Kitchen pests
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
United States
January 13, 2012 2:24pm CST
The other day for some reason it caught my eye but the granules of salt the salt container (the cylinder bulk ones) were moving?!?! I'm like WTH is this? I haven't cleaned out that cabinet in a long time. But I have no idea what this pest is it is 2 segmented and about the size of 1-2 specks of salt. So I'm going thru my spice cabinet tossing out stuff, washing things off with a vinegar and dish soap solution. Is there anything else I can do aside from cleaning it out really well and buying bay leaves?
3 people like this
13 responses
@moneywinner (1863)
• Brazil
13 Jan 12
I don't think so, at least this is what I do too with my sugar pots. I never saw any pests in my salt pots or in my pepper ones, but now I will look better, because I didn't thought that the pests would like salt. 
2 people like this
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
15 Jan 12
I thought they liked grains and such not spices. Yes this pest resembles a tiny mite of sorts about the size of a grain of salt transparent - semi transparent and it's moving.
@beenice2 (2967)
• Sackville, New Brunswick
13 Jan 12
Oh! Boy better kill it, and clean the counter. We still have some fruit flies here that are pretty annoying, even if it is the winter, I think that is because it is too moldy here . But it is a bother. My younger son was busy one day trying to kill them all.
2 people like this
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
13 Jan 12
It's not an "it" it's a them.... they are hard to see unless you squint.
Yeah I know flies can be annoying any time of year. The key thought is to find what they left and where to get rid of those suckers or they'll be annoying for for weeks to come despite winter.
& Welcome to MyLot Beenice2!
1 person likes this
I too have a couple of two legged kitchen pests. They get into every thing and make a mess and then don't show up for a couple of hours and then here they come again. At all hours too. 
I wish I knew how to get rid of them too.
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
15 Jan 12
I have several pests like that as well. They only raid your food every few hours?!?!? Mine are in there non-stop when they aren't in school. Yet when I ask them what they want for breakfast they say "I don't know" probably cause they ate / drank everything else already and it's not payday yet.
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
13 Jan 12
I dunno either that's why I posted. I also saw after I posted they had infested my Mother's old recipe box. It's metal so I can't expose it to alot of water. I was thinking put it outside in a bag like you would if you get infested with lice and let them die since it's 20F?
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
14 Jan 12
That's what you would expect with the colder temps, all the bugs come inside and lay their eggs where it's warm! In Arizona I learned to put my flour in the freezer and my sugar in a sealed plastic bag. It was inconvenient but I didn't get bugs.
They say that the bugs are in the flour anyway when you get it, they just aren't hatched. I read that somewhere. Here in Ohio I still keep my flour in the freezer but my sugar is just in the bag with a clothespin on it. I keep a little in a sugar bowl. No bugs, ever, not even in the salt. It must be something about the weather conditions where you live.
1 person likes this
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
15 Jan 12
I don't know I have no idea I've never seen these before. I've seen starch bugs or larder bugs upon occasion but nothing as tiny and as camoflaged as these things are.
That is good advice to store flour in the freezer. I have it in a plastic container with a screw top, so I have not had problems with sugar or flour. I was just surprised to see these lil buggers even in sealed boxes of onion soup, they had not touched the sealed pouches of mixture, but were evident on the boxes. *shaking head* I wiped down the envelopes of mixes and put them in a zip bag.
I have my recipe box outside in the cold. It's metal and I worry about making it rust if I soak it as it's quite old and since I don't know what they are... I'm not sure what the best route is?
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
15 Jan 12
I would take out all the paper from the box and stick it in the oven at 300° for about 20 minutes. That's how they kill bedbugs, with heat, so I'm sure it will work for yours!
@marguicha (230350)
• Chile
1 Dec 12
I come from a scientific family, friend. So that, besides throwng away everything and cleaning up, I capture a couple of creatures in a jar and start searching online. Count the amount of feet, do they have wings. What you cannot see with your bare eyes, you can with a magnifying glass. The web will help you what to do once you discover what it is.
@Fishmomma (11658)
• United States
20 Jan 12
I would dump everything with bugs. We use air tight containers to store flour, sugar, salt and other foods. It has saved me a lot of money, as the food lasts longer. Good luck and hope your able to keep the bugs away.
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
14 Jan 12
hi 3snugglebunnies it sounds like weevils and the thiongs will get into any dry stuff like rice or pasta or things like that and flour. I think you are probably doing all one can do to get rid of them.Vinegar and soap should kill most any bugs I would think and thats a safe way to go. lol bay leaves do work I know that. hope if
there are any other tips others will come up with them.
@borgborg (821)
• Philippines
14 Jan 12
i don't know what pests you have encountered but for preventing them from bothering you again, this might help. when i was a kid, our sugar jar does not have a lid too tight to keep ants from coming in. so what we did is set them above a table with the legs of the table submerged in a small cup filled with oil. we all know that ants or other tiny insects won't be able to cross that oil so anything above the table will be free from those pests. 
@savypat (20216)
• United States
14 Jan 12
You can also try peperment oil on cotton balls as a repellent. I've had lots of bugs, but never in the salt.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
19 Jan 12
We've had something similar to what you are talking about at my mother's house before, but they tended to be in the flour more than anything. When we would see them, we would just get rid of what they had infested and then buy some new flour or barley or whatever.
I think that the best way of making sure that you don't get these is to make sure that you keep all of your things in airtight containers.
@sumatix (257)
• United Arab Emirates
14 Jan 12
Having read all the posts it comes to me that we all are having someway similar problem..I allways clean the rack when i am done with my cooking.keep my salt and sugar and all stuff in airtight containers.so havent faced such problem till date. yes i have seen some cockroaches for which i spray insectkiller every week.Most of the times the pests sit because of the moisture so i just try to keepmy kitched as clean and moisture free as possible.for rice there comes a medicine to keep itpest free i dont remember the name but one can find it on the grocery store if asked particularly.it has to be wrraped(tablet) in paper and placed in container..
@angelako (280)
• Italy
14 Jan 12
There lot of insecticide available out there,you can buy some.but some are still coming agin,i also experience that b4,sometimes i put salt,coz they dont like salty,but they keep on coming.I think we need to clean our kitchen evrytimee,get the sweet stain put some insecticide so they will no longer come if everytime they come in they cannot any food.
