Losing your grain to Weevils

winterybella

winterybella

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I never even knew the correct spelling until I Googled it: Those little 'buggers' are called weevils. Recently I went out and picked up some gluten free pasta which I was eager to try. I had tried vegan maybe once or twice before.

After only a few weeks of having the product, I opened the box recently only to be met by what looked like hundreds of the unsightly little creatures. I checked similar products I had for a much longer time and found them to be fine. I suspect I bought it from the supermarket with said bugs but can't be sure as I did not check at the time of purchase. I have since read I could freeze the product immediately or store in glass containers. Are you losing some of your products in the same way or are you checking the product before purchasing?
 
I have had quite a few experiences with weevils in the past. I have found that if a product is opened and not used up after a period of time, these little bugs take over and then the package has to be thrown out. In my case, it has happened mostly with cereals which were opened and left in the cupboard over time. They also like to invade flour and meal. So, because of this, I have started storing my flour and meal in the refrigerator since it has a better shelf life there. I try to use up the cereal before it gets to the stage to attract weevils. Storing it in bottles sounds like a good idea too.

I can't recall if I have ever opened a box or package from the supermarket and found weevils in it. It is quite possible that this may have been the case in the distant past though.
 
Berties said:
Have not seen any for 20 years ,they used to be a common thing in popadoms
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You are fortunate. I have seen them even in the Supermarket. Once I was about the buy some and could see through the plastic it had loads of them, I am convinced I picked up this box them but I can't swear as I did not open the box and it was not the kind of box that had a see through square in the middle. I believe it's because it was vegan and maybe vegan is not that popular here and it must have been on the shelf for a while. If I get back to the supermarket soon, I am going to peep in the boxes there. It was so unsettling.
 
I frequently lose food to mice, but nowhere near as often to weevils or flour mites. Mice are a pain in the backside. We had one home where they ate the labels off the tinned food (where we lived was remote and tinned food was an essential standby for when we were cut off). Anyhow, as a result for months we had a game once a week of pick a tin can each and that was our meal. Sometimes it worked out, sometimes it was interesting...:yuck:

Flour mites tend only to be an issue when flour was been standing around unused for a long while. I have only recently seen then once and that was in my Grandfather's kitchen when I was making him some lasagne. I had checked things like flour before I went shopping, so knew I needed to buy some. But basically that flour had been standing around since my Grannie was last able to cook and she had died 3 years previously!

Slugs were another problem pest I have had to deal with over the years. They would go for anything in a paper container, so flour, sugar, biscuits and a few others. We quickly leant to keep everything in tins or jars.
 
Bugs which we also have to be wary of are roaches. They tend to do their destructive work in the dark. Apart from biting into paper packages, they also leave their eggs around, so you know they have been there. However, bug spray takes care of them. It is a good idea to keep bay leaf in the cupboards to keep roaches away. Apparently, that repels them to some extent. However, after the bay leaf dries out, it has to be replaced with fresh bay leaf.
 
Oh dear. Listening to SatNavSaysStraight talk about the mice makes the weevil seem like welcomed house guest. The thought of mice getting into my cupboards stares me beyond words. I think I would have to migrate or something as I am terribly afraid of them. As for slugs we have only had a major problem with them eating produce from the garden. As a child I remember my parents speaking of what crops the slugs destroyed. I can't say I have ever seen a slug in the house.
 
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winterybella said:
As for slugs we have only had a major problem with them eating produce from the garden. As a child I remember my parents speaking of what crops the slugs destroyed. I can't say I have ever seen a slug in the house.
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Whenever I see slugs, they are on the outside of the house somewhere, usually crawling on the walls. And yes, they like to go around the plants too. I don't remember them ever coming into the house. I have not seen them in a couple years, however. You can get rid of them by putting salt on them.
 
Caribbean girl said:
Whenever I see slugs, they are on the outside of the house somewhere, usually crawling on the walls. And yes, they like to go around the plants too. I don't remember them ever coming into the house. I have not seen them in a couple years, however. You can get rid of them by putting salt on them.
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Cheap porridge oats will do the same. Or a copper strip, causes a chemical reaction with the slime.
 
Weevils are a main source of trouble for farmers in my area. I have not had trouble with them though,only see that in big grain stores in the country.
 
SpongeyB said:
Weevils are a main source of trouble for farmers in my area. I have not had trouble with them though,only see that in big grain stores in the country.
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In the store? You said it was a grain store. We don't have a single grain store around here but I guess you should expect to see some if all the store sells is grain. That would make me very uneasy though. I don't like to do this but I think I am going to have to slightly open any grain I buy that's in a box. If not that, open it right after I have paid, so I know before I leave if it has to be returned right there and then.
 
I was horrified when I discovered these things in my rice, because for the longest time I just assumed it was a grain of wild rice or rice with the husk still on it, that slipped through processing. Then one day I went to pick out what I thought was a dark grain of rice, and noticed it was actually a bug. And to top it all off, this came from a bag of rice I had just opened, so it's not like the bag had been sitting around opened for a long time in my pantry. I wouldn't eat rice for months because of that, and have since become really paranoid on buying large quantities of it at once, out of fear they will appear in it again. It's a shame, because I otherwise liked to cook with rice on a regular basis, and would find it much more convenient to just buy a large bag and keep it in some storage containers.

What I don't really understand is how they get into sealed bags. Are there weevil eggs or something on the rice when it's packaged? Because I've checked clear bags of rice pretty thoroughly for them, then a few weeks later when I go to get the bag out of my pantry, I will see one or two right up front inside the bag.
 
OhioTom76 said:
I was horrified when I discovered these things in my rice, because for the longest time I just assumed it was a grain of wild rice or rice with the husk still on it, that slipped through processing. Then one day I went to pick out what I thought was a dark grain of rice, and noticed it was actually a bug. And to top it all off, this came from a bag of rice I had just opened, so it's not like the bag had been sitting around opened for a long time in my pantry. I wouldn't eat rice for months because of that, and have since become really paranoid on buying large quantities of it at once, out of fear they will appear in it again. It's a shame, because I otherwise liked to cook with rice on a regular basis, and would find it much more convenient to just buy a large bag and keep it in some storage containers.

What I don't really understand is how they get into sealed bags. Are there weevil eggs or something on the rice when it's packaged? Because I've checked clear bags of rice pretty thoroughly for them, then a few weeks later when I go to get the bag out of my pantry, I will see one or two right up front inside the bag.
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Its odd if the packet was sealed because according to Wiki, the eggs hatch 2 to 3 days after they have been deposited inside a rice grain by the female weevil.
Adult rice weevils are able to fly,[3] and can survive for up to two years. Females lay 2-6 eggs per day and up to 300 over their lifetime. The female uses strong mandibles to chew a hole into a grain kernel after which she deposits a single egg within the hole, sealing it with secretions from her ovipositor. The larva develops within the grain, hollowing it out while feeding. It then pupates within the grain kernel and emerges 2–4 days after eclosion.
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Those little buggers find a way. With nearly every thing I have found them in, the packet or box has been sealed. I am actually planing that next time I go shopping for any pasta that is vegan or not a high demand product, right after I pay, I will take a peek before I bring it home. I am convinced I "bought" those weevils from the supermarket.
 
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We usually buy Jasmine Thai rice by the sack. That is imported and quite expensive. When we had lunch in my sister's house, I liked the rice so I asked the brand. When our stock of rice was depleted, I bought that dinorado type of rice that my sister had told me. After consuming about 5 kilos of that new rice, we saw some black bugs in the rice (inside the sack). We had to clean the rice because we cannot imagine eating rice that has those bugs.
 
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