Attack of the Dreaded Weevil

I was spring cleaning my cupboards today when I came upon...a weevil (Aptly named...ME EVIL!). My rice was alive and full of flying little critters. Those that didn't fly crawled. I was appalled! I hate bugs, and not just any bugs, I loathe weevils and cockroaches with a passion! It is like having an infestation that can't be contained without a major overhaul and bringing out the big guns. I was hoping for the best.

Once I had seen that my rice was alive and moving on its own, I began to search my other containers wondering how this little bug could have infiltrated my kitchen. I didn't care what type of weevil it was, just that this nuisance had now created a war with it, me and my grains.

They seemed to be everywhere, my rice, flour, wheat, spaghetti, assortment of noodles, oatmeal, cornmeal, all the things I hadn't used in the last two months. I had noticed these little flying gnats in my kitchen earlier, but didn't think much of it since I had never seen an adult weevil. Oh, I had seen my fair share of carcasses, just never a live one.

I was now having flashbacks of visits to my Aunt Mary's and my many encounters with the floating bodies in my cereal. (It took me years to eat certain brands of cereal. I had always believed they came with the box.) I shivered with the though of eating a creepy carcass.

My mother loathed them as much as me. So I had been taught at an early age that certain dried goods needed to be stored in airtight containers. This little preposterous mess was my own fault. I had grown lazy over the last two months, thinking that the winter cold would keep them at bay until I had time to find proper containers for everything. Now this was going to cost me double the money.

I had to start with a clean sweep of the dry goods in my kitchen. Everything was examined. Anything that was out dated or infected with live and dead bodies, or questionable was pitched. As I did this, I made a list of things that needed to be replaced along with what container I needed to purchase. Once I had the items in the trash, I took the bag outside, pitched it into the trash cart, and rolled my trash cart to the curb. I wanted the tainted items to be as far from the house as possible.

Next came the cleaning and scrubbing. I vacuumed the shelves, corners, and cracks to remove any crumbs. Then I scrubbed down every cupboard, nook, and cranny with a hot vinegar, lemon, and water mixture. I caulked and plastered any cracks that looked as if crumbs could fall down them. Any cupboard lining was removed, shelf washed, and lining replaced.

Once that job was done, it was off to the store to replace my items. For every bag of flour, cornmeal, oatmeal, noodles, or dry good, I made sure I had the proper air tight, plastic, or glass container. For my noodles, I used glass since I like to display these items on my shelves. The flour, oatmeal, and products like that, I went with plastic. (I even bought an extra container for my sugar.) Anything that didn't have a proper container, I planned on putting in the freezer.

Back in the kitchen after my shopping spree, I reorganized my items, making sure I didn't add any old with the new. I didn't want to have to do this again in case I missed any infestations. It was amazing how well these tiny bugs could burrow thru a box or bag to get to their goodies.

Satisfied that I had things under control again, I took the extra step and hung fly strips in random corners of my kitchen. If I hadn't of been worried about contaminating the food, I would have looked like Air Force One bombing the creepy crawlies from my kitchen.

I made a mental note to myself that in the future, I wouldn't be so lazy and take care of the problem before it got out of hand.

Did you know that you can use clover, bay leaves, or a matchbook to deter weevils?