Bugs in Calendula!

[gekko62]

eeuuw! I tipped a heap of dried calendula flowers into a pot to start infusing & then I saw em.Bugs.Little brown bugs everywhere! They're not weevils,look more like hibiscus beetles but brown.Ive had the calendula for a few months & the buggers have just appeared.Dontcha hate that! If it'd been flour Id've sifted em out & used it,but really don't like the idea of calendula/brown bug soap,so I tipped it into a plastic bag & froze it,then tossed it.
So what I want to know,is if it's ok to store botanical stuff like petals etc in the fridge/freezer,or would they deteriorate from the cold or moisture?That stuff is too expensive to have it happen again.Ive checked the Lav & other petalish things,still fine.Im thinking the bugs came from the calyx rather than the calendula petals at any rate,but have had a similar thing happen with lavender flowers once.Made a heap of satin eye cushions up with lav & linseed only to find them 2 days later with holes chewed thru them where weevil grubs were emerging.yuk.

 

[ChrissyB]

Oh no!
Where did they come from?
Is it possible that there were eggs or larvae (?) in there when you got it and they've only just hatched?
I got weevils through my pantry once. Normally I am really vigilant and transfer all packages to air tight containers but once I bought some pasta from the supermarket and left it in the bag. It had weevils in it, from the supermarket. Luckily they didn't get into too much cos of the containers.
They give me the heeby jeebies.

 

[gekko62]

Oh no!
Where did they come from?
Is it possible that there were eggs or larvae (?) in there when you got it and they've only just hatched?
I got weevils through my pantry once. Normally I am really vigilant and transfer all packages to air tight containers but once I bought some pasta from the supermarket and left it in the bag. It had weevils in it, from the supermarket. Luckily they didn't get into too much cos of the containers.
They give me the heeby jeebies.

Yeah Chrissy,they usually come from dormant eggs.I figured that well,at least I knew they hadn't been fumigated/irradiated,but the ick factor is high.Food/spice irradiation is unfortunately common practise these days.In Aus there's not even a regulation to inform on packaging.
I do sometimes get weevils in flour,either the moths & their larvae that spin that webby stuff,or the black beetle type.But to tell the truth,they don't worry me.I sift em out,just like our grandmothers would've done.As my mum says,they don't eat much! For my own use I wouldn't worry so much about the calendula bugs,but not when gifting/selling

 

[AshleyR]

Is it possible you were mistaking the calendula SEEDS for bugs? I know I did that when I got my first order of calendula - the flowers came whole and the little seeds looked like little brown worms to me.

 

[gekko62]

Is it possible you were mistaking the calendula SEEDS for bugs? I know I did that when I got my first order of calendula - the flowers came whole and the little seeds looked like little brown worms to me.

No,they were definitely crawling bugs. The seeds do look icky tho don't they? More like worms or nematodes than these ones tho. Dyu know the small black beetles that live in hibiscus flowers?Identical,just brown.
Hey,it was cheap calendula,& I thought I was getting a bargain,but instead of petals I got whole flowers.And bonus bugs! Oh well,lesson learned there! LoL

 

[AshleyR]

Yeah, I got whole flowers too.... PITA when I go to use it, to have to pick it all apart! Mine came from Canwax.

 

[gekko62]

Aren't they what! And I neverever get all of the seeds&bits out. I buy just petals now & they come in vacuum sealed packs but Im not trusting them to anything other than airtight tupperware just in case :?

 

[pixybratt]

I know you can freeze most things you would use in tea and calendula is one of those things. What I've read is yes it can be frozen, (dry it then freeze it)