Please be sure to visit the Helpful Hints section of our catalog.

The following is an example of what you might find:

Dried tangled and matted material, such as German Statice, can be more easily separated and is easier to work with if you spritz lightly with water and then store in a plastic bag for about 20 minutes. Once separated, blow dry with a hairdrier.

OR

If you suspect your flowers have a worm or insect infection, place them in a sealed plastic bag in your freezer for a few days. This should kill most insects.

With the approach of warmer weather, we can expect to find an increase in insect activity. The main one to watch out for is the INDIAN MEAL MOTH!
This critter is ubiquitous (found everywhere) and it specially likes grains, flour, chocolates, cereals, hence its name! The moth flies mainly at night as it is repelled by light. It lays its eggs on anything that would be good food for the young larvae. If it can't find any cereals or grains handy, it will lay eggs in some dried flowers. When that happens, the eggs hatch and the larvae begin feeding. They grow over a period of two to thee weeks and then pupate and metamorphose into moths. These then seek a mate and once the female is fertilized, the cycle repeats.

Note:
1. The moths do not cause damage directly, but their larvae are the ones that cause the damage.
2. Common household insecticides do not kill the larvae, eggs or pupae.
3. B.T. (Bacillus thurengiensis) a bacterium, does kill the larvae and is safe for mammals. We treat all the susceptible items that we process with BT for your protection. Examples are: wheat, oats, peonies, apple slices etc..
4. The male moth is attracted to the female sex hormone scent. This is called a pheromone. The BUG HAREM is a sticky trap with a slow release pheromone patch that attracts the male moths and when they arrive in the trap, come to a sticky end! The trap monitors your location for the moths and alerts you if you have a problem. By trapping the male moths before they are able to mate with the female moths, you can effectively reduce the moth population.
We recommend you use the BUG HAREM in each location, and monitor them at least every week.

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BUG HAREM