What I've Learned About Pantry Pests

My Thursday was not at all how I'd planned it to turn out. Late Wednesday evening, one daughter was cooking something for her lunches and spotted something moving in a Rubbermaid container. She told me about it, and I confirmed what she'd seen. We have pantry weevils. It was late, and I didn't want to stay up half the night, so I canceled by Thursday plans and sedicated the day to cleaning out the pantry.

Cleaning out the pantry or food storage cupboards is something we should do once a year, checking for expired foods, checking for bugs, and wiping down shelves. It's part of good kitchen maintenance. 

I should just do this on a schedule. As it usually works out, this is usually prompted by a problem, something spilled, a product is way past it's expiration date, or something along those lines. Every 5 years or so, it's prompted by a pantry critter invasion.

So I cleared off all of the shelves and inspected every grain product or legume stored there. I've used several different types of plastic storage containers for years. Unfortunately, none of them keep tiny bugs out. The lids just don't fit snuggly. My plan has been to upgrade to glass jars with secure fitting lids, like canning jars. The gasket on a canning lid, if screwed tightly, will seal out invading bugs and seal in those present in the food already (preventing them from migrating to another container) better than plastic lids on plastic containers.

The container isn't the complete answer, however. Here's what I know about pantry pests:

• their eggs can be present in the ingredients you buy at the store, hatching out sometime after you've begun using the product. It can take a week, or it can take a month.
• it's best to freeze all grains when you get them home from the store if you believe it will take you more than 1 or 2 weeks to go through that supply.
• for the freezing treatment to succeed, the freezer needs to be 0 degrees F or colder, and the grains need to be kept frozen for 4 to 7 days. Kitchen freezer compartments of refrigerators are often not kept cold enough to kill off eggs.
• If your freezer is warmer than 0 degrees, it can still kill off eggs and mature bugs, it just takes longer, as long as 2 to 3 weeks at temps around 10 to 15 degrees F.
• it's easier to kill off the mature bugs with cold than it is the eggs. The bug eggs are highly resilient and can survive short stays at 10 degrees.
• white vinegar wiped over pantry shelves blocks pest pheromones which attract future pests and spread the infestation all around your pantry.
• pest eggs are slower to hatch in cool temperatures than in warmer ones. A sack of grains can store safely in a cold storage room all winter and spring, be brought to the kitchen in summer, and boom, the eggs hatch all at once.
• pheromone traps are best placed in the pantry to monitor pests, not eradicate them. The pheromones attract the male pests. If after cleaning your pantry you place a few traps and don't find any pests for 3 or 4 weeks, this is a good indication the cleaning and transferring foods to more airtight containers was successful.
• it is possible to eradicate a current pest infestation, but it takes diligent efforts at maintaining a pantry or cupboard cleaning routine after securing all of the foodstuffs in airtight containers or the freezer. Any rogue pests wandering the shelves will not be able to reproduce without access to grains, and the cycle will come to an end.
• weevils like foods other than grains. They like dried beans, chocolate, cocoa powder, tea bags, some spices, dried fruit, nuts, pet food, and bird seed.
• pantry pests prefer to find their food close by,  but they can travel across the room if need be. Some pests will crawl the entire way, some will hop or fly. They can even hitchhike on your clothing or inside your vacuum cleaner. But they do prefer to stay not only near their food supply, but also where they've laid down a scent trail.
• the most expensive stores can have products infested with pantry pest eggs, too. This isn't just a problem with budget stores.
• you can use your phone to tale a photo of the pest, then zoom in so you can look up identifying markers to know what you likely have. Knowing the type of critter can help identify what foods you most need to protect from neighbor invasion.
• bay leaves are a repellant to pantry pests. Once the grains and other foods are all in airtight containers, bay leaves placed inside a container will deter a weevil or beetle from trying to enter. 

So now I've sorted through my entire pantry. I've wiped down all of the shelves. I've tossed or composted a bunch of stuff. I am in the process of getting rid of some of the plastic containers that didn't prevent bug transfer. And I have repurposed other plastic containers to hold non-food items. A round Rubbermaid canister is actually a good size for storing a collection of cookie cutters. My McCann's steel cut oat container  (which also had a couple of weevils) looks good on the counter, lid-off holding wooden spoons. I have a bunch of grains that didn't look affected in the freezer for a week. And I'm so thoroughly exhausted I can't really think straight.

Have a great weekend, friends!