Pantry Moths - what about the Halloween Candy?

[niccig]

Agh, pantry moths. I've tossed everything that was opened, the rest is already in canisters or in the freezer for the next 5 days. I've scrubbed the pantry with vinegar solution, and now about to do it with eucalyptus oil and then put in a pantry moth trap. Between all of these, plus weekly cleanings for the next month, I should get rid of them. But what do I do with all the Halloween candy. I don't want to pass this onto someone else, and eek it's not something you want to find in you twix bar. Apparently plastic bags and wrappers and not enough to deter this little buggers. So do I toss, or can I freeze mini choclolate bar, hersey kisses, tootsie rolls etc???

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

Toss it all. I also wanted to add that you need to vacuum your cabinets VERY well if you haven't already. The research I did when we had them showed that the eggs are so tiny that when you scrub all you do is push the eggs into the corners of your cabinets. So I highly and and with a loud voice say vacuum those cabinets girlie-what could it hurt. God knows they're a pain in the butt to get rid of anyway. Good luck.

[Fairy]

Hate to say it, but I'd pitch 'em. Re-invest the $20 in candy? Annoying. Finding or learning of bugs in your candy? Vomitous.

[niccig]

After writing the post, I tossed everything. I don't want to deal with all of that worry. Apparently it takes 2 weeks for the little sh!tes to hatch, so I think I'll buy my candy the day before Halloween, just to be on the safe side. Besides, I'll get it on sale then :P

I haven't vacuumed my cupboards. I'll do that first thing tomorrow. I've wiped it out with vinegar and then a solution of eucalyptus and clove oil. Each shelf now has a bowl of crushed bay leave and ground cloves, and there's a moth trap in there too. I've also put another trap at the end of the kitchen to attract anything that's flying. What a total PITA and I'll have to do all of this a few more times to make sure I get everything. I've told DH that I'm going to be anal about how things are put away from now on, because I want to avoid this at all costs!

[mariza]

OK, what are these pantry months and how do I prevent getting them? I just fogged the new house for fleas and am sooooo paranoid of all things buggy now. We moved to a very woody area and I was not at all prepared for the insect population!
I'm sorry you are dealing with this, it sounds like a total PITA, just what a busy Mom needs x(

Mariza
Mommy to my "Thing 1" DD 1/05
and "Thing 2" DS 9/06

[daisymommy]

Pantry moths are attracted to the glue that is on cardboard boxes. So, if you empty dry pasta, rice, etc. into plastic or glass containers, and everything else is canned goods, there is a pretty slim chance that you will ever have them again.

As a kid, we had them alot in our house, even though my mother was a Martha-Stewart clean-freak. BUT, I have never had even a single one in my house. I have a few canned goods, and everything else in my pantry and cupboards is in glass or plastic storage containers.

[Melanie]

I wonder if this is a regional thing, or if I've just been lucky?
I've never heard of such a thing, though we did have weavels once when I was a kid. yuck.