How to Prevent Pantry Pests at your Home or Business
Insect control is a problem most Brighton, IL home and business owners deal with at one point or another. Some pests, like fleas, cockroaches, and rodents, can spread illness; others, like termites, can spread devastation and even affect the structural integrity of your home or business. Pantry pests might not be destructive or dangerous, but they can cause the same havoc for those who experience a home pest infestation of weevils, moths or beetles that attack the grains and beans in your pantry.
Where do Pantry Pests Come From?
A home pest infestation doesn’t happen overnight. Pantry pests rarely come in from your backyard. Instead, they tag along from the local grocery store already inside food products, particularly grains and processed foods like flour, cornmeal, and other staple foods. Pet foods and birdseed are also popular transport methods for pantry pests. Wherever they come from, once they establish themselves in your home it can be difficult to get rid of them. Professional insect control companies like Imel Pest Control can treat your pantries using safe and non-toxic methods or products to eliminate most pantry pests within a couple of treatments.
How to Prevent Pantry Pests from Establishing a Population
The key to keeping pantry pests from setting up house in your Brighton kitchen is keeping them from getting in your home, to begin with. Here are some tips to keeping pantry pests out:
- Check food packages carefully while you’re at the grocery store. Don’t buy grain products that have scuffs or tears in the packaging
- Move grains and flour into airtight plastic, metal or glass containers as soon as you get home. Check the product thoroughly and then throw away the original packaging
- Keep bulk flour or grains in the refrigerator or freezer. Cold kills most pantry pests
- Clean up spills quickly and clean out pantries at least once a year, discarding any food that has been sitting in the pantry for a long time.
- Put bay leaves in cabinets where you store grain, beans, and other bulk foods. Pantry pests do not like the odor
- Transfer pet foods and birdseed into their own containers and check for small insects. These products are commonly infested with pantry pests.
If you think you might have a home pest infestation or want to talk to someone about insect control in your home or business, give Imel Pest Control Company a call today!
