I've tried tilling the soil but I guess they're either deeper then my tiller gets and/or there's just too many. I do invite all the people I know that fish to come and collect all that they can but that doesn't really put a dent in it because the entire tree is infested and it's too tall to safely get high enough up in the tree. People start calling and dropping by the house in the summer to ask if I have any worms yet. I've heard they are especially good for trout and we do have several brown trout streams nearby. I'm beginning to think that my only option will be removing the tree. They are still small and haven't made much of an impact yet but buy this time next week half the tree will be gone.

Mealybugs infestation! Yuck! You could spray with a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol & water. Then pick off by whatever means-toothpick, Q-tips-blast with water. Re-check in a few days & repeat if necessary. You can take out stems & toss, but if you could save-I would. Good luck!

Here's my post on the little guys last year. They swarmed my tomatoes. They didn't seem to harm to the tomatoes, but **WARNING** if they're the same as mine, THEY BITE! And it HURTS! This year, I found them (a nest, I presume) in my deck when I cleaned it to restain. They've since filtered out of there and I've seen a few in my herb bed and a few about 20 yards away near some monkey grass. Here is a link that might be useful: My Assassins

Grain/pantry moths are all too common. I had an infestation a couple years ago. Typical of what I see in the posts here. They were mainly on the ceilings, but a closer inspection revealed they were in the coats in the closet in the folds, in the dog food, in the bird seed, everywhere. I removed all the 'maggots' I could find, but had moths here and there for literally a year afterward. Summer, winter, made no difference. I killed them all on sight. It was very annoying. I still occasionally see a maggot here or there and dispose of it. What I learned was that in my case it was bird seed inside the house that was the culprit. I was leaving it in the garage, but in the winter it attracted field mice so I brought it in. Big mistake. When I visited the hardware store I bought the seed from I noticed the moths flying about in the bird seed isle. I didn't buy anymore seed there, but it can happen from any source. Once you have them forget about any kind of insecticide, they are useless because they get everywhere and in very tiny spaces too. You simply won't apply the poison to everywhere they are. You have to commit to elbow grease, as has been mentioned. It took me more than a year to completely get rid of them although I never had a repeat of the initial infestation. As has been mentioned, once you deal with this problem once you will learn a few lessons: -- All grain products from flour to pet food to bird seed should be stored either outside the home or in airtight containers. -- If you ever see any maggot looking things in a product, dispose of the product ASAP *outside*. Do not try to salvage it. -- If you ever see small moths fluttering about the pantry or closet where you have dog food, bird seed or any other grain product, toss everything. These moths lay eggs which you will not see. They won't all hatch at once, but very irregularly in batches. All it takes is one moth to successfully reproduce to cause an infestation although it seems these total infestations with larvae on the ceiling don't occur except under ideal conditions (whatever those are). It is also worth noting that it makes no difference how dirty or clean your home is. Every home is susceptible.