Keep bugs away!

[West Coast Vend LLC]

I would take a few peanut m&m's and try them in the freezer before putting a whole bag in.

I think any chocolate, peanuts, raisins or fruit candy will go bad if it is in an overheated location in a store or at your home. Vending machines are not air tight and if a bug gets in the globe it can destroy all the candy in the canister in a couple of days.

Make sure that the base of your machines are kept clean at all times. If they are sticky and dirty it's like putting up a welcome sign for all bugs to climb up. Spray them with ant/bug spray even if you don't think there are ants or bugs in the location.

Take if from me. I learned the hard way.

Gary

[gsnwag]

OMG! I would just cringe if I saw moths in my machines. Does this happen often? I guess it is something I will have to watch out for.

[Honda man]

I think what you're finding are Indian meal moths. My dad used to store organic nuts and grains in the pantry and I remember a couple of times we had moth infestations. He would freeze them for about 4 days to kill the larvae and eggs and then store them (the nuts and grains, not the larvae) in a jar or airtight container. Also would put out moth traps to kill the adult moths.  From what I'm told, thay're not real picky eaters, they like nuts, grain, candy, powdered milk, etc.

Anybody ever have a moth fly into their ear and flutter around inside? Or just me?

Ernie

[markvend]

Blueroxie,

Great post - thanks for sharing it with us. How many MMPs are you vending at a time. Have you make any adjustment to your vend amount in the last 18 months?

I do a lot of MMP machines as well and would love to read your thoughts.

Mark

[Quarter Master]

Folks, just a note on freezing of the MMP. According to Mars if the candy is frozen, then when it thaws it will most likely split in half or at least crack the outer shell pretty bad. This is all due to contraction and expansion for which the candy can not tolerate.This info comes from customer service at Mar's which I spoke to awhile back.This may explain why some of the bags you buy are all cracked up. They got frozen then thawed during shipping.Hope this helps concerning the "crappy" product some of us get from BJ's & Sam's.

[caserri]

We actually have test results for freezing and thawing various candies. The results are posted in the member PLUS section here==>

http://www.vendiscuss.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=1442&forum_id=13

The PMM actually passed with 0% cracking.  Maybe an expanded test is in order to get to the bottom of this?

Steve

 

[white32]

Is anyone in the southwest? How common are bug problems down here?

[Zigzag Vending]

Question for some multi year vending vets... what are your bug proofing procedures?  Vaseline or bug spray? Do u reapply each year or so? What kind of bug/ant spray do use? And have you ever had any problems or worries from the locations with the idea of spraying the machine with bug spray? And with the vaseline, do u smear or glop it on around the top of the base?

Edited October 14, 2016 by Zigzag Vending