Bay Leafs Prevent Mealmoths?

I have a birding friend who puts bay leaves in storage containors of bird seed. He is orginally from the southern part of the country where he says the use of bay leafs to keep bugs out of food storage containers is a common pratice. He recently had an infestation of mealmoths in his bird seed. He put puts bay leafs in a mesh sack on the top of his bird seed inside the sealed container. He says since he started to use the bay leafs he has not had anymore problems with mouths in his bird seed. Has only anyone else ever tried this or heard of this before? I sure would like to know if this really works or is a old wise tale?