Pantry or bird seed moth, how do you rid these for good?
meyermike_1micha
13 years ago
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
13 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
How do I get rid of birds?
Comments (28)I just moved to the central coast of California, and there's a type of bird called a towhee that roots around in tangled bushes in my front yard. I really don't have a problem with that; but these pesky birds seem to take great delight in flipping decorative bark out of the planters and onto my driveway and into the street. I used my blower for the first time to get all the bark pieces back where they belonged, then I was gone for about one hour and returned to find an amazing amount of bark thrown back into the street and onto portions of my driveway. I might have to consider replacing the bark with rock; but is there any chemical repellant and can spray or otherwise distribute on the bushes these birds like to play in, so I can spend more time with yard maintenance other than cleaning up after these dang birds. I've never seen anything like it....See MoreMoths in pantry - help! (long)
Comments (25)Sevin, Carbaryl, is quite toxic and is not meant to be used in the house. Nothing I have ever found about controlling grain, pantry, or Indian moths has ever recommended spraying with Carbaryl inside the house. As long as the adult moths can mate and lay eggs in a food source, grains, flour, cereals, etc. they will be present. One method of control is to put these materials in a 155 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, which will kill any eggs and larva as well as any adults. Another method of control is to place these items in the freezer until they are to be used, and put them back when no longer being used. kimmq is kimmsr...See MorePantry moths
Comments (1)FYI: The most common source for "pantry pests" come into the house in pet food/treats and bird seed. Keep these items tightly sealed outside the house (in a garage/shed) if you don't want them invading your kitchen. Or have your kitchen professionally sprayed for insects on a regular basis. Try to vacuum the moths off the ceiling. I can place a long wand on my Dyson so I can reach my ceiling without a ladder, along with a brush attachment, and would use something like that for removal from a ceiling. Thoroughly clean the kitchen shelves - vacuum any cracks and crevasses where small amounts of food particles can hide that would feed the pests. Dump the contents to the vacuum/bag outside so they don't end up thriving in the vacuum to re-infest your home. I've practiced home food storage for decades, including hundreds and hundreds of pounds of grains/seeds/beans, and have never had an insect infestation. I practice good storage principles and store everything in airtight or vacuum-sealed containers. Insect pantry pests AND their eggs cannot survive the oxygen-free environment of a vacuum-sealed jar/bag/canister. Everything from the store purchased in plastic bags, paper bags, and paper boxes, needs to be stored in something that can be sealed with an air-tight lid since pantry pests (once you have an infestation) can chew through plastic bags (like pasta comes in) and paper bags (like flour bags). The up side.... I took a class at the Extension Office about "pantry pests" and the entomologists said the insects were a good source of B12, which can be important in the diet of vegans and vegetarians, albeit somewhat gross! Swallowing a few gnats when you are out in the garden or on your bike is another way to supplement B12 in the diet, according to a class I took about vegan/vegetarianism. -Grainlady...See MorePantry moths...to prevent them in my new kitchen/pantry
Comments (62)benjesbride, raebutt (what a name?! lol) - sorry; I'm a bad contributor here -- I used to lurk way too much some while ago but am completely out of the habit now .... My experience - it was actually a really long time ago now and I don't remember well. What I bought though was not "hermetically sealed" - I'm not sure, to tell you the truth, what that means practically speaking. What I bought at first was a whole large bunch of small to huge (and expensive) glass jars with those wire snaps and a gasket about the glass lid. I thought those would keep the air out but it's not so. Or at least those moths got around. As others have noted, they can and seem to "worm" their way in and around jar top threads even. They are so gross I hate thinking about this.... I honestly don't remember what happened long ago. I remember giving up on buying those jars because it wasn't helping. I think I had OK luck with just taking juice jars and screwing them mind-bogglingly tight. But it wasn't reliable and it sure wasn't fun to open those things. That's when I had The Conversation. They recommended Cambro food service containers. I was skeptical because they don't pretend to be air-tight. Again, it's seemingly worked for me though I'm sure the instant I type this we'll be invaded. You can buy these containers large enough to hold a 25lb bag of flour, which I do. I hesitate to confess this here because - speaking of gross - I'm sure many of you will be hugely disapproving of many aspects of the following story. But here goes: we left the country for a year and I left a bunch - maybe a half dozen - of these containers with grains and food stuffs in them, with those trusty bay leaves: not a speck. Again, I swear I can hear those little wings get fired up by the challenge to hear this! lol So that's my experience. As mentioned I did have that infestation recently in rice that was not protected. At the advice of a friend I tossed that stuff in the freezer in a bag, shook it and sieved it (talk about gross) and then since rice gets washed before using anyway, I ate the stuff up. Protein's protein, right?...See Morerhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
13 years agolast modified: 9 years agomeyermike_1micha
13 years agolast modified: 9 years agoanitamo
13 years agolast modified: 9 years agoKimmsr
13 years agolast modified: 9 years agoDan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
13 years agolast modified: 9 years agobriergardener_gw
13 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
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