How to quickly get rid of beetles in beans

Beans are a tasty and healthy vegetable, comparable in protein content to meat. Bean dishes are nutritious and calorie-rich, making them ideal for first and second courses during Lent and beyond. However, home cooks face challenges storing legumes after harvesting or purchasing a packaged bag from the store. Bugs often infest beans.

Bookmark for storage

Beans are ready to eat at the milky stage of ripeness, when the pods are still green. They haven't fully formed yet, but they are suitable for cooking and require little cooking time. Experienced gardeners wait until the pods are completely dry and the pods have partially opened before harvesting and storing. This means the vegetable is ready to be picked. Before storing, homemakers trying to protect their crop from pests should:

1. The beans are shelled, carefully sorted and examined to ensure there are no holes in the grain.
2. Beans with any defects noticed are not stored and are either thrown away or eaten immediately.

During harvesting, the beans are wet and require drying, without which:

• spoil quickly;
• wrinkle during storage;
• are subject to attack by pests.

Beetle prevention

To preserve food crops and seeds for next year's planting, homeowners use a number of measures that help, if not kill pests, then reduce damage and prevent their proliferation. This is done by:

• warming up;
• vacuum storage;
• low storage temperatures;
• special treatment of packaging material.

Warm-up

To prevent beetles from infesting the beans after peeling them and storing them, dry them. If the beans will be used exclusively for cooking and not for sowing next spring, spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 1 hour at 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit). Any pest larvae inside will die at this temperature. This process can be used with any packaged grain.

Sealed packaging and refrigeration

Next, the beans are placed in jars and vacuum-sealed. Vacuum-sealed beans preserve well, preventing them from becoming soggy, drying out, or being susceptible to pests. Store the jars in the refrigerator, and if the beans are not to be used as seed, they are portioned into small portions and placed in the freezer.

Storage of seed material

If beans are to be used as seed material in the future:

• it is laid out in one layer on paper in a dry, non-sunny place;
• leave it like this for 5-7 days;
• then pour it into a linen bag or several layers of paper, put 2-3 cloves of garlic inside and place it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator;
• Low temperature, even if there is a larva inside, will not allow it to become active.

Processing of storage containers

If the hostess suggests store beans If you're storing it in a canvas bag, you can soak it in a saturated salt solution. No pests will be able to penetrate such a bag. The essence of the method:

1. A saturated saline solution is prepared from water and table salt of such a concentration that a chicken egg dropped into it does not sink, but floats.
2. Place the bag in the solution, wet it completely, and let it sit.
3. Dry it on a clothesline; the bag will become dense, as if starched.
4. Fill the bag with beans and tie it.
5. Store on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator or on the balcony.

Pests

https://youtu.be/0yi6SvCge7Y

The bean weevil (photo) is a gray-brown beetle ranging from 2 to 5 mm in length. There are several reasons why this bean pest might infest your home:

• from the garden;
• from the store;
• from neighboring cereals.

During the summer, the beetle pierces the pods of bean plants and lays eggs inside. The larva eats out the insides of the fruit, then transforms back into a beetle, and the process repeats over and over until the insect completely destroys the crop unless drastic measures are taken. The bean weevil can survive without feeding for about three months and fly long distances.

In southern regions, the beetles hibernate underground, while in northern regions, they remain inside the beans. Infested beans can be identified by their small, neat holes. When beans are stored at room temperature, the pests confuse the season and begin to actively reproduce, destroying the crop. Unscrupulous homeowners, upon discovering these uninvited guests, even eat these bean-infested items. They first remove the beetles from the beans by soaking the affected beans in a strong salt solution, then bringing the water to a boil. Disturbed by the irritating liquid, the beetles and their larvae quickly leave their "dining rooms" and die. The beans are rinsed under running water and used for cooking. They taste no different from undamaged beans. Less frugal homeowners simply discard bean infestations.

Sprout fly

The bean sprout fly is gray with stripes on its back and measures approximately 5 mm. Its flight begins in the first half of May when temperatures are above 10 degrees Celsius. The first generation causes the most damage to crops. The insect lays eggs in the soil, which hatch within a week and gnaw through the planted and swollen bean seeds.

To prevent the larvae of the sprout fly from becoming a nuisance, they are controlled by:

1. Beans are sown at air temperatures below +10 degrees.
2. Prepare a repellent mixture and sprinkle it over the bean beds, loosening the soil slightly. The mixture consists of 200 g of ash, 1 teaspoon of tobacco dust, and 1 teaspoon of hot pepper.
3. The seedlings are watered with a saturated salt solution. Dissolve 250 g of table salt in 10 liters of water and water the soil during the emergence of the larvae.
4. The sprouts are watered with garlic infusion prepared from 400 g of crushed garlic infused in hot water (50-60 degrees) for 24 hours.
5. If folk remedies fail to help, insecticides (preparations for controlling harmful insects, such as Decis or Fufanon) can be used to get rid of the pest. These can be used before the beans bloom.

Bean diseases

Besides pests during growing beans Various bacterial and fungal diseases and root rots lurk. Rusty spots appear on leaves, pods, and roots, which then turn black. To combat these diseases, use a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture. To reduce the incidence of legume diseases, beans are treated before planting. They are soaked in:

• 1% solution of potassium permanganate;
• a solution of baking soda prepared from 1 teaspoon of soda and 1 liter of water;
• 3% hydrogen peroxide.

Dig the soil in the fall, keep the bed clean, and weed promptly. Crop rotation is one way to reduce the incidence of disease. Avoid growing legumes in the same spot for several years. If possible, return the beans to their original location after 5-6 years. Furthermore, planting them too early in cold soil (at temperatures below 10°C) can lead to mold, while planting them too deeply can lead to pathogenic bacteria.

Bugs have appeared

If beetles have appeared in your beans, you need to do the following:

• understand the scale of the disaster;
• if the damage is minor, sort through and remove any visible pests;
• heat in the oven at 60 degrees for 1 hour or pour in a concentrated salt solution and bring to a boil;
• If all the fruits are damaged, it is better to throw them away;
• transfer to a small bag and freeze raw;
• Rinse under running water, cook and freeze the cooked beans in portions.

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Beans are a tasty, healthy, and nutritious vegetable, with a protein content that can replace meat. Growing them doesn't require any special skills or knowledge. The main challenge in preserving the harvest is proper preparation methods, preventative measures, and cold storage. This will significantly reduce or eliminate losses.