Storing your bird seed during the hot humid months can be a challenge. If you live in an environment where it is humid in the summer such as Florida or Texas, the bugs can accumulate quickly and contaminate your bird seed. It is a known fact that heat attracts bugs.
Below are some tips to help with this problem:
- Do not store your bird seed in a metal container. The bird seed bags are designed with vent holes, and special lining allowing the bird seed to breath. A metal container attracts heat and attracts bugs .
- Keep your bird seed in a dry cool place such as a three season porch, basement, or air conditioned room. A place where the sun is not penetrating on it.
- Buy smaller quantities of seed during the duration the summer, so that it is used up more frequently.
- If you have a big freezer, put it in zip lock bags. This also prevents other critters from helping themselves to the seed.
- Always close the bag with a zip tie or wire so that it is not exposed in the open
- Put fans near the bird seed or in an air conditioned room. The fans distract flies and bugs because of regular air flow blowing.
- Put moth traps in room where seed is stored
- If storing in a container, make sure you empty the previous seed and clean frequently
- Use a paper towel slightly damped in bleach and water at the bottom if storing in a container
If you have moths flying around or webbing in your bird seed, remove your seed immediately from the area. If webbing is consistent in your bird seed, your bag is probably contaminated and should be thrown out. I would highly recommend spraying the area with a fogger. An application of 2-3 times may be necessary to completely remove the bugs, moths or insects. Make sure when purchasing a fogger , that it eliminates weavels. This is listed on the product can that you purchase.
A more natural chemical free method , buying bags of dry herbs. By putting pouches of dry herbs in your containers, will discourage spiders, insects and bugs. The website http://www.aromatherapeutix.com/catalog/category25 sells the dry herbs under the category dry botanicals at a reasonable cost.
We hope the information provided will help people store bird seed during the hot humid months.
Happy birding,
The bird seed lady, Sarah
