Miller Magazine Issue: 131 November 2020

77 ARTICLE MILLER / November 2020 intenance, and the miller avoids deep cleaning, one can expect to find infestation again and again. One of the main contributors to re-infestation is the exhaust systems in the mills and on the top of our flour bins, which are more often than not, forgotten when ma- intenance is being done. The following areas need to get the millers' attention every time, to prevent the development of insect pests. Tabulated are the areas that must be checked and cle- aned regularly; 1. Application of fumigant during intake to ensure that their development is curbed. 2. Exhaust trunking throughout the plant. 3. All screens room equipment with course and fine screenings being moved out of the mills daily. 4. Collecting conveyors, in the dead spots created by the ganger bearings and the empty space at the head and tail ends of the conveyors. 5. Plansifter doors, in the plush seal applied to the sides of the vertical clamping door; in the wire mesh backing wire securing clamps on older plansifters; under the col- lecting trays if not properly cleaned; in the inlet and out- let sleeves; on the sides of the horizontal clamping box at the top of the sifter. These are often not cleaned at all. 6. The tensioning slots of the purifier sieves; aspiration channel; inside the main control valve housing; between the purifiers at the lighting section. 7. Dead spots of tube screw conveyors where the inse- cts really thrive. 8. Cracks and crevices in the bu- ildings where the insects thrive due to the millers not identifying them as potential harborage. 9. Under feed rolls of the roller mills as well as the dead spots in the feed tubes and feed boxes, if this is not thoroughly cleaned out regu- larly. Inside of the feed guide plate above the back grinding roll where insects accumulate 10. Inside of the feed box where the dust accumulates and is left for long periods. 11. Covers of the flour collecting conveyors that are difficult to reach. Removing occasionally for thorough cleaning will assist with control. 12. Inside the distribution hoppers of the raw wheat and conditioning bins where the stock does not reach. 13. Spout bends where moth de- velops especially in the stock distri- bution spouting out of the plansif- ters. 14. Flour holding and packing bins must be cleaned at least every quarter to remove attrition flour from the roof of the bins. All tube screws should be retracted and cleaned. Aspiration filter covers of the hoppers must be replaced regularly or washed and replaced. 15. Joints in the trouser legs of packing bins where the insects can develop. 16. Mixers and blenders together with the additive mixers. 17. Packing machines must be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized weekly. 18. All distribution hoppers above blow thru airlocks. 19. Bran and pollard packing and receiver bins quarter- ly cleaning are essential. 20. Pallet cleaning with a high-pressure washer will remove any adhering eggs that might be returned from clients’ warehouses. The regular contact insecticide spraying of potential harbo- rage areas in the mills and flour bin tops and bottoms. Spillage must be cleaned up and mixed away on the shift on which they occur. Fogging on the wheat silo basements and tops as well as warehouses and the plants will help curb the development of flour moths and other insects. Millers must not leave any spillage lying around in the screens rooms and mixing areas. Maintaining housekeeping and daily routine inspection of the plants and prioritizing work that needs to be done with an emphasis on leaks will surely help any good miller to control infestation in his/her plant. Only you can keep your plant infestation free.