Spoiled beans - how to prevent it?

[Svea]

morning all :)

i checked my pots of dried beans today (kidney beans and cannellini) and yuck! yuck! yuck! they have been thoroughly eaten by what i think may be weevil of some kind. okay, so i havent checked them beans for about 2 months - not gotten round to using my own for cooking, and today when i was thinking of it checked and found oozing yuckiness! most of the bugs were dead, and the stink! anyways, all binned. ( this was before breakfast, too! :-X)

but the question is: how can you prevent infestation/spoilage like this on home-grown and dried beans? they were dried outdoors and then indoors for a few more weeks, before being shelled and stored in airtight containers (or sio i think)
i did check them in the beginning to make sure they wouldnt smell musty, which they didnt.

so where did these YUCK! bugs come from?

i am now wondering if it's worth growing my own if they will be spoiled.  :-\

how are the shop-bought ones treated? i remember blight mentioned freezing them for a few days, to kill off any nasties????

thanks

[Svea]

[sarah]

What a shame? i have never dried beans defore so not going to be much help, but if youhad them stored in airtight containers i would suggest that maybe they were infested/infected before you stored them.  sounds really horrible! did you take a good look at the little blighters before youchucked them?  a description may help those with more knowledge than me to identify the problem. good luck

[Svea]

sarah, i just did a quick google on bean weevil, and it certainly does look like it.

here is a photo i could have taken earlier


:-X :-X

[sandersj89]

I am afraid they were infested before storage I fear. The adults lay eggs on/in the beans and these hatch in storage and eat the insides of the bean. These then hatch into the adults you have.

I have never suffered them, luckily, but think one way to prevent the eggs hatching is to put the dried beans in the freezer for a day or two to kill the eggs.

Jerry

[Svea]

thanks jerry, i will see if i have enough space/courage to have another go at home dried beans, and if i do, will freeze them after drying for a while.

[valentinelow]

Svea, I feel your pain. The same thing happened with my borlotti beans - and boy, was it annoying. It is one thing to have nasty creepy crawlies eat your veg when it is growing on the allotment: it is quite another when it is beans you have grown, harvested and dried, and which are now sitting in the kitchen cupboard waiting for you to eat them...

[TEL]

I am afraid they were infested before storage I fear. The adults lay eggs on/in the beans and these hatch in storage and eat the insides of the bean. These then hatch into the adults you have.

Thats bad news for the vegetarians ???

[Tee Gee]

put the dried beans in the freezer for a day or two to kill the eggs.

Jerry

Do you really mean the 'freezer' and not the 'fridge'Jerry?

Does this not damage the bean?

I'm intrigued!!!

As you say they will have been affected prior to storage.

I just let a few beans dry on the plant, open them when dried, and place the beans in a paper bag.

In a wet season I throw a few pods on the greenhouse shelf and allow them to dry there.

The paper bag goes in a biscuit tin and put in the bottom of the wardrobe until required.

I haven't bought any beans in over fifteen years.

[Svea]

tee gee, i think the freezing is fine for stored beans you intend to eat.
i wasnt talking about seed saving for subsequent years....:-/

[sandersj89]

Do you really mean the 'freezer' and not the 'fridge'Jerry?

Does this not damage the bean?

Tee Gee

Yes, but as these are for eating not re sowing it is fine I believe.

Jerry