Hi!
I have had little creepies in my kitchen cupboards, wooden bread bin and wooden wine rack and they have been identified as bookmites. I have cleaned out cupboards and put the bread bin in the freezer and ‘touch wood’ seems to have worked but I am having trouble getting rid of them in the wine rack. It is a rather expensive solid wood wine rack with all the necessary criss cross wood inside to hold the wine – hence not easy to get at.
Can you suggest anything to kill them. It is far too big to go into our freezer.
Booklice are commonly found in homes. They got this name because they are readily found in books or magazines and will thrive on the components of the printed material which many times has food grade ingredients as well as the cellulose (paper). Books also tend to collect moisture and grow small amounts of mold or algae on which booklice can survive. Their proper name is psocids and these small, vulnerable insects are easy to kill but persistent once they start nesting in any home.
I suspect there is a good level of moisture in your kitchen and I’m sure either the bread bin or the wine rack is not the source of the problem but in all likelihood, one of many places they have begun to forage. In most cases they will initiate in close proximity to water, like around sinks or the cupboards, and from there migrate and on any day may be seen in or on surrounding objects. The good news is they don’t eat much and they aren’t known to spread bacteria or disease like roaches. That being said, they are a bit unnerving when found in food areas of the home so getting rid of them is what most people like to do once the infestation is identified.
I suggest you review our online PSOCID CONTROL article which covers this pest in great detail. In the article there are three products I strongly recommend you employ. The first one is the ROUGH AND READY cleaner. This product does a great job of removing the food on which booklice like to eat. Remove everything from the cupboards, wine rack and bread bin. Next, vacuum these areas and then wipe them down with the Rough and Ready. Allow the area to dry good for at least 1-2 hours and then proceed to step two.
Second, treat the cupboards, rack and bread bin (all still empty) with the PT-CYKICK or D-FORCE aerosol. Either product will leave a residual that will be active for 2-4 weeks so any booklice you miss when cleaning and vacuuming, t will control. The Cykick is mostly odorless; the D-Force will leave a slight odor.
Third, keep a can of the PT-565 around so that if you see any booklice during the next 3 weeks, you can spray them and the area with a quick 1-2 second blast of 565. This product doesn’t last long (it does not provide any residual) like Cykick. But this allows you to use 565 around such areas with little to no preparation compared to the Cykick. For this reason it’s good to have around so you can use some as needed in between the more extensive Cykick or D-Force treatments. Even safer to use is the organic FLYING INSECT KILLER which will work well on booklice and like the 565, won’t leave a residual.
After 3 weeks, if you are still seeing a substantial amount of booklice, remove all the food stuff and treat again with the Cykick making sure to do at least the same areas but probably even more since you must have missed something the first time you treated. Booklice are susceptable to the Cykick and a good treatment with it should solve any infestation if done thoroughly.
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