When you open the flour storage bin and find tiny insects crawling inside, it's most likely flour bugs. These lice are usually small, brownish red in color, and can fly. Since mealybugs can lay large numbers of eggs each day for months, you'll have a hard time dealing with them. Make sure you clean the kitchen thoroughly and store the flour in a hard, airtight container. It can take a while to get rid of those nits, but improving the quality of storage in your kitchen will help stop the mealybugs from moving around.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Cleaning and Tidying the Kitchen
Step 1. Find the source
Although kitchen-dwelling insects can fly, they usually like to be near food sources. If you find fleas or reddish-brown beetles in your flour, they could be in other foods in your kitchen. Also check your pet's food, as the fleas may be coming from there. Check for ticks in:
- Cereals and grains (wheat, rice, quinoa, bran).
- Shrimp crisp.
- Herbs and spices.
- Dry pasta.
- Dried fruit.
- Chocolate, candy and nuts.
- Dried peas or seeds.
Step 2. Throw away all food containing lice
Flea eggs can't be seen clearly by the eye, but when they hatch you will see them. Check the supply of flour and other food products in your kitchen, if you find fleas then throw them away! If you don't find lice, you can save the flour or food and use it.
Do not eat food contaminated with lice. If you accidentally bake a flour-based food that has fleas on it, then you can continue eating it because the lice are dead
Step 3. Vacuum and clean your kitchen
Remove food products from your kitchen shelves and use a vacuum cleaner to suck up any remaining flour or food crumbs. Then take a washcloth, soak it in soapy water, then wipe thoroughly on shelves and other places that are exposed to food crumbs. If you find mealybugs in your room, do the vacuuming immediately.
- Empty the vacuum cleaner as quickly as possible and throw it in the trash outside the house so the fleas don't nest in your kitchen trash can.
- That way, you won't have to use commercial insecticides or bug sprays because you've cleaned and removed the food source contaminated with fleas in your kitchen.
Step 4. Clean your kitchen shelves using white vinegar or eucalyptus oil
Once the kitchen shelves are completely clean, wipe off the liquid that the fleas hate. You can apply a mixture of half water and half white vinegar or you can use eucalyptus oil. Just dilute eucalyptus oil with a little water and then spray it on the rack.
You can also try neem, tea tree, or pine needle oil to prevent fleas from getting into your kitchen
Step 5. Put the food in a hard and airtight container
Since mealybugs can eat cardboard or bags, it's important to place food in your kitchen in hard plastic containers or airtight bottles. If you purchased a bread mix, such as a cake or muffin mix, then check for any flour fleas in it before transferring it to a special container. You can differentiate them by color or label to make the container easy to use.
You can also cut out the cooking instructions from the old food carton and place them on the kitchen storage rack
Method 2 of 2: Preventing Flea Growth
Step 1. Buy flour in sufficient quantity
If you rarely use flour, then buy a little at a time when you need it. Because if you leave the flour unused for a long period of time, it allows fleas to lay eggs there. The sooner you use the flour, the more freshness it will maintain. This way, there will be less chance for lice to infest your body.
Step 2. Leave the flour in the refrigerator
When bringing the flour home, put it in the freezer bag as soon as possible and seal it tightly. Then let it sit in the freezer for at least a week. This will help kill any eggs and lice that are nesting in the flour. After that you can remove the flour and store it in a hard, airtight container. You can also keep it in the freezer until you need it.
Step 3. Place the fresh bay leaf in the flour
Choose a bay leaf that is still fresh and place each in a container or flour sack. Some people believe that bay leaves can prevent the spread of lice. You will need to replace the bay leaf every few months or when you can no longer smell it.
Bay leaves can be found in general supermarkets in the other spices section
Step 4. Use a pheromone trap
You can buy small packs of flea traps that use pheromones to attract fleas and other kitchen bugs. These traps have sticky parts that can trap kitchen pests. Place some of these traps around your kitchen and replace them when they start to fill up.
However, if you are overwhelmed by the number of ticks, such as thousands of fleas crawling on floors and walls, then you should contact a pest control expert
Step 5. Regularly check your kitchen for fleas
We recommend that you do the inspection every one or two months. This is important because adult fleas can live for at least a year. Do not forget to clean up to the sidelines of your kitchen, especially where the possibility of fleas to breed.
Also take advantage of this opportunity to clean the kitchen shelves. Keeping the kitchen clean will prevent mealybugs from coming back
Tips
- Do not throw contaminated food in the kitchen. Take it to the trash outside the house to prevent fleas from coming back into the kitchen.
- If you buy flour that is contaminated with fleas, then immediately close tightly in an airtight container and return it to the store where you bought it.
- If you use paper mats for kitchen shelves, be sure to remove them before cleaning the shelves. Because flour lice often hide under the paper.
