Weevils

Ew. Yuck. No matter how clean you keep your home (and I wish I could claim a shiny clean home, but I'm afraid it's more of a dream than a reality) one wrong purchase, and you have a problem that can take months to take care of.

In our case, the purchase was boxed macaroni, an off brand, that does not come in a plastic bag inside the box. Before we knew we had them, the weevils had spread to boxes of everything else. In some cases, they'd even gotten into plastic box liners, closed jars of pasta and flour, you name it.

The solution takes time, but it can be done. First, invest in gallon ziplock bags. Put any box of dry goods that will fit into a sealed bag immediately. If any bugs have gotten into the box already, you'll very quickly be able to tell because you'll find traces inside the bag. Next, empty and clean your pantry thoroughly. I recommend Lysol, because it does a pretty good job of wasting pesties, without really contaminating your shelves. Make sure you spray the corners very well. Finally, keep plenty more plastic bags on hand and immediately seal any further boxes of dry goods you buy, before you even put them away.

Finally, I'm going to try this one that I just heard about from a lady at a local store: wintergreen gum. She said her mother always kept one stick of gum in her rice canister and another in her flour, and the smell would keep away the weevils. I'm willing to give it a try. If you've done it, let us know how it worked, please!