freezing kill mites and eggs?

[sendit]

Will freezing kill mites and their eggs? Would putting a weeks supply of media in the freezer every week, when making cultures, kill the creatures that might be living in it?

Would the same work for springtail yeast? Mites keep showing up in my springtail cultures. They are sealed with 3 micron filters and on mite paper but mites keep popping up. Thinking they are coming from the yeast. I have a dozen shoe box size cultures and have had them for some time. A culture here and there would get mites but now it seems every couple weeks. I have a bucket of yeast and not wanting to toss it.

I get the microwaving, boiling water and other methods. Freezer just seems easier. I have been freezing just wondering if it is wasted effort.

[Philsuma]

Yes, freezing always works well for me. As a 'stage' in my cleanup, I used to freeze all old cultures for a few days and then clean out and reuse the cups. Having a spare freezer in the basement frogroom helped here.

Baker's yeast right ? The little 'balls' of yeast ? Actually, yeast should be one of the 'safe foods' for springtails, meaning mites don't like it.

[IEatBugs]

Just as Phil has already stated, freezing works well to kill mites and their eggs. I keep all of my fly media, including excelsior, cups and lids in the freezer. It can also be a benefit to keep your springtail cultures on mite paper to help prevent the mites from traveling to the next culture. A quick wipe with alcohol on the containers can help to remove mites from the outside of them as well, while I am not sure if this will actually kill them it does seem to help keep the cultures nice and clean.