Evil weevils

jobbingmusician

According to DH, who I trust implicitly (he is always right about stuff like this - very annoying ) the weevils don't get in to the flour. The eggs are there when you buy it. I can see that freezing could be a good idea, though!

squeaky

Yep!

The little burgher hatch and then spread all over the place. Freezing the pack for 24 hours is enough to kill the eggs.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

My son and law works for Rentokil and he advised me to make sure the cupboards were vacuumed out so that you get into all the nooks and crannies and then and only then wipe the cupbaords out witha damp cloth,and air thoroughly before putting stuff back.
Washing out the cupboard only just encourages the little blighters to breed as the like the moisture.

chunkychocky

Other than freezing the only thing that kills the eggs is bleach, so after you've hoovered out your cupboards to get into the nooks and crannies you need to use a bleachy solution to thoroughly wipe over every surface. We had weevils last Summer (apple weevils so slightly bigger than those from flour) and I spent a week bleaching everything in the kitchen and spent a fortune on lock and lock boxes. No more problems after that, though I gather from forums that I read at the time that if you live in an old house with lots of cracks and crevices it can take a couple of years to get rid of them.

With the flour the eggs are ALWAYS in the bag. Not a nice thought for us vegetarians! Anyway this is why flour has a relatively short shelf-life as the use by date is usually soon enough for the weevils to have not hatched. Warm weather can make them hatch sooner though hence so many people have problems in the Summer.

tanith

Does this mean that if the eggs aren't actually hatched I could be baking with flour that contains weevil eggs? Even if I freeze them the eggs are still going to be there presumably, oh my thats not a nice thought... I've never really thought about it before I read this thread

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

tanith wrote: »

Does this mean that if the eggs aren't actually hatched I could be baking with flour that contains weevil eggs? Even if I freeze them the eggs are still going to be there presumably, oh my thats not a nice thought... I've never really thought about it before I read this thread

Best not to think too much in depth about what goes on in our food.
I could'nt eat cheese after I saw it magnified on that programme and it showed all those things that crawl around in it ugh:eek:.

Bitsy_Beans

tanith wrote: »

Does this mean that if the eggs aren't actually hatched I could be baking with flour that contains weevil eggs? Even if I freeze them the eggs are still going to be there presumably, oh my thats not a nice thought... I've never really thought about it before I read this thread

Just think of it as extra fibre/protein

I did the whole bleach, washing, hairdryer thing and they ruddy things too weeks to die off!

BlimusOreilly

Thanks again for your replies. I'm going to have to wash out the cupboard again as I didn't hoover or dry it thoroughly before putting everything back.

The more I hear, the queasier I feel :eek: - it's obviously something that I've got to forget about otherwise I'll never want to use flour again

redlady_1

It took me a month to rid the whole cupboards of them. They had managed to somehow get into the carcusses and it was a true nightmare! Even after silicone sealing the cupboards they were still coming!!!

As a result no food goes into them that isnt sealed in a lock and lock. I dont care how much room they take up I will not undergo a weevil attack again...all being well.

*doodle*_2

oh lordy ... I have just had to inspect the contents of my cupboards after reading this thread