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Mites

How do I get rid of grain mites?

1.  Lower your humidity down below 30%.  If you don't know what your humidity level is, get a hygrometer:

2.  Remove all moisture sources from the bin.
3.  Utilize Split Pea Flour.  Per this published study, split pea flour is effective at killing mites.  Original study link.

  • Put split pea flour in the impacted bins.
  • Use a "10% split pea flour to substrate" ratio.  If you have one pound of substrate in your tray, add 2 ounces split pea flour directly into the bin.
  • If possible, place a split pea flour barrier around your trays.  I even spread split pea flour on the floor, but I'm on concrete.
  • Split pea flour is available at specialty grocery stores or online.  If you have a grinder, you can try buying dried split peas and grinding them, but it needs to be a very fine powder.
  • Amazon (affiliate link, thank you for your support)

4.  Follow a new moisture feeding routine:

  • Every two days, add your moisture source to the impacted bins.
  • Wait 2 hours to let the mealworms feed.
  • Remove ALL remaining moisture sources.
  • Repeat for two weeks or until grain mites are gone for one week.

 

Prevention:

Treat your substrate.

  • Deep freeze your substrate for 48 hours.
  • Bake your substrate at 175 for 20 mins.  The internal temperature needs to be 175.

Maintain humidity around 50%.  You can run higher humidity if you are very disciplined about treating your substrate, and have split pea flour ready.