Weevils!! Aggh!

[Steve Kroll]

My wife called me in a panic at work today because she found weevils in the pantry. This was a little surprising because we're actually pretty careful about keeping everything clean and in airtight containers, and in the 15 years we've lived in our current house we hadn't seen a single bug in any of the food storage areas.

I know these critters are often found in grain products that you bring into the house. But now I'm wondering about things like pasta and breakfast cereal, which I normally just store in the cardboard boxes they come in. I guess it makes sense since those items are also grain based.

I just hate throwing out food.

 

[taxlady]

I think I have most often gotten weevils from corn starch. There always seems to be some in the box and not in the bag. I put clips on stuff like cereal and crackers on the bags inside the boxes. They go on the bags that my pasta comes in and lots of other bags, even flour. I haven't had weevils in years. I hate getting those suckers. These clips make a pretty airtight seal. I buy a bag of 20 of them at Dollarama.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Man, look at the schnozz on that guy! Fortunately, we've never had weevils. However, a bag of birdseed went unnoticed by us one year, tucked under the landing for the steps in the garage (our house is 1/2 level higher than the garage floor so we have space-eating steps and a large platform taking up valuable garage space ). We started to get scads of tiny moths in the house - in the food, in the clothing. Took two years, but we haven't seen a month in months and months. Good luck getting rid of the new tenants Steve.

 

[silentmeow]

Living in the country I had terrible problems with weevils and moths. Years ago I read to put bay leaves in with the product to keep things bug free. I have not had a problem since I started doing that. I also store grains and flours in the freezer. When they are opened I toss in three bay leaves on top, close with clips and store in the pantry. I hate bugs so much that I toss bay leaves in my kitchen drawers and each shelf. Good luck.

 

[forty_caliber]

This means WAR. I had an infestation of these nasty little bugs when I lived in Memphis, TN. Poison is no good since we are talking food storage areas.


I had to starve them out but finally won after a few months of diligence.

• Put some cedar on every shelf in the pantry (they don't like it).
• Isolate every food item by using either a vacuum sealer, ziplock bags, or high quality canisters.
• Throw away and food product you know to be infested and purchase new. If you know what store it came from take it back and let them know they are selling contaminated food.

.40

 

[pacanis]

Wasn't it Moby Dick where the sailors talked about eating weevils?
I don't think they'll hurt you

I think if they only live in the food and that's where they lay their eggs, throwing the infested food out should do the trick. I got rid of some grain beetles in dog food that way before. I looked for the bags with tiny holes in them where they ate their way in.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Surprisingly, I'm not all that repulsed by the idea of eating a few bugs.

Now my wife, on the other hand....

We cleaned and cleaned last night. Every shelf came out of the pantry and was wiped down with a detergent solution. We threw out a lot of old stuff (even my prized Arborio and Bomba rices... *sniff* ). We then carefully inspected everything that went back in. It all looked good.

Then this morning I opened the cabinet and found another one of those long-nosed varmints front and center on the shelf. It was hard to tell because of his size, but I would've swore he was laughing at me.

 

[pacanis]

No weevil risotto at Steve's house.

 

[Addie]

We get centipedes in the spring. Specially if you hang your clothes outside. They just love clean laundry.

 

[FrankZ]

Then this morning I opened the cabinet and found another one of those long-nosed varmints front and center on the shelf. It was hard to tell because of his size, but I would've swore he was laughing at me.

Was he the lesser of the two....

 

[Mad Cook]

This means WAR. I had an infestation of these nasty little bugs when I lived in Memphis, TN. Poison is no good since we are talking food storage areas.


I had to starve them out but finally won after a few months of diligence.

• Put some cedar on every shelf in the pantry (they don't like it).
• Isolate every food item by using either a vacuum sealer, ziplock bags, or high quality canisters.
• Throw away and food product you know to be infested and purchase new. If you know what store it came from take it back and let them know they are selling contaminated food.

.40

The only thing I'd add to this is to use containers such as Lock & Lock type plastic containers with air and water-tight sealing systems, or Kilner- (aka Mason, I think) -type jars with a rubber sealing ring.

I've only had weevils once and they had managed to get into a glass jar with a tight screw on lid. And, of course, those pretty glass jars with cork stoppers that you find in "decorative" product shops are a definite no-no as a seal is virtually impossible.

I believe you can buy dry ingredients from stores where you can pack your own from big drums. We had some of these for a while over here but the 'elf 'n safety lobby put a stop to them because of contamination issues including bugs. Might be a good reason for avoiding "pack-your-own" and spending a little more and buying good quality pre-packed goods. At least if you open a pack and find it infested you have some come-back with the store

 

[taxlady]

I usually only find the larvae. They are harder to see in the flour, especially whole grain flour.

I have been lucky with the "starve them" method. Never took too long to get rid of them. 7-9-13 (Danish equivalent of "touch wood")

 

[Mad Cook]

Wasn't it Moby Dick where the sailors talked about eating weevils?
I don't think they'll hurt you

I think if they only live in the food and that's where they lay their eggs, throwing the infested food out should do the trick. I got rid of some grain beetles in dog food that way before. I looked for the bags with tiny holes in them where they ate their way in.

Weevils (and worse!) were an occupational hazard for sailors until relatively recently (in historical terms). The used to knock the "hard tack" biscuits on a nearby hard surface to evict the little beasties. In some cases they added to the meagre amount of protein in the diet. However, because sailors ate them is not a recommendation or a guarantee that they will do you no harm. Remember, when they are eating your flour, etc., they are also depositing an earlier digested meal into your foodstuffs.

As well as throwing out the infested product you need to thoroughly clean the pantry or other storage area. Scrubbing shelves and inside cupboards with strong disinfectant or bleach solution, or better still if you have one of those steamer gadgets you can get right into the nooks and crannies of the storage area, should do the trick but you may have to repeat this in order to get any infants coming out of eggs that survived the first blitz.One bugs which survives can and will produce another big infestation in the future.

Other herbs which deter bugs are mint, lemon balm, lavender (augustifolia), rue, tansy and many others that you might already have in your garden or veg patch.

 

[pengyou]

Was he the lesser of the two....

Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe

 

[pengyou]

Well, like they say, weevils wobble but they don't fall down.

 

[Mad Cook]

We get centipedes in the spring. Specially if you hang your clothes outside. They just love clean laundry.

Earwigs seem to be the same, especially with anything yellow. A couple of summers ago I went out to bring in some laundry of the line and found dozens of earwigs on a bright yellow tee shirt!

I don't mind earwigs. They are harmless and I once read that they look after their children very diligently unlike most insects.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Was he the lesser of the two....

Oh, that's groan-worthy.

 

[forty_caliber]

Wasn't it Moby Dick where the sailors talked about eating weevils?

It was Master and Commander. The Far Side of the World
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) - IMDb


.40

 

[pacanis]

That was it.
Just saw that one a week ago or so.

 

[FrankZ]

It was Master and Commander. The Far Side of the World
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) - IMDb


.40

I think in Moby Dick they discussed eating them. In M&C they just made moral decisions about them.