Bettles
Hypothesis: Can storing flour in the refrigerator keep flour beetle eggs hatching?
Prediction: Hatching of flour beetle eggs can be inhibited by storing flour in the refrigerator.
Methods
Purchase 3 bags of flour of the same size and brand each from a different store (This will guarantee that the bugs are not just from one store.)
Split the flour from each bag into 6 small paper bags. Paper will allow air exchange that may be necessary for the eggs to hatch. Check the flour for the presence of beetles. (Imagine if they were already hatched, that would confound the whole experiment.)
Incubate the flour at 2 different temperatures – 9 small samples per temperature (3 from each bag). The temperatures will be cold 39F (refrigerator), and room temp 72F.
Store the bags at the specified temperature for 2 months.
After all the incubations, open the bags and look for beetles. Count the number of bugs from each bag.
Calculate the average number of bugs of all 9 bags at each temp.
Expected Results:
By using several different batches of flour from different stores, I can safely say that the beetles were not specific to a single store or a single lot of flour. By dividing the flour into several smaller lots, I can show that there is no difference in the number of beetles from one part of the bag (like the top) versus another part (like the bottom).
The bags held at room temperature will act as a control. If any beetle eggs are present in the flour samples, they should hatch at room temp. If no beetles are observed in the room temperature bags then the flour contained no eggs. The flour beetle life cycle is complete in 7 – 12 weeks, so 8 weeks should be sufficient to see adult beetles or larvae (Lyon, 2008).
Cold temperatures should inhibit the hatching of flour beetle eggs so I would expect few beetles...
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