simka2 Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Uuuuuggghhhh! Eeeeeeeewwwwww! I hate bugs in the house!!!!!:glare: I want to run away screaming. I can handle bugs OUTSIDE, but not in my food! What do I do now? :001_huh::tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacie Leigh Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Uuuuuggghhhh! Eeeeeeeewwwwww! I hate bugs in the house!!!!!:glare: I want to run away screaming. I can handle bugs OUTSIDE, but not in my food! What do I do now? :001_huh::tongue_smilie: My grandma sent me home with a bag of flour and it ended up infesting our pantry. I almost lost it. You'll need to clear EVERYTHING out unless it's sealed in plastic and has no bugs then wipe down with hot water and vinegar (or whatever cleaner you prefer). The most important thing is to leave not one single spec, crumb or any reside behind. If you can leave it empty for a few days to get any that are "on their way" in, do so. Restock with things carefully sealed. (I now keep flour, pasta, grains, etc... in airtight containers or bags.) Good luck. I wanted to cry when it happened at our old house! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 What on earth are weevils? :confused: Tiny little critters that love grains and flour. When your flour moves in the container by itself or you see little tunnels - DISCARD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Uuuuuggghhhh! Eeeeeeeewwwwww! I hate bugs in the house!!!!!:glare: I want to run away screaming. I can handle bugs OUTSIDE, but not in my food! What do I do now? :001_huh::tongue_smilie: I think the only thing to do is to toss it and wash the container in the dishwasher or let it sit in very hot water with baking soda overnight - or toss it too and start over from scratch. I do not like to get protein that way...eeeeewwwww. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueridge Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 If you can stand the thought...put the bags of grain in the freezer. Wait a week or two. Pour through a sifter to remove the buggies. Once I actually did this with an entire 50 lb. bag of wheat, because it was just too much $$ to waste. The freezer really will take care of the weevils, and then you can pick them out of flour. They aren't nearly as offensive when they are frozen dead. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenniferp8 Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 I've also heard that spreading some bay leaves in your pantry can help repel them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 We had those in some oats once, and yep they take over the pantry. I agree with PP, clean out everything and wipe it down well. Ugh!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 It's pretty common here in Florida. I keep flour and rice in the freezer. There are other things they can come in, but those seem to be the 2 biggest culprits. The only thing you can do now is check everything and throw out the stuff that has bugs in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simka2 Posted September 27, 2011 Author Share Posted September 27, 2011 It is wiped out, thrown away, stuck in the freezer (some wheat berries that seemed to only have a few) and I have scattered Bay leaves. Oh, please let them go away!!!! I had bought at bag of mixed grains at the Asian market a few weeks ago and that bag in particular had a large amount of the nasty little critters. Uggghhh. True confessions I made crockpot oatmeal last night (late in a darkened kitchen) and fed it to all of us this morning. My tummy is upset and I haven't the heart to tell the kiddos. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negin Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 We had them several months ago and I had no idea what they were. None of us knew. Then when it got really bad, a quick search online told me what it was. I went to war. Major war. :D Put items prone to weevils into the freezer for 4 days. This will kill the microscopic larvae and prevent any weevils from hatching. Do this with your flour, corn meal, grits, rice, spices and similar items. Store things you can't put into the freezer for four days in sealable glass or plastic canisters or in sealablel plastic bags. These include cereals, dried fruits, crackers and cookies. Weevils can even invade seeds that are stored for planting, decorative corn, bean bag toys or chairs and other inedible items where seeds and grains are used. If you have a weevil problem in a box of cereal or bag of popcorn it will be contained in one sealed bag (the store bags are not OK once they're opened) that you can throw out or empty-outside-and clean. Throw away anything infested by tying it closed in a plastic grocery bag and taking it outside immediately. Throw out everything that you know to be infested. For items that you aren't sure about, put all of these that you can in the freezer for that four day period. Wash your pantry cupboards down with very hot soapy water, making sure that you get the hot suds in all the nooks and crannies. If you have shelf paper it would be best to take it out and replace it--again, throwing it away outside. Rinse the cupboards with clear hot water and a sponge or dish rag. Let the cabinets dry and then spray them well with an insecticide that says on the label that it kills weevils. Ask at your home store or hardware store if the local department store doesn't carry this. Spray into all those nooks and crannies and then close your cabinets for four to six hours. Wipe the area with eucalyptus oil or tea tree oil to discourage weevils from resurfacing. Make it a habit to put staples into the freezer for four days whenever you buy them. Place a dried bay leaf in each container or bag of stored flour. This will discourage weevil infestation. Use flour regularly. Leaving flour in the pantry too long will encourage pest infestation. The faster it is used, the fresher it is, and the fewer the chances for infestation. Purchase only the amounts of flour that you'll use within a month or two. Any more than this and you risk weevil infestation. Rotate older products to the front and newer ones to the back so that you're always using up older products first. To deter future infestation, place a few bay leaves in both the cabinet and the canisters. Do not throw contaminated food away in a kitchen. Throw it outside, or else your problem may come back. Don't microwave the flour; weevils survive and simply run everywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 We have had them twice...Yuck. We have a subzero deepfreeze and we just tossed everything in there for a few says and threw it out as we opened it to use. We had meal moths once too. They fly and move to food across the room before you know you have them ..... Ugh! I hope you got rid of them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisamarie Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 (edited) Word of caution to everyone. DO NOT do a google search for images of weevils. My skin is still crawling. :eek::blink::ack2::scared: But I did learn something--weevils are black. All this time I've been searching my grains for any ol' bug. I found a white bug in my flour last month and threw it all away (luckily it was contained in a 5 gallon bucket with a gamma lid and stored far away from my pantry). So then I've been searching for white bugs and that is not an easy task when you are looking through white rice. I can rest a little easier now about my rice. But then that begs the question....what WAS that white bug in my flour that was still alive and crawling around.:confused::eek::ack2::scared: ETA: Gasp! I looked it up and it was the larvae stage of the flour beetle. I seriously may puke now. I almost did when I found that bug and realized I'd just made pizza, a cake, and bread out of that flour not 2 days ago. I threw every last bit of baked goods away and tried not to think about eating bugs. Edited September 30, 2011 by lisamarie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frontier Mom Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 My kitchen just got infested with tiny ants. We had torrential rain for days and they came up beside my dishwasher. The bug guy said they were most likely under the house and walked the water pipes to keep from drowning. Then, they hit the jackpot! Put bait out for them to take back to the colony and so far so good. However, I have thrown away and cleaned my kitchen and it looks fabulous. In a way I am thankful for those little guys as my counters are uncluttered and clean! It also made my dcs stop taking food and drink upstairs as they don't want them in their rooms. They only take water with a lid but they won't even take that as they are afraid of them in their bedrooms. Now if I could only figure out a bug to instigate major vacuuming;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.