Evil weevils

carriew

this morning I found some litle black bugs in one of my kitchen cupboards :eek:

I think it was due to a bag of flour that was past its sell by date:o

I have binned everything in that cupboard washed it out with bleach and disinfectent and am now starting on the rest of the cupboards

any tips anyone?

thankyou! btw .. I am not really a scum bag! its a cupboard I rarely use!:o

Flimsy

I don't think the use by date has anything to do with it they just love dry cereal and flour and that type of stuff. I keep all mine in plastic containers now so they can't get in as it has happened twice now.:mad:

Where they heck do they come from anyway :huh:

grannybroon

It could be what we call up here corn flies but I think other folk call them thunder bugs. A bit early for them usually late July/August when farmers are cutting fields and things a bit warmer. You have done right thing by getting rid of flour and washing down cupboard. It could be the mite things you get in flour. I tend to seal in container but if not used after 6 months (I don't bake now) I tend to chuck just to be sure.

GB

nell2

They are called psocids.
The Flour Advisory Service Website has got some information about them.
Here's the link.
http://www.fabflour.co.uk/Freestyle.asp?PageID=234
I read somewhere (probably on here somewhere!) that they don't like the smell of bay leaves so I've been scattering those around my flour and cereal cupboard. Also, they like humidity - so don't put cereals in cupboards above where the kettle boils for example.
One other tip - and I know I read this here - freezing bags of flour for 24 hours before storing them kills the eggs apparently.

carriew

thankyou for your replies!

I am at the moment I am still busy cleaning! have now emptied all the cupboards and thrown anything thats not in a sealed container.. such a waste but feel i must do that afterall wont fancy eating them now!

They are not thunderbugs.. have seen them before
Like the bay leaves idea .. my parents have a tree in their garden so I will go get them tomorrow!

meanwhile its ho ho off to work I go!! (in the kitchen)

thanks again, also is there anything I can bait them with as there are so many noccks and crannies that I cant get into?

KathrynPenguin

As said above bung the flour in the freezer for 24 hours before you put it in the cupboard. I had loads of trouble with these until I started doing that, now any flour that comes into the house goes straight in the freezer. Problems really are over.

carriew

thankyou! at the moment theres no flour left! and have a good mind to keep it that way!!

squeaky

Freezing really works, honest

I now have a set of plastic airtight boxes (each of which will take a pack of flour complete) and keep my packs in them. Straight from the shopping bag, into the box, a day in the freezer then out onto the shelf. I've had no problems since - and that was a couple or three years ago.

(I shan't tell you that I found eggs, adults and even old dead ones in a pack of flour AFTER I'd made and eaten a batch of buns because that might make you feel sick! So I check very carefully now, and always freeze!)

Mrs_pbradley936

Does this happen with ordinary Homepride type flour? I have never had them and I do a lot of cooking. Although I tend to use ingredients with a day or so of buying them and do not often store them. A friend went organic once because she thought it would be healthier and ended up throwing it all away because of what she thought were weevils

bargainbetty

Sorry to add to your worries, but I had these last year. I think they flour beetles - very tiny, but got everywhere. I did what you have done - scrubbed out the cupboards, threw away all unsealed packets etc (I used cloves rather than bay leaves as a deterrent though).

One lesson I learned the hard way though - check all your tinned goods. Use a marker pen and note the contents on the top of the tin, and then wash off the label or soak the can in cold water for a bit. The little b*ggers can get under the paper and hide from you!!

I keep smaller amounts of flour now, and always in sealed canisters.

Good luck x