with little kids and no time i often have cereal left opened ,well now we have moths evey where , i have scrubed and put down a small dish of mint but they keep coming back. i fed the hogs every thing opened so i cant figure where they are hiding, or how to make them go away.

-- renee oneill (oneillsr@home.com), July 10, 2000

Answers

Sprinkle some food grade Diatomaceous Earth on the shelves, floor, wherever you think it's needed. It's my cure for all insects! Then keep the cereal in the fridge. I also keep flour, sugar, and anything that looks like it will attract insects, in the fridge.

-- Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), July 10, 2000.

Renee, THere was a post severla months ago about this. I have referred to it often. I think it is under the misc. catagory. I have a few that i noticed in my pantry pest detector so I know they are somewhere in my storage, but I haven't located it yet. My sister recently went through this problem too. She found they were having a feast in a plastic container of sunflower seeds! She also seemed to find more infestation in containers with snap on lids than in screw type lids. Hope this new info helps. I'm still looking for mine!

-- Jennifer (KY) (acornfork@hotmail.com), July 10, 2000.

Renee, I happen to believe they're coming from heck. Go back into your cupboards and look at the unopened stuff. They can chew into boxes, all the various types of plastic, waxy, foily bags either freestanding or inside boxes. They can be under the labels of canned goods. They can be under the flaps of boxes. They can be in the cracks between the shelves and the cupboard walls. They can be having a happy time in your dishtowels. On the bottoms of cans. Anywhere, and in other rooms too. Sorry.

Hanging fly tapes in the area will help some. Killing every one your see (be obsessive) helps. I have gotten pretty good at sucking them up with my vacuum even while they're flying. It ain't a talent I list on my resume though. Go through all the cupboards and drawers. There is a scented trap for sale, I believe there was an ad in one of the recent Countrysides. On an earlier thread someone said the traps work. Freeze things like flour and meal-the ideal is for 10 days, but people do it for less and it still seems to work. Do NOT put anything that could be infested in the fridge while waiting for freezer space to open up. The moths are then able to acclimatize and some will then survive the freezing. Sifting things will take most of the adults and larva out, but not the eggs. BTW, if you sift, do NOT sift the usual way, ever noticed that there aren't any critters in the sifter when you're done? You just ground them up into your flour. Put the flour in the sifter and then tap the sides instead.

Oh, I used to worry that the moths I vacuumed up would make it back out if I left the bag in the vacuum. But my bags are expensive and I hated to keep throwing them out. So I experimented by rubber banding a plastic bag over the end of the tube. Left it for days, but no signs of the little monsters. So you could either try it and see if they get out, or just store your vacuum that way until the bag is full, checking that they aren't then chewing their way out of the bag. My theory is that the moths are happy as claims with all the dust and hair in the vacuum bags and have no intention of moving on. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), July 10, 2000.

I use the Pantry Pest traps, my savvy feedlady carries them in her feed store. They do work well. I did have to get rid of plenty of stuff though - even Jello - surprise! I never thought I'd find them there! I also put bay leaves in everything now. Oh, also check your pet food, hamster etc. food and wild bird seed. They are often in those things. Good luck!

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), July 10, 2000.

Hi Renee! I've had the same problem here!Those pests get into nearly everything! Spices,raisins,seeds,cornmeal,oats,beans etc.,etc.,etc.!!!We have had great results with Pantry Pest Traps bought from our local feed store. You do need to replace the traps after a couple months.Try to check especially susceptible foods in the store if possible-look for tiny holes in the packaging.We buy from a food co-op,so we can't always check.(Well,it's hard to check in the grocery for that matter with my 2 little ones along 99.9% of the time!!!)The screw on lid suggestion is good.You might want to all your local schools and see if they will save the big glass jars for you.My Dad has the lunch ladies at the vocational school where he works put the jars aside for me.As long as the lid is screwed on tightly,they work great.(They also get me big plastic buckets complete with lids and gaskets for storing grains& sugar.These also work great!Besides that they are FREE!!!)Last suggestion:food grade diatomaceous earth(check the ads in back of Countryside)mixed with stored grains to take care of any newly hatched larvae.Hope you can get rid of them all!!!!It's a rather depressing thing to have to get rid of so much food! Bye and God Bless!~~~Tracy~~~

-- Tracy Jo Neff (tntneff@ifriendly.com), July 10, 2000.