Not good!

[monkeybrewer]

Looks like I have a red flour beetle infestation. Just noticed them all over my bags of grain. My supplies are low so this is definitely a good time to be able to treat my grain room. What is the best way to 1.) treat the existing pre-milled grain (10 unopened bags and about 8 opened specialty malt bags) 2.) treat the room after and 3.) stop this from happening in the future. I know that other insects surely come in on the grain...is that also the case for the red flour beetle? Should I notify my grain supplier? Should I expect them to help with the infestation? I've gotten grain from them for over 7 years and had no problems with my grain or grain storage room. We did just finish major reconstruction...could these buggers be from that? So many questions...any help will be much appreciated. BTW I would rather go with a natural method of pesticide but will do what ever needed to get rid of the bugs.
Thanks and Cheers

[monkeybrewer]

maybe not red flour beetle...

Upon further research, it looks like the bugs I'm seeing aren't red flour beetles. They look too small to be that type. They look like little red mites...hard to even notice unless you look at one spot and rustle the bag to get.
Any thoughts?

[BigWilley]

weevils? I would contact a local pest control guy to come out identify and spray. You want to do a thorough cleaning and dont leave any grain dust around. I have heard from a reputable malt supplier that Diatomaceous Earth is effective against such pests. What I do is throw some DE into the last malt in the silo to run through the whole auger/mill system before I get a new load just for preventative maintenance. Definately break down your mill area and clean thoroughly.

[Diggity Dave]

Bugs

How small are the buggers? Whether they are red flour beetles or confused flour beetles they can be as small as 1/4"-1/8" (if you noticed that they fly short distances then you have red flour beetles). DE will help if you have some lying around, but it will take time. They can't eat whole grains but rather the dust, so cleaning and dusting regularly will be optimal.
FYI, there was a mythbusters episode on these guys in which they survived past 30 days after exposure to 100,000 rads! They outlived both cockroaches and fruit flies..., good luck.

[monkeybrewer]

small

these buggers are tiny. Larger than fleas but smaller than 1/4". A step above a mite but not much more...
anyone else use pre-milled grain that would like to share what they do to prevent blooms like this?
cheers

[Selkirk]

Contact the entomology dept at Cornell.

[gitchegumee]

Search this site. Covered this topic a few times. Get on the problem and stay on it. Beetles are the bane of grain.

http://www.probrewer.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=18069

good luck.

[monkeybrewer]

saw tooth

My malt rep came to the brewery yesterday to help me ID these little buggers and they are definitely the saw tooth beetle...a wintergreen food grade spray around the pallets of grain should take care of them. And in the future I'll have the place sprayed monthly. Thanks for the help everyone
Cheers

[brewman21]

You can freeze the inventory you still have to kill them, providing you have a big enough walk-in freezer? Hope that help's!! Cheers and good luck!!!