How to get rid of weevils in the cupboard?

[Whatsthatspookynoise]

Every since I was a kid I've had this fear of weevils even though I had never seen one, which means I obsessively check packaged food for them.

I kept seeing these bugs around my house every now and then, but only ever one at a time and assumed they were just random bugs, but no. They are weevils and have a few times fallen out of seasonings I have used or flour etc. 🤮
I keep replacing things and pretty much using them once and throwing it as they make my skin crawl. I now have to throw everything in my cupboards away, BUT I don't want to replace everything until I know they won't come back or it's a complete waste of money. I'm not sure how to stop them from living in my cupboards as just cleaning them doesn't seem to keep them away. I only ever see one at a time still, so it's weird. Any tips?

I used to have a weevil problem like this. I got rid of all the packets of half-finished flour, cereal, biscuits etc that were in packaging that wasn't completely air tight - everything is now in lock-and-lock tubs so there's no way into the food for the bugs, packets get decanted into a tub and I use a bit of masking tape on the tub to note the date that it was decanted, so that if it starts getting a bit elderly I will generally finish it up with some impromptue baking as I hate letting food go to waste!

This isn't totally foolproof as it is still possible for a bug to sneak in having arrived already in the flour in egg form (most flour mills will have some weevils on-site and the chances are that a bag of flour will arrive with eggs already on board from time to time) but at least the containers mean they can't spread. Another option is to store all your flour in the freezer as the adult bugs can't survive that, but that's a step too far for me.

Throw everything away.

Clean the cupboard thoroughly.

Leave the cupboard empty for a good while (I did it for weeks)

Once you replace things in the cupboard, ensure everything is in airtight boxes. I don't mean you have to decant everything, I just got some large plastic boxes and put the flour or whatever in there in the shop packaging.

Nothing in allowed in that cupboard unless it's in a plastic box.

Whatever you do, you can easily buy flour with weevils in so you need the entire packed in a plastic box. Then if there are weevils, you can get rid of them, knowing that they have not got into anything outside the box.

You need lots of well sealed bug proof storage like lock'n'lock.

All of that - very important to chuck everything that's not sealed as even if you can't see live ones there will be eggs - plus spray your cupboards with cockroach killing spray. It is effective on all crawling insects. Every couple of weeks, take everything out, wipe it down, spray, and leave to dry. Then put your jars back in. Couple of goes like this and they'll be gone.

Putting bay leaves in the pantry is a good deterrent to pantry moths, it may work for weevils too. Just tie a bunch of fresh bay leaves in the pantry (and when they're dry, you can use them in cooking).

Not really in the spirit of the thread, but the time to worry is when they line themselves up along your open cupboard singing 'The Boll Weevil Song' a là Brook Benton or 'Weevil, Weevil Rock You' by Queen.

Bay leaves, fresh or dried, it doesn’t seem to matter. I put one in each tub/bag of flour (they can be reused several times) and a few in the bottom of spice drawers, on shelves/in cupboards etc. Old house, prone to wriggling things, and no longer a problem.

Very hardy people sift them out but I’m not that hardcore :)

Put your flour in the freezer for 3 days before you use it. Kills everything off. Then straight into a sealed Tupperware container .

@RunnerDown

Put your flour in the freezer for 3 days before you use it. Kills everything off. Then straight into a sealed Tupperware container .

This.

And store all your sealed containers of flour in the fridge.

Thank you so much everyone. Today I threw away everything except canned food and had a good clean of the cupboards. I found 2 weevils in different places. I am really hoping they don't come back.

I freeze my flour for 4 days before putting it in a zip lock bag. The freezing kills the eggs so they can’t hatch. I’ve found this helps.