Pantry Pests: Getting Rid Of Flour Bugs
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Opening a bag of flour and noticing the contents crawling with little bugs is horrifying, but it happens. Throwing out the bag will not necessarily solve the problem and you may find frequent occurrences.
The secret is starving the pests and their access to food is a thorough cleaning job. Here’s how to reclaim your pantry and get bug-free…
Cleaning Tips:
- Remove everything from the shelves and wash the entire area well with a bleach and water solution (about 1/4 cup bleach per gallon of hot water), wear rubber gloves and use a scrub brush so that you can get into any cracks and corners. Wash both top and bottom of each shelf, all walls and the floor.
- Keep the door open to let the space dry completely (overnight) before adding stock back to the shelves. Wait until the room is no longer humid from the washing before re-stocking the shelves.
- Check all food boxes and bags for contamination, throw out those that are infested or those you’re unsure about (bag and cart out to the garbage immediately–don’t keep in the house) and put the rest in the freezer for 5 days before returning to the shelves.
Preventive Steps:
- Keep all flour, cereals, rice, pasta, starch foods in canisters, glass jars with sealed lids or airtight plastic containers.
- Stack a few Herb-Stuffed Bags (filled with natural repellents) on the shelves in between groceries.
- Freeze new dry food staples for 4 or 5 days before storing (to kill the larvae and eggs).
- Keep a bay leaf or two in the flour cannister and crushed bay leaves sprinkled throughout the pantry (weevils don’t like them).
Watch For:
- Drips and spills from syrups, honey, etc.–wash off immediately or you will attract ants and other insects.
- Once you notice an infestation and have done a thorough cleaning job, keep a diligent eye on your stock. Each time you notice a weevil or other pest, empty the cupboards and shelves again, wash everything well and repeat the steps above until you are bug-free. There’s no way around it, you have to remove every single egg & larvae or they will grow in numbers until you do.
Did you know: The critters may be coming home with you from the store? Weevils or mealy bugs can already be in the bags and boxes before you even pay for them. Before storing items away, you can freeze the bags and boxes first (for about 4 or 5 days), seal them in plastic bags or airtight containers. This way nothing else in your home will get contaminated.
I have a very bad weevil problem. I have cleaned my pantry and now freeze foods before putting them in the pantry. The best thing I have found to keep them away is bay leaves. I just set them around the pantry and the weevils stay away!!
The ones in my closet are EATING the bay leaves I thought they were suppose to hate those things?
1. Are you sure their weevils, and not some other pest and
2. Are the leaves damp or rotting in anyway?
I just looked it up, and appearently ,heat will kill them too. popping something suspicious in the microwave for 5 minutes is supposed to rid of them. (I say suspect, because obviouly if you can see them, you might as well toss it, those things cause E. Coli.)
I have never had a problem with weevils for I freeze my flour and cornmeals, etc. I leave them in the freezer and I keep a black permanent marker in the kitchen drawer to date mark my foods on they day they are put away. that way I can see what has become too old to keep. I also date mark opened and leftovero foods in the refrig.
Wow, thanks for all the great information. I got weevils in my pantry for the first time ever last month. I wasn’t sure how to handle it so I ended up throwing away everything that was opened and disinfecting it with a vinegar/water solution. Wish I had thought of bleach.
I think I will give the freezing thing and the bay leaves a try from now on to make sure that they don’t come back.
in today i need all the tip i can get
I get ice cream in the gallon and two gallon tub containers. When the ice cream is gone I clean the empty tubs and reuse them for my different types of flour and meal. They make great shake n bake containers for whatever coating I wish to put on chicken, steak, fish, or livers and gizzards. mix the seasonings and flour and meat. put the lid on and shake like crazy. very handy and easy to clean in the dishwasher.
My family’s always had a set of containers that we kept flour, sugar, and so forth inside. They snap shut, and were real cheap, adn it was clear so You can always see inside of it- plastic does a good job; we kept flour over the course of a year or so- maybe longer. They work well, and go with anything. I didn’t even know Weevils EXISTED until I saw someone’s bag of flour. my rule is use something you can hear snapping (not crinkling or clanking) shut. Ziplock, tupper-ware, stuff like that. NOT any kind of box, jar, paper or plastic(that isn’t ziplock) bag. Those all fall short.
i did not know weevils existed. We just found out we have a major problem, in everything from raisans to cereal to crackers. Just threw out 2 garbage bags full of food and hope they don’t come back. Won’t be storing food anymore…
Thanks for the info! I can hardly wait to try the bay leaves idea.
Are they poisonous if you ate one?
Hope not … I just ate a cookie and found 2 which had crawled out (so likely ate some)
Yuck. Thanks for the suggestions. Most of my stuff was in square sealed containers, but I had some open pasta boxes and Asian noodles that got them as well as the minor flours that I use once in a while (rice, wheat, chickpea… Tossed the world and will invest a few bucks in a larger assortment of snap-shut plastic. I also keep Sharpies and Expo markers in the kitchen to label my items–I never remember when something went in. @Jennifer–you can stock and store still! I won’t be lazy on my freezing and sealing anymore:) My foodsaver helps out, too…
This is crazy..I just saw a bug in my flour that is sealed in a plastic container. Now I’m freaked out about everything in my pantry. Do those things get into everything? Nuts? Chocolate chips? Coconut? Cereal? What am I gonna need to throw out?
Step 1. Calm down. Bugs have been here long before us and are the primary competition when it comes to food. Hence our judicious use of pesticides. You just have to get used to the idea that they’re going to get into our stuff.
Step 2. Get rid of the ones you see using a sieve and use preservative techniques (freezing, sealing, canning, etc) to prevent more bugs.
Step 3. Cook thoroughly. It’s one of the good things that cave man learnt and passed on to the rest of us.
It’s ok. We just lead such anti-septic lifestyles that we forget that we’re living not with nature, but despite it. Sometimes, we just get reminded of where we’re really living, but don’t let if shock you.
Agree totally. Eating a few psocids or other tiny insects won’t do any harm. We eat other animal protein, and our stomach acid deals well with all sorts of stuff we voluntarily eat. It’s a psychological barrier, really.
I read somewere that you can freeze rice for three or four days and then put it in a plastic storage container because the freezing kills anything that is already in the bag when I bought it. Does anyone know if it works or if you can even freeze rice?
DO NOT put down the ant baits that come in a the tins. Weevels LOVE them. I had one in our cupboard because we had carpenter ants and the weevels were feasting on it. There must have been at least 50 crawling all over it.
I’m having a recurring problem with moths in the pantry. I use air tight containers for flour and meal type products. I have fresh bay leaves scattered throughout the pantry and also in the air tight containers and the moths and larva are still having a hay day in my pantry. Any suggestions?
I am always getting bugs in cake mixes, crackers and anything else that comes in prepackaged boxes. Other than the freezer what do you do? Do you open each box and put them into something – ziploc, etc?
One suggestion is to only buy enough food that you will use in the near future. I stopped buying extra pantry foods just in case I might need it someday. I now use up my supply quicker and the bugs don’t have a chance.
i have just opened my box of bayleaves to stop the weavels in the cupboard, its full of weavels(and i know what they look like!)what now???
no one has answered, can they be harmful? some one mentioned e-coli
Eating small amounts of insect will NOT harm you. I eat wild fungi, many of which have insect larvae in them. I’m still here after 30 years eating this stuff.
ive read the good thing about them is they dont carry any diseases
So we have been dealing with this infestation for about a year and was not able to determine where they were coming from. we threw away all our flour and rice products, etc… come to find out the first leading attraction for them is animal food and treats. We store our dog food at the bottom of the pantry and had no idea to even look at that.. just FYI you have to look outside the box.
weevels …i describe them as a smaller than an ant size but has a brown beetle looking body. they are not harmful just annoying when you want to make a box of mac and cheese, or really anything starchy.
thanks for all the feed back.I have been putting flour,cornmeal,lentials,etc. in the freezer for years.Also have used bay leaves.But still had the brown beetles flying all over the place.We have in house dogs and dog food out all the time. My next question is how do you keep the products from tasting rancid and old when storing for a year? or more. After freezing I put everything in gallon jars with lids. But the products still taste old.
I have used a bay leaf in all the grains and flours, keeps the weevils out.
For those of you who have weevels in your pantry. Check your PAPRIKA!! I had a problem with them twice and both times my paprika was infested with them.. nasty little bugs..hahah I stopped buying paprike because I never used it fast enough, maybe I will keep it in my freezer from here on out.
My sister had a problem. a bad one at that. she called in an exterminator. those bugs we even laying eggs in any crack, crevace and behind the cabinets.so when you clean and try to get rid of them you have to be 100 %. They did find the original source. it was a local grocer store .