Get rid of pesky weevils with easy solutions
Find out how weevils get into your food and how you can get rid of them.
Our homes are always under attack by many evasive insects, but the most common and annoying are weevils. How do they get into your food and how do you get rid of them? In the home, weevils can be brought in through packaged foods or they can come in from outside. Once inside, a population can grow and expand to food items stored nearby if they are not controlled.
How do weevils get in food?
The little buggers (excuse the pun) live and feed inside the food. The female weevil chews a hole into a seed, grain or kernel and deposits her eggs inside. It will then seal up the opening leaving the egg inside. Once it hatches inside the grainor seed, the larva feeds on the meat inside until it’s full grown. Once fully grown, the adult weevil eats its way out of the grain/seed.
How can we get rid of them?
Freeze to kill: Put all your products such as spices or flour that are prone to weevils in the freezer for four days as soon as you have bought it. This will kill all the larvae and eggs (if) present inside the packet and will stop further infestation.
Bay leaf: This is one of the best remedies to get rid of beetles. Bay or neem leaves can be put inside loose flour in containers that are more prone to contamination.
Cloves: They are widely available and will fight off the bugs and will also avoid their infestation. You can also sprinkle some cloves around your cupboard shelves and pantry area.
Matchbox: Strange but it works. Keep the matchbox open near the grains and weevils will not be seen thereabouts. You may also keep small bags of black pepper in your pantry.
Keep the infested grains in sunlight: If a large quantity of flour has been attacked by beetles, just keep it in the sunlight. This will shoo them away as these bugs do not like the sunlight and will look for a dark and moist place.
WATCH: Meet the giraffe-necked weevil from Madagascar
