or use lavender oil to soak small pieces of paper that also need to be placed in cabinets;
- place unpeeled garlic cloves in all containers with cereals.
Another way to deal with flour bugs is to prepare special balls. They are prepared from powdered sugar, borax and millet ground in a coffee grinder, mixed in a ratio of 1:1:1. Washed and disinfected cabinets should be covered with paper and the balls should be placed in the corners of the cabinets. Periodically they need to be updated.
Prevention of reappearance
Each housewife decides for herself which way she will remove flour bugs, however, preventive measures remain unchanged and the same for everyone.
The most effective and reliable way is to maintain ideal, remove empty bags from cereals and other products and store everything edible in a hermetically sealed container.
All purchased cereals must be checked for the presence of insects in the market or in the store. For fidelity, you can warm them up in the oven at a temperature of 50-100 degrees for 5-7 minutes before placing them in a jar for storage. In the cold season, you can store cereals in tightly sealed containers on the balcony.
Small brown, black or white bugs in the kitchen start up very simply - we can bring them from the store along with a pack of oatmeal, rice, flour, galettes or dried fruits. A product infested with larvae in the heat of kitchen cabinets quickly becomes a breeding ground for the spread of insects to all other products. And if they are not removed in time, soon you will be able to detect pests even in empty pots, and then completely on the walls and curtains. In this material you will find photos of the most common types of bugs (namely, the Surinamese flour beetle, bread grinder, flour beetle and weevil), as well as instructions on how to deal with them and what to do to avoid reappearance.
4 steps to get rid of pests
Step 1: Inspect and discard any contaminated food
Identifying all foci and potentially contaminated products, and most importantly getting rid of them, is a prerequisite for successful insect control in the kitchen.
- Anything can be a hearth - not only cereals and flour, but also nuts, spices, biscuits, animal food, fishing bait, dried flowers.
- If you saw a beetle somewhere on a shelf, apron, facade or countertop, then most likely the hearth is located somewhere very close, but ... not necessarily.
- Check and unpacked products, beetles can easily gnaw through cardboard, foil and cellophane.
- It is necessary to inspect products for the presence of pests not only from above, but also to the entire depth. So, for example, some bugs in cereals (eg, bread grinders) can "live" at the very bottom.
Keep in mind that if at least one insect is found in the product, then this means that it is infested with larvae and must be disposed of. However, if you wish, you can clean the grains from adults by sifting and sorting it thoroughly, and then do everything that is described in the next step.
Step 2: Treat Foods That Seem Uncontaminated
It is clear that the product in which insects have settled must be thrown away. But what if the bugs in flour or cereals were not found? However, it's best and easiest to get rid of supplies, because anything that was in the same kitchen cabinet with a hearth may already be contaminated. However, you can save products in the following ways:
- Pour the cereal / flour onto a baking sheet and put it for 40-60 minutes in an oven preheated to 50 degrees.
- Put food on the balcony (in winter time) for 3-4 days or "freeze" in the freezer also for 3-4 days.
Step 3: Clean the shelves and jars
Now you should thoroughly clean the empty kitchen cabinet and its surroundings, turning Special attention for cracks and corners.
- Use a vacuum cleaner that will suck up the bugs hiding in the cracks, their larvae and excrement. After this procedure, the vacuum cleaner bag must be thrown away or, after emptying it, “freeze” for 3-4 days to prevent re-infection.
- Do not use detergents, bleach, ammonia, or chlorine-based cleaners. They will not have any effect on kitchen pests.
- Do not forget to wash, and also treat with cold or heat the container in which the spoiled cereal was stored.
Vacuuming should be enough to remove all traces of the bugs, but it is also recommended to wipe the shelf with laundry soap and then vinegar diluted in water.
Step 4. Protect products from re-infection
As a precaution against re-infection, you need to:
- Store cereals, flour, pasta, biscuits, dried fruits, spices, pet food, etc. in tightly closed glass, metal or heavy plastic jars/containers. This will prevent not only insects from entering the container, but also their escape and spread.
- Another reliable way to store food is in the refrigerator or freezer.
To increase the protection of products from bugs, put in a jar or container on top of cereals or any other product:
- A couple of cloves of garlic, peeled (no need to cut the top of the garlic);
- Bay leaf;
- A couple of pieces of mint gum;
- Nail or steel wire. Keep in mind that they cannot be washed or the metal will rust and spoil the food. Dry cleaning with a cloth will suffice.
By the way, all these "repellers" can be laid out on the shelves.
And a little more about prevention
The following tips may be helpful:
- Buy food in small quantities so that you can use it in no more than 2-4 months. Try not to store food beyond this period.
- Use products from older packages (or opened) previously freshly bought/closed.
- When buying packaged foods, check the integrity of the packaging and, if possible, the presence of insects.
- Remember that cardboard, foil, paper or plastic bags will not be able to prevent the reproduction of insects.
- Keep food storage areas clean and do not allow crumbs or food particles to accumulate, as stale food will attract insects. Cleanliness is especially important in animal feed storage areas.
If the bugs in the kitchen reappear, check other rooms in the apartment for breeding centers and repeat the described steps. If your insect problem persists, seek help from a pest control professional.
Meet the enemy in person
And now we offer to get to know the inhabitants of your kitchen closer. Here we have collected photos of the 4 most common types of bugs and links to articles from Wikipedia about their features and favorite food.
Below is a photo of the Surinamese flour eater (Latin name for the flour eater: Oryzaephilus surinamensis). It is difficult to confuse the Suriname flour eater with someone because of its sawtooth body.
Next - a photo of the flour beetle or flour beetle (Latin name: Tenebrio molitor). By the way, flour worms are flour beetle larvae.
The following photo shows a Bread Grinder, Kozheed or Pharmacy Beetle in the company of their own kind (the Latin name of the grinder: Stegobium paniceum).
And finally, a photo of rice weevils or elephants.
It takes ~3 minutes to read
Cereal dishes are among the most popular in the daily diet. Many housewives prefer to buy cereals in large volumes in order to always be ready to cook this or that dish. But such thriftiness can go sideways if insects settle in the stocks. If bugs appear in the croup, how to get rid of them will be a matter of first importance. How to deal with uninvited guests, and what to do to prevent their appearance?
What kind of bugs start in products?
First of all, it is worth figuring out which insects can settle in cereals. So it will be much easier to choose ways to fight and assess the danger.
Among the most common "inhabitants" of bags of cereals are:
- Surinamese flour beetle - beetles are light, have long horns.
- Bread grinder - one of the most common pests, small brown bugs.
- Flour beetle - beetles with horns and shell, but very small in size.
- Red flour-eater - differ from the Surinamese flour-eater in a red tint.
- Rice weevils - from afar they can be mistaken for ants.
Also, a food moth can settle in the croup. In this case, it is important to consider that she not only crawls in the croup, but can also fly around the kitchen.
How do insects get into cereals?
Most often, beetles appear in the apartment already with grits. When you buy low-quality cereal by weight or already packaged, insects or their eggs may already be there. If you buy cheap cereals from unreliable producers, the risk of infection becomes much higher. To be sure that pests do not appear in your kitchen, it is better to give preference to famous brands who value their reputation. Such goods are repeatedly tested, and the conditions of their production exclude infection.
Also, insects can enter the kitchen along with dried fruits. If you buy them by weight at stalls or markets, you may end up with bugs attached to the item. They are especially common in goods from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The same applies to spices offered by weight and other bulk goods.
Effective methods of struggle
If flour bugs appear, how to get rid of them is important for all housewives. Most effective method to destroy any insects - this is Dichlorvos. Not the most harmless and safe to use, but it kills any insects with a 100% guarantee. But before processing, it is important to consider that the product will disappear from the apartment for a couple of days, and for this time you will have to live somewhere else.
The procedure for etching beetles with Dichlorvos is as follows:
- All things that can be accurately checked for the absence of beetles, view and take out of the room.
- Wipe cabinets, floors, baseboards.
- Throw away all the cereals, wash the container from under them, as well as all the dishes.
- Put on personal protective equipment and treat the kitchen with Dichlorvos.
After the poison disappears, it is important to wash all surfaces in the kitchen well, and ventilate the room. Returning to the apartment earlier than 12 hours after treatment can be dangerous.
If you do not have the opportunity to move somewhere or you are afraid to apply toxic substances in the kitchen, eat less radically operating methods how to get rid of bugs in flour and cereals. Also, these methods are suitable for those who do not want to part with their stocks and lose money.
How to get rid of pests if there are bugs in the cereal? In this case, proceed as follows:
- Sort all the cereals and sift with a fine sieve.
- Put bags with cereals in the freezer for several days or pour cereals on baking sheets and ignite in the oven.
- Use the grits as soon as possible, and when buying a new one, exclude their contact in order to avoid infection.
- The floor, cabinets, baseboards and other surfaces in the kitchen must be treated. If you don't want to use strong chemicals, you can use a grout acetic acid, laundry soap, hot water. You can also dilute boric acid in water.
- It is very important to thoroughly wash all the dishes - bugs may remain in the cracks.
After everything is in place, you can make traps for bugs in case there are still any left. Pour into bottle or jar caps vegetable oil and pour out the remains of the bugs you found. This will lure their relatives, and the oil with the insects drowned in it can simply be poured into the sewer.
You can also put garlic and bay leaf on the shelves. Both of these plants repel bugs, although they do not give a 100% guarantee.
How to prevent a new invasion?
Nothing can guarantee 100% protection of the house from the return of beetles. Even if radiant cleanliness reigns in the photo of the kitchen, it will not interfere with bugs. Unlike cockroaches, these insects do not require dirt to survive. The most important thing is attentiveness. The quality of the purchased products should be approached carefully.
You should also pay attention to the jars in which you store cereals. Best choice for this glass jars with tight fitting lids. Special jars can be bought at the store. They will not help prevent infection, but they will not allow them to get into other products. Sachets and other packaging with spices should be closed with clothespins or paper clips.
It is recommended that you do not make too many purchases if you are not sure that you will have enough food until the next paycheck. It is better to save money for buying food, rather than the products themselves. Fortunately, stores are open daily and the shortage is not yet in danger for us. It is better to buy a few decent quality products than to buy huge bags of cheap food and throw away half because of pests.
Preventive processing of bulk food products
Cereal processing is one of better ways exclude the appearance of bugs. To protect your kitchen, you can use heating or cooling. Bugs die at temperatures below minus 16 degrees or plus 50 degrees. To do this, you can put buckwheat or rice in the oven for half an hour. Spread on the baking sheet in an even layer. Or put a bag of oatmeal or semolina in the freezer.
After that, the cereal is placed in a dry package, preferably tightly closed, but with ventilation. To ensure safety, dried fruits can be scalded with boiling water and dried. If bugs are seen in any products, immediately throw them away.
Tara
Cereals are stored in a variety of containers - in polyethylene bags, metal boxes, glass or plastic jars, cloth bags. If the packaging is done correctly and has holes for ventilation, then pouring the cereal somewhere is not necessary. An additional plus there will be a resealable zip on the package.
metal and glass container can only be selected if they are equipped with a tight lid. Insects can enter the container through the gap between the wall and the lid. Bags for cereals can be used after boiling them in salt water.
Pest mixes
Strong chemical substances- Not the best choice how to get rid of brown bugs in the kitchen, so it is better to give preference to simple and proven means.
Has a good effect against insects boric acid. It can be mixed with powdered sugar and flour. Insects will be attracted to flour and sweets, and boric acid will save you the problem.
Another common recipe is a mixture of sugar with yeast and borax. An equal amount of ingredients is ground to a homogeneous state and laid out on the shelves of cabinets.
Previously, cereals were often stored in large bags, so there are a lot of folk recipes recommending what to do if there are bugs in the croup. Garlic cloves can be laid out on the shelves with cereals. You can’t cut it - it can start to rot and spoil the food. As the garlic dries, change to fresh.
Prevention from pests and the smell of musty - hot peppers. You can also put a mixture of starch, salt, flour and bay leaf. food moth and midges will help bring out the chestnut and zest of any citrus fruits.
Jars made of plastic or glass can be wrapped in foil - bugs do not like metal containers, so the risk of infection of cereals will be lower in such packaging.
