Menu

How to keep beans from bugs in winter. Tips on how to store beans at home

Work in the country, in the garden in spring

Beans are the most common legume in many countries. Has a pleasant taste, quickly brings a feeling of fullness. A variety of dishes are prepared from it. Harvesting beans in the fall is not difficult, but not everyone knows how to preserve beans. You should not store beans in unsuitable conditions, otherwise it will not be possible to eat them by the middle of winter. To avoid this, you need to know the basic storage rules.

Bean harvest

How to store beans

To keep beans in winter period two prerequisites must be met:

  • Relative humidity not higher than 50%;
  • Temperature range up to +10 ºС.

REFERENCE: The best place to store legumes is in the refrigerator.

Storage preparation

How to prepare beans before storing:

  • Dry. In dry and sunny weather, the pods are spread on a baking sheet and left in the sun. In the evening, the beans are harvested, and the next day they continue to dry;
  • Make sure the legume is ready for storage. As soon as the pods are dry and dry, and the flaps open slightly, the beans are fully ripe;
  • Place the beans removed from the pods in canvas bags or glass jars, hermetically sealed.
  • Place in a cool place.

REFERENCE: Give preference to metal or glass lids. The tissue "container" is treated with a weak saline solution, and then dried;

Observing the correct preparation for laying will save the crop for two years.

Convenient to store beans in glass jars

There is another way to help preserve legumes until next season. The beans are warming up:

  • Grains without pods are spread on a baking sheet and placed in an oven for 10 minutes at a temperature of +90 ºС;
  • After that, the beans are poured into an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator.

REFERENCE: The prepared beans can be stored for several years.

How to protect from bugs

There are several ways to protect beans from bugs and increase shelf life:

  • When storing the beans in cloth bags, add a couple of garlic cloves. You can replace them with dill seeds. These crops secrete special substances that scare away grain beetles;
  • Permanent storage of beans in the refrigerator will protect them from insect penetration. With the onset of winter, when the air is cooled to a temperature of up to 7-10 degrees, containers with grains are placed on a glazed loggia;
  • Ash is added to the beans in a glass container, at the rate of 10-20 grams per 0.5 liter jar. The jar is closed with a metal lid.

REFERENCE: Since the air does not penetrate the beans, they can be stored even when room temperature;

  • You can prevent bugs with ink. With a large number of beans, they are placed in boxes or cardboard boxes, the bottom of which is covered with several layers of newspaper.

Storing beans is not easy and troublesome. If the storage rules are not followed, most bean harvest will become unusable by the middle of winter. This can only be avoided when the right conditions storage, and fresh and nutritious beans will delight until the next harvest.

Video: How to save beans

In nature, all living things are in the food chain. Beans, with their nutritional properties, are no exception. Where the area of ​​its cultivation is located, specific insects, bean weevils, live. When infected in the habitat, these insects spread with grains, getting to where the beans do not grow, but there is a lot of them as a result of storage.

Therefore, all warehouses are treated with insecticides on schedule in order to destroy not only the weevil, but also other insects in the warehouse. The question of how to store beans for winter consumption is largely related to their preservation from bruchus, a bean weevil.

How to keep beans for the winter?

The storage of beans and green pods is different initially. Green beans can be preserved by all known methods, frozen and stored with maximum benefit during the winter. But other conditions must be created to preserve grain beans. Considering that beans are very useful product, which replaces meat in its composition, it is easy to spoil stocks without observing storage rules.

The plant product should be protected:

  • from improper drying and laying of wet grain;
  • from storage in high humidity conditions;
  • non-observance of the temperature regime.

Stored beans, even if stored properly, decrease their nutritional value over time and increase cooking time.

Of all the bugs pests of grain and legume seeds for beans, the most common is the bean weevil or. These insects are quarantine pests. They live in a narrow area where beans have been cultivated for a long time. Fall with seed material and gradually multiply. Therefore, the task of the quarantine service is to prevent the spread of the beetle to new territories.

Recently, this insect was stopped from entering the Far East on a Chinese ship in beans from India. The insect and its live clutches were found on the ship in food beans. Security measures have been taken. Bruchus is often caught from the fields of the Transcaucasus, there is its own species. Therefore, it is necessary to consider each bean in home plots before planting and destroy the seed with holes in the bean by burning. This pest came to Russia at the beginning of the last century, at the height of Civil war when there was no quarantine service. Until now, no caryopses have been seen in black beans.

Knowing the biology of the beetle, you can understand how to preserve beans so that bugs do not start up. The caryopsis actively reproduces in summer and winter in heated premises, giving 5-6 generations. In nature, a clutch of eggs goes into ripening beans, up to 30 eggs each. But the masonry is stretched out in time. The ovipositor is found on the pod valves or on an unripe pod in a crack or gouged out fossa. The larvae will develop in 10-11 days and invade the beans. After 21 days, the caterpillar turns into a pupa and after 10 days an adult insect is obtained.

When cold 0-1 0 death of larvae and pupae occurs in a month, at -12 0 in a day. So cold storage can keep the food stock from being destroyed. The beetle in the southern regions is not destroyed during mild winters and can colonize storage facilities in warm weather. They populate crops and manage to give 4-5 generations. Damaged beans lose their germination capacity. In the infested seeds, black dots of passages and excrements are visible through the shells.

Primary drying of grain before laying is of great importance. In good weather, the beans pulled from the garden bed should lie in the sun for a few more days before opening the flaps or, gathered in brooms, hang under the draft on the hangers. For food purposes, beans are threshed and prepared for winter storage.

Storing bean seeds at home

How to store beans in winter for seeds is another story. Pods with intact valves and without the slightest flaws are selected. After drying in the sun, the beans in the pods are packed in a canvas bag and kept in the refrigerator until the onset of cold weather. Later, the bag is taken out into the cold, hung up so that rodents do not eat it. Disassemble the pods just before planting. Another way of storing seeds is to pour ashes and store them in a glass sealed container. By adding a head or several teeth to the package, the safety guarantee increases.

There are several ways to store beans at home for the winter. The humidity of the ambient air should be no more than 50%, and the temperature stopping biological development should be 10 0, that is, before the onset of frost, the storage place is a refrigerator. Store in linen bags, you can put a garlic head inside.

If there are a lot of beans, they can be stored in cardboard boxes or wooden crates, but there should be a layer of regular black and white newsprint inside. Printing ink also prevents insects from settling. Of course, winter storage in a cold place will guarantee the safety of the product.

Another way to preserve beans for the winter is to use heating the marketable grain. When heated in the oven to 90 0 for several minutes, the beneficial properties of the beans will be preserved, and the contents will die. After such processing in a dry container with sealed lids, the beans will survive for more than one winter. Another way is heating at 10 0 for an hour.

The lids under which the beans are stored can be glass and metal. Polyethylene - breathable. Cloth bags for storage must first be soaked in saline and dried.

When storing beans warm in open form if the humidity is disturbed, the beans can germinate or become moldy. You cannot eat bean sprouts. It can be used as a planting material if the sowing time has come.

Proper storage of beans - video

The cultivation of legumes is very popular because they are widely used in cooking and have many positive qualities. but harvested crop can become a treat for pests, after which it will be impossible to eat it. How to store beans correctly so that bugs do not start at home? There are several options, you just need to choose the right one.

The main pests - bean weevils - live in warehouses and in places of direct storage, as well as directly on garden plots, in bean pods. For their vital activity, appropriate weather conditions and nutrition, which are served by beans, are necessary.

One insect is capable of depositing more than 50 larvae in a pod. After 2-3 weeks, the larvae become adult pests. Eggs can be laid either in the pod itself or in the grains. This explains the fact why a weevil starts in a hermetically sealed container.

Prevent the appearance of intruders even at the planting stage by introducing pesticides on the site. For sowing, only healthy grains of perfectly even shape, without visible damage, are selected. If you use infected beans for planting, then in the next season you can lose the entire crop.

How to prepare beans for storage

Do the following work:

  1. The crop is harvested from the garden bed together with the pods.
  2. Leave the beans in the sun in a well-ventilated place. For example, in rural areas, crops were dried right on the fence. In the city, you can adapt a balcony for this purpose by spreading a newspaper on the floor.
  3. The beans are dried for two weeks. During this time, the pod should turn yellow and open slightly, and the grain becomes hard.
  4. The grains are poured onto a baking sheet and calcined at a temperature of about +60 ° C for at least half an hour. This allows you to kill the larvae of the pests. Such beans can no longer be used as planting material.

Rules for storing beans, so as not to start bugs

It is important to know that if a rich harvest has been successful and you need to store it for more than one season, then you should sterilize glass jars, then throw them a little at the bottom. wood ash and only then lay the beans. Subsequently, the beans will only need to be washed. clean water and use for cooking. Ash will help prevent bugs and other pests.

A few cloves of garlic, cut into the bean storage container, will also get rid of the bugs. A large number of the beans are kept in boxes, the walls of which are lined with ordinary newspaper. Printing ink negatively affects pests, and crops can safely overwinter.


As a rule, dishes with grains are kept at home. indoor conditions, however, it is better to transfer them to a cellar, closet or other cool room. It is known that the caryopsis cannot stand the smell of dill, rosemary and other spices. Several branches of these plants are placed in a bowl with beans to protect the harvested crop from harmful insects.

We select containers and premises, create optimal conditions

Dry beans are sent for storage in an airtight container. For such purposes, use:

  • glass jar;
  • plastic bag;
  • Plastic container.

Insects and bugs should in no way get inside. Beans are best stored in a cool, dark place. If there are fears that a caryopsis may reach the harvest, then it is better to store it in the frost. The beans perfectly tolerate low temperatures without losing their taste, but the larvae of the weevil die. Before the onset of persistent cold weather, you can place the grains in freezer, and then just take it out onto the balcony.


In a humid and warm room, the grains start to germinate quickly, so they should not be kept warm. The sprouts are not suitable for human consumption, they are used only for planting in the spring. If you plan to store the beans in a canvas bag, then you must first dip it in saline and dry it. Such a procedure will protect the crop from both weevil and other pests.

Freeze only fresh, green beans just picked from the garden, you can even in pods. They are washed, tails are cut with scissors, damaged areas or black spots are cut out. If pods cut into pieces are used in the preparation of culinary masterpieces, then this should be done immediately.


The next step is blanching. The pods are dipped in boiling water for a few minutes, and then transferred to ice cold water. This makes it possible to maximally preserve the useful properties and taste of the product.

Before freezing the beans in the refrigerator, dry them well. To do this, the pods are laid out on a paper towel and left for a while so that all excess liquid is glass. Otherwise, ice particles will freeze on the grains, and the product will lose its unique aroma.

Dried beans are packaged in sachets in such portions so that you can use everything for one preparation and not defrost excess.

Storage at room temperature

If properly dried, beans can be stored in winter and at room temperature. A certain part of the grains can be frozen, and the rest can be frozen for several hours in the freezer before storage, and then dried. To destroy bugs and their larvae, beans are heat-treated in an open oven.

The temperature in it is maintained at +100 ° С. The beans are kept under these conditions for 20 minutes.

The container in which the beans are supposed to be stored must be hermetically sealed. It is placed in a well-ventilated dark place, for example, on a table or kitchen cabinet... The humidity in the room should be low, otherwise the grain may sprout.

Under no circumstances should the beans be washed before storing them, and containers that accumulate condensate should not be used. It is highly undesirable to store the harvested crop near a heating battery or other source of heat.

Terms and conditions

The main prerequisite for the successful storage of beans is maintaining optimal humidity and temperature. It is they that largely determine the maximum storage duration of the legume culture. Also, this indicator depends on other factors. As a container, it is preferable to use bags made of natural fabrics, wooden boxes or simple carton boxes.


The shelf life of grains increases significantly at low temperatures in the place of direct storage. The optimum temperature is from +5 ° C to +10 ° C. The humidity should be no higher than 50%, otherwise the beans will become covered with mold, acquire bad smell dampness and will lose its commercial qualities.

The period of storage of beans in a living room in fabric bags, subject to all pre-processing and storage rules, is 2-3 years. In a glass container with a sealed twist, this time increases to 8 years. Canned beans are good for consumption for two years.

There are practically no problems with green beans: they are frozen or canned according to any suitable recipe. With cereal fruits, everything is more difficult: because of high humidity or the wrong temperature spoils the crop.

Save beans in fresh not possible: even in sealed containers, the shelf life is a maximum of a week. But if you dry the beans thoroughly, you can extend their "lifespan". Smooth elastic pods, not wrinkled or stained, are suitable for long-term storage.

An alternative is heat treatment in the oven: 4-5 minutes is enough. at a temperature of 90 degrees. You need to husk the pods after they become yellowish and dry, and a crack appears along the line of the flap.

Prepared beans are laid out in jars or containers, closed tightly and placed in a cool, dark place. The optimum storage temperature is no higher than 5 degrees.

How to store beans to avoid bugs

One of the main enemies of the crop is the bean weevil. These are small bugs that start in beans even at the ripening stage. Insects reproduce actively, laying larvae in beans. It is difficult to notice a weevil, but thanks to proper preparation and storage insects are destroyed.

Cold is destructive for bugs, but at temperatures above +5, insects actively reproduce.

To avoid this, it is advisable to put the beans in the refrigerator for the first time.

A basement, cellar or balcony are suitable for winter storage. Beans can be packed in cardboard boxes or wooden boxes lined with newspapers. Canvas bags are also used, which must be hung so that the crop receives natural ventilation.

If you know in advance how to store beans, and carefully follow all the recommendations, the beans will survive the winter well and retain all the useful properties. You can only use whole, non-sprouted fruits without mold for food.


Beans are a valuable nutritious product, their calorie content is almost 300 kcal per 100 grams. It is rich in vitamins, minerals, and only meat surpasses it in the amount of amino acids. Beans are also an indispensable element of dietary nutrition for diseases of the heart, kidneys, Bladder, as well as diabetes. It is well known that beans retain their beneficial properties when cooked. But from long-term storage, its useful and taste qualities decrease, and the cooking time increases.

Often housewives ask themselves how long beans can be stored and how to do it correctly in winter in order to preserve their nutritional value and taste longer. Knowing the little tricks at home, where to store beans, at what temperature and how to properly process them, you can save the crop for two years.

How to store beans properly

Experienced gardeners know that growing is not as difficult as storing beans. After all, a small pest beetle, a bean weevil, penetrates into the grain of beans at the beginning of their ripening, in the hottest summer period... One bean can contain 20-30 beetle larvae. They gnaw through the passages in the grains, leaving behind them waste products, and pupate there. Through the thin shell, you can see how many black dots in the grain are beetles or their tracks if they have already left the bean house. Damaged beans cannot be used as seed, and also lose their useful and taste qualities. No matter how many grains are spoiled by a pest, the entire crop will be lost in winter if you do not have information on how to properly store beans.

Storage temperature

The optimum temperature for storing beans should be 5-10 ° C, and the humidity should be no more than 50%.

The main condition for the preservation of legumes in winter, including beans, is the right choice temperature regime... Bean weevil larvae do not develop at temperatures below 10 ° C, therefore optimum temperature should be 5-10 ° С, and humidity not more than 50%. Before the onset of cold weather, the only place where you can store beans at home is the refrigerator.

Dry beans are poured into linen bags and placed on the refrigerator door or in the vegetable compartment. For greater confidence, unpeeled dry cloves of garlic, dry dill seeds or ashes from bean pods are also put there (one tablespoon of ash is enough for a half-liter jar). These additives are believed to repel insect pests in legumes. Considering that there is always not enough space in the refrigerator, it is permissible to store beans on the balcony or in another cold place in winter. In a cloth package, beans will be well preserved for planting.

One more important rule- beans must be well sorted and properly dried before storage. It is believed that peeled beans are better stored. Grains with a damaged surface cannot be preserved.

How to store beans in winter

Many housewives, not relying on the fact that the beetle larvae will sleep at low temperatures, choose a more reliable way of storing beans in winter. The beans are cooked in an oven heated to 80-90 ° C for 4-5 minutes. After such heating, harmful insects die if they were there, and the beans can be put in dry glass jars and tightly closed. To prevent the appearance of other pests of legumes, you can throw garlic in a jar and put in a cold place. They are not suitable for planting grains after calcination, but for food they can be stored for a very long time. Such reassurance is fully justified, because it is immediately difficult to notice a pest in the grains, and as a result - how much valuable product is eaten by insatiable larvae, how much money, labor and time are wasted!

Recently popular on household plots became a green string, it is asparagus beans. Therefore, the question of how to store green beans if even in the refrigerator the pods only stay fresh for a couple of days. To take advantage of useful properties green beans and in winter, you can freeze them, and do it correctly, observing technological process... Before freezing, green beans are blanched, having previously cut off the ends and cut in half, dried, placed in an airtight bag and only then placed in the freezer. How much to store the beans in frozen form is up to the hostess herself, but her valuable qualities remain for six months. In addition to freezing fresh pods, there are many options for storing beans at home - pickling, canning, salting, drying. How many housewives - there are so many recipes. From canned beans in winter you can prepare many different dishes. Considering all the secrets of storing beans, you can all year round make delicious bean soups, green bean salads or hearty bean burgers.