Moths

[Aint2nuts]

Suddenly. I HAVE MOTHS. I can't find out where they are coming from. I had an infestation about this time last year.

 

Help!~

 

ALSO ANTS.. marching on my abode. They got into sealed crackers. Ruined. The house was sprayed outside yesterday--nada

[CrabGrassAcres]

Probably came in hiding in the cereal boxes or some such place. Can you repackage the cereal, crackers, flour, etc and rotate thru the freezer? Also, take a disposable dish and put a bit of flour in it and lay a piece of paper lightly over the top. Put it in the pantry. Take it out weekly and dispose of it in the trash and put a fresh one in. This will attract a lot of the moths to lay their eggs and you can get them out of the house.

 

For ants, try mixing borax with sugar and setting small dishes all over where they get in. I like bottle caps for the dishes.

[PoGo]

Aint2nuts, here are a few posts wherein moths have been discussed.

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...ed&Number=28768

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...d&Number=158059

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...d&Number=136639

[Andrea]

Very Clever Crabgrass!

 

I also am battling Indian moths. I buy those traps that have female pheremones in them and the moths get stuck and die. I also double ziploc all of my dry goods and have recently purchased a Pump & Seal and am now storing almost everything in airsealed canning jars or in ziplocs in the freezer. The only thing they seem to have infested that I had to throw out was a box of crackers and a jar of raisins that the kiddoes didn't seal back up and had gotten pushed to the back of the pantry. I regularly (every few months) clean out my dry goods cupboards by emptying everything out, washing down with bleach water, and strewing the shelves with bay leaves before putting everything back. I also check everything carefully as I'm putting them back in. And I still battle the pesky things!

 

But I'm going to try Crabgrasses idea for the female moths! Good idea!

[Crazy4Canning]

Well, we buy these little things at Walmart called Grants for Ants. Little cyanide gels that ants love. They are CHEAP and they really work.

[KallieKat]

My sis recently had a large container of oatmeal full of moths, I had never had that happen before, first time seeing that.I freeze our dry goods, then store in Zip Locks or jars, or what can fit into a 2 litre soda bottle. We have ant invasions here too, especially in the dry months. Because of kids and critters, I spray vinegar on base boards, around windows, wherever the ants are marching in.For anthills near the house, they get a dose of grits. It doesn't really kill them, but tends to make them pack up and move somewhere else.

[westbrook]

try the Amdro ant stakes.. I have them everywhere! Pulled out the clothes to wash.. mind you I wash Mon, Wed, Fri. and low and behold ants! put an ant stake in corner of dirty clothes cupboard and gone! nothing but dirty clothes and the ants were all over them! I could see it if I had little ones with candy and gum hiding in pockets.. but I don't have little ones! and husband doesn't do sweets.

 

Moths... take everything out... bomb or spray the cupboard and close up for a few days.

 

throw out everything pasta, rice, flour, boxes of crackers, cookies and etc. Sorry.

 

Now that you know you have a problem.... you have to stay on top of it.

 

It isn't you.. it may not even be the food stuffs... it may be you have moths in the area! I have wool moths and no matter what I do, I still have them! Ruined wool suits.. good thing I can tailor to make new! grrrrrrrr. Cedar closets? yep got them! does it help? it detour them but that is about it.

 

Back to the cupboard..... here is a natural bug detour, mint especially pennyroyal! pick leaves, do a rough chop. Sprinkle it on the shelves of your cupboard. It will dry out. Every week... or when ever you are on that shelf looking around... run your hand over the dry leaves to reactive it. every couple of months... remove and add new.

 

this will NOT get rid of moths or bugs but it will help detour then from moving in. this is an old pioneer trick I learned from my Grandmother as she learned from her Mother as learned from her Mother and so on.

 

some herbs ... Ants and moths: pennyroyal, spearmint, southernwood, tansy, feverfew, hyssop, rosemary, thyme, sage, wormwood, celery, catnip, nasturtium, marigold, Lemon Balm, Basil

 

 

oh my goodness this belongs in the herb forum.. but will post here too...

 

For a quick bug repellent, pick leaves and flowers of basil (Ocimum basilicum), lemon balm (Melissa officianalis), pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) or catnip (Nepeta cataria). Simply crush them and rub on your skin. Catnip, a perennial in USDA hardiness zones 5-7, grows in almost any condition and deters mosquitoes extremely well. In fact, according to researchers at Iowa State University, the essential oil in catnip is 10 times more effective at repelling mosquitoes than DEET!

 

 

 

[westbrook]

I am going to cross reference this to the herb forum on natural ways to rid moths, ants, fleas, mosquitos and etc. so I won't be duplicating the information.

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...ge=1#Post243993

[Campy]

For ants ONLY, use cornmeal. Sprinkle it across their trails and around their nest (if you see it). They bring it back to the nest, but they can not digest it, so they die. In order to get rid of them permanently, you need to kill the queen. The cornmeal will do it (takes several weeks though) and is safe around kids and pets.