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We had pantry beetles in our cupboards and after cleaning everything out and putting all the dry items in containers, we still had the odd culprit emerge.
I read about putting bay leaves in the cupboard. Yeah, right, I thought. Well, we did just that and haven't seen one since. There were some dead ones around the bay leaves themselves.
I don't normally subscribe to half-@zz-sounding remedies but we have a bay leaf bush in our yard and I thought, well, what the heck. Ta-da!
Good luck whatever happens.
Bay leaves. Good to know. We don't have the problem at the moment but always good to keep in mind. Several years ago I had my pantry items in double plastic bags and still got little flying things inside and outside the bags. Just had to get a bug guy in.
I recall my great grandmother's story about a time in the very old days when a person could put down flour on a surface getting ready to make bread and a few minutes later the flour pile was on the other end of the surface, having been loaded with difficult to see bugs that just moved around.
Thanks so much again guys! I think I'm gradually getting rid of them! I threw out a total of 12-15 boxes of food, including some teas. I cleaned off a 3rd kitchen shelf, but it wasn't as bad w/ bugs as the 1st 2 shelves. (The kitchen is the ONLY place in the apt where they are.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by petsandgardens
What's behind your kitchen cabinet wall? Do you think the bugs are coming from another apt? Even above or below.
What's behind both walls of my kitchen is the actual outdoors. Those 2 walls are NOT connected to anyone else's unit. My unit's on the corner w/ only 1 main wall against someone else.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Henna
Also check your spices! I had an infestation of some sort of pantry beetle that specifically invades spices, and had to throw a lot of mine away. They had also strayed into the other pantry and were in a few dry goods in that as well, like a box of powdered mashed potatoes.
Once I got rid of the spices and wiped everything down, they did go away. There were a few glass jar spices I wanted to keep, so I put those jars into a ziplock for about a month, and when I didn't see any beetles inside the ziplock, I figured it was safe to keep those.
We had pantry beetles in our cupboards and after cleaning everything out and putting all the dry items in containers, we still had the odd culprit emerge.
I read about putting bay leaves in the cupboard. Yeah, right, I thought. Well, we did just that and haven't seen one since. There were some dead ones around the bay leaves themselves.
I don't normally subscribe to half-@zz-sounding remedies but we have a bay leaf bush in our yard and I thought, well, what the heck. Ta-da!
Good luck whatever happens.
Thanks, yes I did know about bay leaves for ants, but didn't think about trying them on pantry pests too, so I'll try to remember to get some soon & lay them around. I know when my mom's used them for her kitchen w/ ants, it didn't seem to do any good, but we'll see!
Quote:
Originally Posted by picklejuice
Termites?
I thought of that, but since it's been solely in the kitchen cupboards, then I strongly think it's pantry pests. I found quite a lot of the pests in 2 cardboards canisters of oatmeal.
We had pantry beetles in our cupboards and after cleaning everything out and putting all the dry items in containers, we still had the odd culprit emerge.
I read about putting bay leaves in the cupboard. Yeah, right, I thought. Well, we did just that and haven't seen one since. There were some dead ones around the bay leaves themselves.
I don't normally subscribe to half-@zz-sounding remedies but we have a bay leaf bush in our yard and I thought, well, what the heck. Ta-da!
Good luck whatever happens.
My mom told me about using bay leaves decades ago. I remember finding them in dry goods as a child too.
You can bring miller moths, flour beetles (they can survive on more than flour) and such into your home from just about any grain or ground dry food, sealed or not. The eggs can be IN the food before its boxed up. Even candy, sugar, condiments, some spices, especially in these days of organic or pesticide-free groceries and recyclable or biodegradable packaging. It takes a while for the population of these little guys to be noticeable. Then once they multiply to a certain point, they are everywhere! I've had them before. I inspected every container/bag/box in the cupboard and pitched everything that had any sign of bugs, sealed, new, opened, no matter what. If I wasn't sure about something I bagged it up and separated it. Wiped down the shelving with an everyday surface cleaner as I was certain the critters were not coming in from a neighbor's kitchen. Didn't use any toxic substances, just got rid of the contaminated foodstuffs.
Well, it could be worse. A friend of mine who runs a small tree-hugger organic market commented that their presence might be considered proof that the product actually is organic, minimally processed, or pesticide-free!
Take a picture of the bugs since you keep finding them.
But cleaning out is your best bet. Get rid of all boxed foods and flours. Keep your fridge clean too, that’s how they are getting into the freezer and dying. You just don’t see them in the fridge because they are still alive and burrowing into foods and hiding. After you clean look around for any tiny cracks around wiring and electrical outlets. I once took off the plug in face plate and found hundreds of tiny spiders!! Plug up small cracks with some caulking. Also throw out any cardboard boxes you have stored around, and grocery paper bags, they can come home from the store in those.
Check the shoe molding/quarter round/where the wall meets the floor. Also where the wall meets the ceiling and any other molding. Maybe even a piece of the floor. What I'm wondering at this point is if the bugs are behind your sheetrock and under your flooring. You might see yellow stains or even dark pin tip size droppings. Or even bugs themselves.
Can you take a look outside to see if the siding around your place is discolored in any way?
Have your neighbors mentioned bugs....or do you see bug treatments in their trash or grocery bag?
People like to keep this quiet. It's a fine balance between treating the place and giving in to calling the bug guy. But I think you may have reached that time when they're in your freezer. (What normal bug wants to go in a freezer. Yikes.)
If you can't post the pic on here (I don't know how to do that myself) maybe you can get good pix and take them to a garden center experienced person or a master gardener in your area who might know what they are.
I put boxed pasta into the freezer when I bring it home - 1 hour to kill any little bugs that might have hitched a ride in the cardboard. Then it's safe to store.
Also, no matter what the sale, don't buy more than you can use in a month. That sale does you no good if the bugs have hitched a ride.
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I just saw 3 dead bugs IN the freezer! They didn't walk too far in, 2 were right at the door opening & the other was a few inches in.
