Hi Everyone! We bought some dried lavender buds about 6 months ago, mainly for home aromatherapy. We stored these in the kitchen, where they were packed in air-tight zip-lock bags which were further packed in air-tight containers. We also threw in a packet of dessicant just for the extra moisture absorbency. To our horror, when we opened up the packs a couple of weeks ago, we found the lavender buds infested with some kind of strange bugs/beetles. They appeared to have chewed through the packs containing the lavender. We are not sure if these bugs were already breeding inside the lavender when we bought them, or they came from an external source in our kitchen/house. If they came from an external source, would storing the lavender in the fridge help? Can anyone help shed some light on this? We did some research and these may be the Drugstore Beetle species. I have enclosed some pictures of these strange bugs. Thanks!!
I am not familiar with these small beetles. I harvest lavender each year to make a burnable mix for the smoker which I use whilst working with my bees. I would have seen them had they been present. Do you think that the origin of the lavender that you bought is in your own country, or do you think that they have been imported. What your next step would be depends upon the origin of the purchased buds. In the meantime, I would place all the bags in the freezer for a couple of days. Take them out for 24 hours then place them back in the freezer for two days. I would be tempted to kill the bugs and burn the whole batch so that the bugs can have no chance to spread. However, if they came from outside your country, you ought to turn them in to what ever place is correct there and alert the douane (customs). They could be one of the species of Asiorestia. I wonder if you could take a dead one out of the bag and photograph it and then post the piccy on here. You want to concentrate on not allowing these insects to spread. Lavender is an easy plant to grow and perhaps you could buy a few and plant them in your garden or keep them in a container on your porch or balcony and then harvest your own buds after they have bloomed-out and begun to brown. You could simply combine the harvesting with the yearly pruning of the lavender plant. Of course, you do not HAVE to prune Lavender, but if you do, it will grow thicker and better for you. Please keep us posted on how this goes.
The freezer was my first thought, too. No idea what they bugs are, but I would not think the dried buds came with the bugs on them, just my opinion as generally herbs and aromatics tend to repel bugs in general.
I would treat the situation as if they are drugstore beetles Stegobium paniceum. They eat everything, from the cardboard box noodles come in to plastic bags filled with the food they want, to spices, herbs and other foods in the kitchen once they get started. They are named Drugstore beetles because they are often found in the drugs stored in drugstores. Anything found infested should be thrown away, empty out the cabinet, wash containers and the shelves and walls, then spread insecticide in the corners and crevices of the cabinet but not on the walls and shelves themselves. You want to kill the bugs and eggs but not contaminate your cabinet to the point you can not use it again.
Sjoerd: We threw away the entire container of the lavender upon discovering these bugs. They appeared to have bitten through the packaging containing the lavender and were crawling around inside the container. Hopefully they have not spread in my kitchen/house; would need to check on that. The lavender we bought was most likely imported, and we do remember that at the store which we bought from, the lavender was kinda stored out in the open and not in enclosed containers. We would be getting from another store and this time, we would make sure that these are stored in enclosed containers. Would also be storing them in the chiller at home. Not sure if this would affect the scent/aroma over time? Carolyn: It seems that the bugs were attracted to the lavender, given the way they were crawling around inside. Toni: Yeah would be checking the stored dried foodstuffs in the kitchen to see if they have spread. More close-up pictures of these bugs:
Well mate, what I can see from your latest foto's-- the little beasts do look like one of the Asiorestia species. We have some in this country too. I wonder if storing your packages of buds would be affected by the cold of your coolerater. I keep mine not in a cooler, but simply in my garden house. the fragrance stays quite a while...but the buds and stems that I have prepared for use with my bees are stored in a plastic bag and the unused is just open. Here's wishing you better luck next time....but I still think that you could keep some Lavender plants of your own. After a couple of years, you can harvest quite a lot. I harvested a bushel container of them from just one large plant. Of course, I use the stems as well.
