Grain Mite issue, please help :C

[KrakenQueen]

Last year around November I ended up having a sudden slam of grain mites in ALL of my feeder bins. I tried to save most of my feeders (roaches were the easiest because they can be rinsed), bleach and clean all the bins, dried them well, and after about a month went through and tried my stock again. I even vacuumed and steam cleaned the carpet ahead of time to suck them up and let the carpet and padding underneath dry then put down a spray that is suppose to take care of mites.

It's now March and again, I have an outbreak of mites. I live in Savannah GA, the humidity here is horrendous. Now, the problem I have is that MY bins are the ones being picked by the grain mites while my friend's bins on the other side of the room haven't even been touched both times, all the mites seem to flock to my corner.

I use the same bins, the same food, the same amount of pretty much everything...I don't know what to do or what I am doing wrong. And how can I salvage my feeders, or is that possible? :C

I seriously need some suggestions.

 

[KrakenQueen]

No ideas or suggestions from anyone?

I've cleaned out all my bins, tossed my meals, kept the beetles, supers and roaches, changed bedding and put them all into closed, aerated containers INSIDE the bins. The bins are off of the ground on a wire stand.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

You'll probably have to toss everything and start again- all the feeders and breeders. If breeders ingest any eggs, the cycle continues.

 

[lillith]

One thing you can also do when you do The Big Sanitation: when you put in new colony medium, toast it in the oven around 200-250F for about an hour. This should kill any new mite introductions. I had a problem with one of my grain sources being the carrier. Everytime I "started over" I STILL had mites and couldn't figure out why! The worst part is that this was human food-grade grain I was using, bought in bulk.

All in all, I find that mites are annoying, but not harmful. Other may not agree, that's fine. They will tend to come in waves, about midway through a new cycle of larvae...then they peter off as they mature to feeding size, and are hardly noticeable after that...But to each their own. I have found I can manage the mites, but not completely eliminate them without throwing out everything, including the bins, and starting over. And your grain supply may carry them anyhow. After 3 episodes of tossing and starting over, I figured management rather than eradication was the way to go for me.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Are these bugs actually mites or meal bugs? Meal bugs are not parasitic like mites, just a nuisance. They can be controlled but maybe not eliminated in bulk items coming from feed stores.

 

[lillith]

Mine? They're the nearly microscopic, little tan, arachnid-looking things that congregate into what looks like fine sawdust during an active cycle. I always figured they were mites. I thought mealie bugs were those little tiny boll weevil things that spin webs in your oats or flour, and turn into moths?

I get my grains from bulk bins in health food/grocery stores. If they switch suppliers per batch, that's where trouble with mites can kick in. Which is gross to think about, cuz I've used that bran in my muffins, too. ;P bleeee-uuuchh

I've had better management success by frequent turnover(of feeder colony cleanup), bleaching(solution in water of bins), and lightly toasting my ingredients. I think of it as a dry autoclave-like process...

However, as you mentioned, it only greatly reduces it, it does not eliminate it. I just got tired of starting over only to find out the source was the grain. This was just my experience in the matter...I was a little disappointed in our food supply, shall we say.