130 PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD INSECTS. 



Tlie vegetable foods most subject to injury are i)re])ared cereals. If 

 any of tbese be badly infested at the time of purchase it Avill be plainly 

 evident; if only a moderate number ot insects be present and it be 

 desirable to store the material for some length of time, by sifting over 

 a large sheet of paper of light color, using a line sieve for flour and 

 corn meal and a coarser one for cracked wheat and like foods, the pres- 

 ence of infesting insects may be detected. 



Most people object to the nse of flour, meal, and other material for 

 the preparation of food if it be at all infested with insects, and to save 

 trouble will promptly return such material to the mercliant of whom it 

 was purchased. If, however, infestation be not at once detected, the 

 dealer may in some cases refuse to receive the injured stuff unless the 

 cause of the trouble can be directly traced to his store or to the milling 

 company or wholesale dealer of whom it was originally obtained. If 

 food stuft's are not too badly infested they are not dangerous, and are 

 useful for consumption by human beings, disagreeable as the traces of the 

 insects' presence may be. It is sometimes advisable, if not absolutely 

 necessary, to save such material, as for example when on a protracted 

 journej^, where better is not to be had. 



After what has been said regarding the development of the flour 

 beetles and other insects it should be superfluous to add that it is 

 impossible to entirely free infested material by sifting, as the eggs and 

 younger larv;e slip through the flnest meshes. Most insects may be 

 destroyed by placing the material infested in the oven at a moderate 

 degree of heat, from 125^ to 150° F., but care must be exorcised not to 

 expose it to a higher temperature. Corn meal, particularly, is easily 

 overheated, and afterwards, unless it is soon to be used in cooking, is 

 apt to become rancid. 



If a barrel of flour or large quantity of other provisions becomes 

 infested, as is apt to happen during the absence of a family from home, 

 bisulphide of carbon, a liquid chemical in general use against insects 

 in mills, elevators, granaries, and warehouses, should be used to dis- 

 infect it. The same reagent is the best insecticide for use w^hen whole 

 rooms are to be fumigated. 



A small quantity of the chemical is sufticient for the disinfection of a 

 barrel of flour, as the insects for the most part live only in the flour at 

 the top, being unable to withstand the pressure of a large weight of 

 material. From a half to a whole teacupful (about 2 to 5 ounces) of the 

 bisuli:)liide will prove sufficient for the purpose in an ordinary case, 

 provided the cover be replaced as tightly as possible. In more severe 

 cases of infestation it may be necessary to repeat the application. The 

 bisulphide is poured into shallow pans or plates placed upon the top of 

 the infested mass and the receptacle covered as closel}^ as possible and 

 left for a day or more. This chemical is extremely volatile, and being 

 heavier than air, descends as a gas, killing such insects as the material 

 may contain. When an entire room or building is overrun with insects, 



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