Grain mite infestation solution!

So if you have mealworms on a small scale, like I do, you don't have the luxury of being able to toss 1000+ worms when you get a grain mite infestation and still have plenty of worms. Anyone who's ever had an infestation knows how gross and irritating the mites are . Here's how I got rid of them...

First off, what are grain mites?
Grain mites are small, white specs that will one day just appear on your mealworm (or other grain fed insect) container. They thrive in 68+ degrees and high humidity, like the humidity that comes off your carrots and other water providing foods you provide your insects. The will go from 1-1000 overnight, as the females produce hundreds of eggs at a time.

My set up
My mealworms are in plastic, clearance bought Michaels scrap-booking box. I have one for eggs and baby worms, one for large worms, and one for beetles. All my boxes are filled with an inch or two of whole oats. Thats about it for set up, nothing too special or unordinary.

The problem
I got mites. lots of them. All 3 tubs were coated in mites, as well as the shelf they sit on. It was gross, really gross.

My first solution
I did some research on what the moving specs were, and came to the conclusion they were grain mites. What else could they be? Anyway, I read up on my enemy at hand and found out, they don't like cold. The last few weeks here in upstate NY (almost Canada) have been extremely warm during the day, and frigid at night.

The mites cant live, or at least breed, under 68 degrees. The eggs, however, will survive. I left my boxes outside, and the temps got to 52, then raised up to 76, then down to 54, then 67, then 62, then 91. I figured the fluctuating temps would cause the adults to breed, lay eggs, die in the cold, the eggs hatch, but by the time they reach adulthood, its too cold for them to breed again. It worked, a little.

The Oats
the oats, I assume, were my problem, and got the original infestation. I will never again forget to microwave my oats. always microwave your oats before using them with worms.

After the boxes appeared clean of mites, and I cleaned the fras from the oats, and cleaned the boxes, I put them back on their (cleaned with hot water and bleach) shelf. I was pretty proud of myself, until the next morning the infestation was back and full blown. Again.

Water
Bugs and water don't mix. Oats and water make up part of a delicious breakfast. Oats, whole oats, sink in water. Mealworms, and mites, float.

I dumped my whole mealworm box into a (manageable) bucket. I then took my hose and filled it up with water. Using a strainer, I strained off the worms that floated to the top, only about 30-40 every fill. after about 5-7 fills and strains (leaving the oats in the bottom of my bucket) I got almost all my worms (about 1000) out of the oats. Leaving the worms in the strainer, and making sure I had as few oats, if any, left, I sprayed the worms with the hose to wash away all the mites.

Drying them in a paper towel to get the last bit of water off worked well enough, then dumped them back into their (re-cleaned) bucket. oats were microwaved for about 4-5 minutes to nuke the mites and their eggs.

So far, so good, not a mite in site.