I stored birdseed in a covered trash...

Question

I stored birdseed in a covered trash barrel in my basement. When I opened it the other day, I noticed mealy moths had infested the bag. Where do they come from? and how should I store this in the future. Is there anything I can put in the barrel that won’t affect the seed but repel the moths?

Answer

Dump out the contents. Clean the container with bleach and then store with salt. The insects came from eggs that were most likely present in the seeds. Another approach would be to sort through the seeds and remove the contaminants and feed the birds, and not bother cleaning the container. The moths are not parasitic to the birds.