Those are TERRIBLE. I swear we had a few show up in freshly filled airtight containers! ??? 
???
I have Schrodinger’s pantry moths! Did you do anything besides get rid of opened food?
Ugh that sucks. I talked to a friend who thinks hers came from food she bought at Aldi’s. I think ours were already in the house—we see them in our yard.
1 Like
You may need to clean the shelves - it’s easy for a little food to come out of packages, leaving a dusting of flour or other food on the shelves themselves.
4 Likes
I now store all beans/rice/flour in airtight containers. Flour goes into the freezer until it’s ready to go into the containers. We also bought a ton of moth traps to put in the cupboards that had them worst. We see moths in our yard a lot so I think they get in when I open the windows. We have screens but pretty sure the moths can get in anyway. I don’t enjoy killing things but I’ve been smashing moths when I see them because throwing food out sucks.
3 Likes
Thank you @Gdogg and @daffodil2001! I disinfected some of the shelves and counters last night, threw some non-airtight food back in the freezer, and am going to take everything out and disinfect all shelves and outsides of containers. I’m hoping this is an overreaction - I never put the bag of beans with pantry moth eggs in the cupboards, only the freezer for a minute before I took it back out and re-examined. I’m just paranoid that something might have happened, or other food might have brought it in. I already have most of my pantry food in airtight containers, so that should still be safe. I’m more worried about my roommates’ food, since they store things loosey goosey.
2 Likes
Would your roommates store their food better if you helped them figure out how? No idea what your roommate relationships are like, but if you share food with them you may want to stop sharing if they don’t get their storage act together.
2 Likes
This might gross some people out, but here is the deal with pantry moths:
Summary
Many grains, flours, nuts, cereal, pet food, and bird seed can be contaminated with pantry moth larvae. (I don’t think they eat beans, though they could be in a bag accidentally I suppose.) Things bought in bulk can be especially susceptible. You can freeze things for a week to kill off any eggs. You can also bake some thing at low heat for some period of time (can’t remember the specifics). Once you do that you would want to transfer to glass containers or sealable plastic containers (or only keep food around in small quantities that you eat pretty fast). They won’t hurt you, it’s just gross if you think about it. The larvae are tiny and look like tiny worms. It’s only really a problem if you get an infestation - once the cycle starts if you end up with a huge problem you might have to throw away the food, clean everything thoroughly, possibly set pheromone traps, and start fresh.
4 Likes
Sorry for thread hijack!
@daffodil2001 - We don’t share food, except when one roommate brings home freebies from her work, and we store our supplies in different cabinets. To clarify, this was from a bag I brought home, not something they did.
@CalBal - I’m hoping that nothing has gotten into the cupboards, but do you think moving everything into the freezer or airtight containers, and disinfecting shelves and outsides of containers will head off any potential infestation? I’m not going to touch my roommates’ cabinets, since they’re non-adjacent to mine, and there’s virtually no chance anything I brought home could have migrated already. Still only a 15% chance that my cupboards are even affected, I just want to be safe.
1 Like
If you only saw larvae (and only saw a few or only in one place) you are probably good. I would definitely make sure everything is securely seal-able. And clean thoroughly, because they will find and eat any spilled flour, etc, like Gdogg said. It is only the larvae that eat the grains. If you saw moths they are probably flying around laying eggs so you might need to be more vigilant for a longer period.
1 Like
Summary
Thanks again! No moths, only larvae, and it was a lot but contained in one bag. I brought in a couple canned goods that were next to a larvae-infected bag, and that’s my main source of worry, that there was something on the outside of the cans. I did wipe down the top/bottom of the cans before I brought them inside. But better safe than sorry.
Now I’m wondering if I need to wrap up the garbage better. I threw it in the outside garbage bin, but not contained in a trash bag. If they become moths in there, can they fly back inside and lay eggs? I’m guessing yes based on daffodil’s experience.
1 Like
Summary
There could definitely be something on the outside of cans, lots of little crevices for them to lay eggs in! Just wash the cans and I think you’re fine. They could hatch in the garbage though as you say, and fly back inside as Daffodil experienced!
2 Likes
You can put the cans in a ziplock bag and seal it. If anything hatches, at least it is contained.
3 Likes
Summary, final thanks!
Thanks yall!! I guess I’ll go back out to the garbage can today and put all the many, many tossed food items in a trash bag and try to seal the opening with duct tape. Then maybe bring the bag to a public garbage can a few blocks down. Those get emptied much more frequently, while we still have 6 days until pickup.
1 Like
I survived jointly hosting (with my sister) a family gathering without blowing up at my BIL. Progress.
9 Likes
Totally won at self care and management today. Ate food, lay down and rested a lot, played and cuddles with whole family. It was an excellent day.
7 Likes
A lovely friend helped me turn an un-lovely interaction into a fun positive banter time.
Was at a baby shower yesterday, and she and I were sitting next to an older woman while the mom-to-be opened gifts. After some nice chatting between us all, Older Lady asked when I was due. I told her, and she visibly jumped, her mouth hung open for a hot second, before she said, “are you sure there’s only ONE in there???” (Sadly, I get this pretty consistently. Yes, I’m gaining a lot of weight. Thank you for reminding me.) I didn’t say much at the time, but after when I was chatting with Friend she expressed to me her shock that “people actually say shit like that”. I told her I wished I could come up with a better reply than muttering awkwardly and shutting down. Well, my whole drive was filled with hilarious recommendations from her.
“Yes, I’m sure it’s just one, but the doctor wasn’t sure it was human”
“Just one, but it’s the Antichrist so the horns and hooves take up a lot of room”
“Well, only one was fathered by my husband here at least”
“It’s the darndest thing, a second one snuck in there when I wasn’t looking and has been squatting in there for weeks. God damn freeloader”
So that’s my Tony Victor. Having wonderful, funny, irreverent friends that can make me feel so much better about life’s BS =)
17 Likes
I’m still in montreal and still with Elle.
10 Likes
I’m still in Montreal with snacky and neither of our bodies have fully given up yet.
Plus, if we leave the house today, I can buy a new bra, and have supported breasts!
10 Likes
Hey–just FYI, but if you’re in the US, the Secret Santa Christmas episode is packaged with Warehouse 13 season 3 DVDs, and Greatest Gift is (for some reason) in with season 5
2 Likes