Avoid a pantry-moth invasion
photo by jules:stonesoup
Pantry stockpiling and purchasing food in bulk are popular among frugal people. But it’s common for larvae or Indianmeal moths to be carried in with bulk purchases such as flour, cereal, dog food, powdered milk, spices and birdseed. If there are females, you’re bound to have an infestation. Within a couple of weeks, they are capable of laying several hundred eggs.
Anyone who has ever had pantry moths knows it’s a frustrating experience to get rid of them. Thankfully, there are a few moth-management strategies that can help prevent and eliminate the problem.
– Prevention. Shop at stores with a high shelf turnover rate. Inspect your food by checking for larvae, webbing and small holes in the packaging. Freeze any items that are not going to be consumed in a few days. Store your pantry items in tightly sealed containers. To check for a tight seal, place water in the container and hold it upside down to see if any water leaks out. If water can get out, larvae can get in. Plastic bags with seals aren’t going to help, because insects can still bore their way in. Glass and metal containers with rubber seals are ideal.
Look through your pantry, and check for any signs of crumbs, spills and old food that hasn’t been used in a while. Clean it up by wiping with soap and water. Keeping some bay leaves or spearmint gum in your pantry or attached to your storage containers can help because they act as a natural repellent.
Purchasing in bulk is a wonderful way to save, but try to maintain a pantry with items that can be consumed within a couple of months.
– Elimination. Unfortunately, if you know you have pantry moths, you should throw away any packaged foods, especially grains. Don’t forget to check items in other rooms of your home, such as dried floral arrangements, because pests may migrate. Be certain to pull appliances away from walls and shake crumbs out of your toaster. If there’s something you really want to keep, place it in a tightly sealed container and inspect it in a week or two.
You’ll need to clean your shelves and cabinets well. Don’t forget crevices, folds and seams on packaging, and even rims on canned foods. The eggs can be found literally anywhere but tend to be concentrated near the food source. Simply remove the food source, vacuum (don’t forget to discard the bag immediately after use) and then wipe down with soap and water, bleach and water, or vinegar. Be sure to dry the area completely, too.
You need to be diligent and break their life cycle. One-time cleaning and tossing might not be enough. Continue to kill any moths that you see and maintain a weekly cleaning schedule of vacuuming and wiping cabinets down.
As a last resort, you might need to caulk cracks and gaps in shelves and place moth traps that use pheromones. Some traps only attract male moths, so look for traps that attract both or consult a pest-control company.
Posted by Sara Noel
on January 22 2010. Filed under Frugal Cooking, Home & family.Sara Noel owns Frugal Village, LLC and is a nationally syndicated columnist with Universal Uclick. Bio, Follow me on Twitter, Join us on Facebook
I had these moths for the first time this summer. It’s now January and I’m still seeing them. Very few but still see them. They are so hard to get rid of. My secret weapon, my cat, she chases them down and kills them. LOL. I see only 1 or 2 now and then but I’m still trying. I threw everything away and started over.
1On a somewhat related note, I’d love to know where to find containers like those shown in the picture and described. Of course the more frugally I can get them, the better. Anyone have a good source?
2i buy the Pantry pest traps & cut them in half & then cut the little red bait in half & put each 1/2 into each 1/2 of a trap. works great & cuts the cost in half as well. they are about $8.00 for 2 traps in my area.
2.1http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=14285&f=33489
Not too cheap. But if you check thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets or estate sales, you’re sure to find some vintage clamp jars and they’d probably be cheaper.
3Something that I found helpful was those yellow fly strips that you can get at Walmart or similar stores – they attract and trap a remarkable number of the dang things. I used to use them just in the summer in my kitchen to catch the stray fly from outside, but they now stay up yearround to get the dang pantry moths. It has reduced the population significantly, making management much easier.
4I went to the Hardware and bought Half gallon Mason Jars. They look nice enough to have out as canisters. I bought the quarts also to hold smaller amounts. Make sure you get the wide mouth jars. I got 6 half gallon ones for 8.50
5The darned things thrive where I live and every summer is a constant battle (and heartbreak … throwing out all that food) squishing, swatting, spraying, tossing out and scrubbing down the cabinets. The darned things somehow manage to lay their eggs right at the lip of a Brand X plastic (tupperware-type) container then weasel their way in (I’ve seen them do it). I’ve tried freezing and thawing things, plastic containers, bay leaves, you name it. Since I stockpile in bulk (at least a 3 month stockpile of everything we need), investing a pot of cash in a million mason jars for 300 pounds of flour just aren’t going to cut it (nor would I have room for things stored that inefficiently).
However, if you happen to store smaller amounts of dry goods, I’ve had decent luck keeping the little buggers out by rinsing and reusing plastic food jars with lids such as mayonnaise jars, peanut butter, nuts, even 2-liter plastic juice jugs (good for storing dried beans). Also … larger glass jars (such as spaghetti sauce and jelly) also keep them out. It’s not foolproof, but it’s better than nothing, keeps a lot of plastic out of the waste stream, and is free.
6After getting rid of an infestation some years back, I read somewhere that bay leaves repel them. So I put a bay leaf in each container and also scattered them in my cabinets that were infested. I never had them again, but don’t know if the bay leaf or increased vigilance actually worked. I also refrigerate some items that are the worst offenders, such as flour, bisquick, etc. in our second refrigerator. You can search the web for more info on the bay leaf idea, and you can buy large quantities of bay leaves cheaply at places like SAMS.
7I never had those problems before..until I started to buy organic…infested everywhere….
I tried about everything, but the only thing that really worked, is buying a little fridge…I keep all the drie stuff in there, type, flour, cereals, cookies etc…;I only turne the fridg on, the hot months, since as soon as it cools down, the moths are gone….
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