![]() Transfer your unaffected food to your plastic, sealable storage containers and then that’s it – you can fill your cupboard again. Modern wisdom seems to be to then use food safe pesticides to treat the cupboard and surrounding surfaces but I can tell you that I don’t like the thought of pesticides (food safe or not), and all my life I’ve had no further trouble when I’ve used the old-fashioned approach:Ĭleared the cupboard, washed all around, including crevices, with hot soapy water (also tackling the counter tops beneath the cupboard) and then either leave the cupboard open to dry very thoroughly or use a hair dryer to make sure that there is absolutely no moisture remaining in it. You’re going to need storage containers to store your food in from now on – items like plastic ‘Tupperware’ boxes that you can seal.Įmpty the cupboard and decide whether you want to use anything that you find to be affected. (I’ve already said that my preference is to throw away anything affected and start again). You can see how pretty soon they can get a foothold in your cupboard! ![]() They don’t just inhabit flour either, you may well find them on other dried foodstuffs: cereals, pasta, nuts, rice, biscuits and ordinary sealed packaging is no deterrent because they are able to gnaw their way into new packs. The chances are that something you bought contained either the beetle or some eggs, and considering that a single female can lay up to 100 eggs, which will hatch in 1 – 2 weeks, you can see how pretty soon one errant beetle will produce an infestation. It’s important to say that biscuit beetle has nothing to do with cleanliness, so don’t beat yourself up about it if you see some of the little blighters in your kitchen. It’s better to pick a nickname that makes sense than to pick a nickname that doesn’t. But, you should always keep in mind that using a nickname that is too silly may not be appropriate. Sometimes it’s fun to have a funny nickname. On the rare occasions I have come across them it has prompted a major session of checking food packets, chucking out and cleaning – but that’s just me. Biscuits Beetle Cookies Husky Choose Nicknames that Are Funny. Commonly called ‘biscuit beetle’ (Stegobium paniceum), and in the US ‘drugstore’ or ‘bread beetle’ they are, apparently, harmless and unless you see them in large numbers the flour should still be OK to use. Sooner or later you’re likely to open a packet of flour to do some baking and see tiny little beetles, 2-3mm long, crawling around.
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