I have maggots on my kitchen ceiling

[patsimae]

I have spent the entire Saturday washing out my pantry and cabinets with ammonia and water.
I found an old box of granola which had the maggots. I am grossed out. What can I do to kill the remaining disgusting vermin. Any ideas?

[Danger Mouse]

1. Fire lots of it.

I HATE maggots.

[patsimae]

3. excellent idea, but...

we'll be homeless!!!

Need some other ideas to get rid of the little bastards.

[Danger Mouse]

4. spray them with some raid, i guess?

:puke:

[Blue-Jay]

2. You really need IDEAS to keep maggots out of your house?!?

Here's one: Don't leave food out.
Here's two: Clean that shit up.

[JVS]

8. Are you running for Snark-King 2007 or something

Because I think you're winning

[Blue-Jay]

9. *sigh*...

If only such an award existed...

[JVS]

10. I knew some people who used to crown an asshole of the year every newyears

Maybe we can work something out with them

[Breeze54]

14. These are NOT regular moths...they eat through cereal boxes and anything else they can find.

They are very difficult to eradicate.

[LeftyMom]

5. .

:puke:

[Breeze54]

6. Suspect pantry moths or weevils.

Bugs in your flour and cornmeal? Suspect pantry moths or weevils.
The first line of defense is good housekeeping.
http://www.ehow.com/how_18818_rid-home-pantry.html

Step One
Check for infestation. Examine all food packages for telltale signs of moth or weevil infestation: webbing in corners, grains clumped together with sticky secretions, or small holes in containers. Also look for small bugs in the food or little moths flying around the kitchen. If you find them, read on.

Step Two
Clean infested areas. Vacuum cupboards, then thoroughly scrub all shelves with soapy water, paying close attention to cracks and corners. Dry the cleaned area thoroughly. Keep cupboard and food-storage areas dry.

Step Three
Discard infested food.

Step Four
Store food properly. Clean containers with hot, soapy water, then rinse and dry them thoroughly before refilling. Use tightly sealed metal, glass or hard plastic containers to store food; plastic bags are inadequate, as insects can get through them. Keep old and new food separate, and keep infrequently used items in the freezer.

Step Five
Eliminate the pests' food sources (such as improperly stored food) and breeding grounds (such as rodent nests).

Tips & Warnings

* Pantry moth larvae eat a wide assortment of foods, ranging from flour to dried chiles and candy.
* It takes six to eight weeks for the pantry moth to complete its life cycle.
* Do not use pesticides in or around any area where food is prepared or on food itself.



Get Moth spray at Ace hardware. "SLA Cedar Scented Moth Spray"
Orange Can and it's expensive. $11.00 BUT it kills them!

They leave stringy stuff and they get into everything!
They're horrible and showed up in my kitchen after the neighbors moved out. :(

Good Luck!

Pantry Moth or weevil


Meal Moth


by eHow Friend on 3/3/2006
"Peppermint chewing gum - I live in the deep south. We have a lot of trouble with moths and weevils.
When I first moved here, I was shocked to find this problem. I asked a native southerner what I
should do and she said lay pieces of peppermint chewing gum inside my cupboards with the wrapper
still on them. It worked like magic. Of course I cleaned the cupboards first and got rid of the infested foods."

[patsimae]

11. Thanks so much!

I'm off to the Ace Hardware in the morning!

I've thrown out a bunch of stuff, inspected everything. As far as I can tell the infestation was in the box of granola. Put unopened stuff in the freezer and threw the rest out.

[Breeze54]

13. Just so you know?

They hide!! I found an adult two days ago, hiding in my kitchen curtains. :grr:

I left the window slightly open all night and turned down the heat downstairs

thinking the cold would slow them down and it seems to have worked so far.

They keep cropping up every once in awhile; so keep that can handy!

I had the fuckers falling off my ceiling, :puke: literally over night, in August.

I was soooo pissed at my former neighbors! I guess the little pests got hungry

after they moved and they decided to come over to my house! :grr:

[mzteris]

30. there are pantry moth traps, too

you can get them at your local hardware store.

I had to completely remove everything in my pantry - I threw away a LOT. I stuck a good bit in the freezer, too.

I even removed the shelving in there - (after the 2nd time) and found they were breeding in the cracks.

I sprayed with pesticide (yeah, I know what they say) but I left the pantry empty for several months. Then I repainted the whole damn thing. Put in some freestanding shelves and then put the food back.

So far, so good. But then again, it is winter now. We'll know in the spring if it really "worked" or not. SIGH.

What a royal PITA. You have my sympathy!

:hug:

[XemaSab]

7. I found a wasp nest on my kitchen ceiling today.

Consider yourself lucky. :P

[patsimae]

12. You must live in the deep South

Up here the wasps are all dead.

[XemaSab]

16. I don't

I live in Southern California.

It wasn't an active nest; it had already hatched, which explains the wasp outbreak a few months ago. :P

[crim son]

15. Freeze the food, let the maggots die.

I had a bunch of stuff infested in two of my pantry drawers. I threw away all the drygoods, wiped it out and kept it clear for a week. It's been two years and there has been no sign of any more - ugh - worms. Creepy, huh? Good luck.

[Whoa_Nelly]

17. Fog'em

Hot Shot fogger...am series!

http://www.houseintohome.co.za/pests-and-bugs/killing-maggots/

[grasswire]

18. pantry moths

One time I was stirring a beautiful creamy bechamel sauce at the stove and up from the sauce came a cooked pantry moth larva! It had either fallen off the ceiling into the sauce, or was in the flour bag.

Gross!

We had a horrible time getting rid of those. But the pheremone traps will help you a great deal. You will have to throw away most of the food in your kitchen that's not canned. Definitely the spices and grains.

[grasswire]

19. pantry pest trap --- that's the pheremone trap

You can find them locally, I'm sure, but they also are available from amazon.com and many other internet sites. A package of two costs me about $9. The moths are attracted to the scent and become trapped in the sticky interior.

They are in my local garden store.

[Gormy Cuss]

28. After a good cleaning, those traps work very well.

It's very easy to be infested because there are so many products where they lay eggs.
It is important to remove everything from all of the cupboards and wash or wipe down all surfaces and containers and transfer all food products to tightly sealed glass or plastic containers.

The pantry pest traps can take a few weeks to eradicate the moths if there was a bad infestion but ultimately they will solve the problem.

[patsimae]

20. Thanks for all the advice

Very helpful! Will let you know how it goes.

[Quakerfriend]

21. Indian meal moths. You can buy a small pheromone trap for

$4 and put it on top of the frig or cabinet and they will all be gone soon. Leave the trap for at least 30 days to cover the life cycle of the moths and throw out anything that you suspect they've already gotten into (cereal,flour,crackers etc).

The traps are sold in any hardware store. I know Ace Hardware has them.;-)

[lost-in-nj]

22. UGH

I feel your pain....
We had these a few years ago... threw out a lot of food. The sticky traps worked the best.... My ex BIL worked for Orkin and he said there is nothing that kills these. You just have to try to get rid of them... we did, a lot of vacuuming, traps and food inspection.... even checking the bags I bring home from the store.... my ex bil said they like to hang in the dog food aisles in the stores...

good luck
one day you will realize they are gone!!



lost

[Raven]

23. I've had them and it wasn't bad housekeeping.

They came in with brand new cabinets and before I knew it, they were everywhere. I threw everything out and sprayed the hell out of the cabinets but they came back. It took about 3 years to get rid of them.

[yellowdogintexas]

25. the eggs are so small they can't be milled out. Corn meal is a major

source. Even the most recently milled cornmeal can hatch them out. Once they are out they migrate to anything not sealed in plastic or those really tight glass canisters with rubber rings and lock down lids.

I have all my flour, cornmeal, bisquick, cereal, etc products locked in Tupperware Modular canisters. I don't buy cornmeal in large quantities and I do not have problems any more. I live in a hot climate too.

There is a strain of these things that will hatch out in certain spices, of the brown color style. Place bay leaves in the spice containers.

I used to do a lot of camp cooking in a facility that was locked up for all but one weekend a month and some other cook had decided we needed to have a huge supply of flour so they went out and bought 25 pounds of flour . Well, there were old, open bags of odd things not used up, like cornmeal, bisquick, flour, pancake mix, etc. The old stuff hatched out the moths, they migrated to the other stuff, and so on and next time we were there, everything in the cupboard had to be tossed, including the brand new 25 pound bag of flour.

Cereals, oatmeal, cream of wheat, it was a colossal waste of food..

I have seen them pop up in homes that are kept to laboratory standards for cleanliness...

if you like to keep large quantities of cornmeal around, freeze it

[Deja Q]

24. Red wine and scotch

They'll drink it and surely die. But die happy, so everyone's a winner! :D

[Raven]

26. What if I drank it...then I wouldn't even notice the little buggers!

[lost-in-nj]

33. Its true

put a saucer or other small container that they can get into and
put in some red wine.....
I have room on top of my cabinets so we put a couple of sauces full along with the traps....
Both had the little buggers.....


lost

[FunkyLeprechaun]

29. Seriously take this advice

My parents used to have pantry moths and I, being the red wine drinker, would have a glass and they would drop into my glass all the freaking time.

My parents took my glass and put it in the pantry and it eradicated those pests! I haven't seen the pests for a while.

[Blue Diadem]

27. I've had those before.

Shocking what you can find them in. I've found them in unopened boxes. One tell tale sign is little web like strands at the inside edges of the boxes, especially in cornbread mixes. All my staples are now in glass/plastic with tight fitting lids. Like someone said up thread, cornmeal seems to be the worst. Although, one time, I brought home a bottle of pancake syrup and as I pulled off the plastic band that sealed the cap, I found several. I should have taken it back but I threw it out instead.

[dembotoz]

31. i have maggots at my kitchen table

oh wait
those are my kids...

[skygazer]

42. ....

:rofl:

[uppityperson]

32. Think of them as baby moths. That helps.

[stuntcat]

38. awwww

:loveya: lil babes!

[deucemagnet]

34. I find that the ceiling maggots go away...

...as the LSD wears off. :hippie:






Sorry. I hope you find a quick solution to your problem. :hi:

[Ellen Forradalom]

44. I'm thinking PCP, not acid

[applegrove]

35. Make sure you don't have any birdseed inside. That is the worst for

growing moths.

[grasswire]

37. that's how ours came into the house

bird seed.

[Critters2]

43. I had'em this way once. Threw away the birdseed and no more moths.

Now, I buy small bags of birdseed and keep 'em in the garage.

[ariesgem]

36. This happened to one of the tenants in the apartment building that I manage.

There were maggots falling from the ceilings and crawling on the walls of the entire apartment (up and downstairs). The exterminators said that eggs were laid and hatched somewhere inside of the walls. It was like something that came straight from a horror flick. The entire apartment had to be fumigated.

Maybe setting off an inset bomb in the kitchen will solve your problem.

Good luck.

[flying_wahini]

39. Yes, birdseed is bad about that, I got mine in a string of chili peppers

that I picked up in New Mexico....

I threw out sooooo much food, it was terrible how wasteful it was.

i never buy strings of garlic, either.

[hedgehog]

40. In order to approach this with the proper level of horror, I need to know

Are we talking maggots here or those little white caterpillars that will hatch out in grain products? The caterpillars turn into moths and leave. I've found them in boxes and inside glass jars* but never on the ceiling.








* You do know that all grain products have a certain number of insect eggs, right? Don't be too grossed out. If the grain were treated with enough pesticide to kill the insects, it'd probably kill you, too eventually.

[Maraya1969]

41. In south Florida we keep everything in the refrigerator. It may not be

feasible for you to keep everything but the cornmeal and whatever else these things live in can go in there. I even put open cereal boxes in the fridge.