Your Honey Jar is a Sweet Golden Trap
That innocent honey jar sitting on your counter might as well have a neon sign flashing “All You Can Eat Buffet” for ants. Ants are attracted to honey because of its sugar content, with more diluted honey being particularly attractive to ants. But here’s what most people don’t realize – it’s not just the honey inside that’s the problem. Even if honey residue exists on the outside of your jar, ants will still get attracted, and they should be lucky to have only one or two sources from where ants are coming.
The problem gets worse when you consider how ants actually find your honey. Researchers have discovered that ants find food by sending out individual scouter ants to search for food, which then randomly search and carry food back to the nest, leaving pheromone trails behind to guide other ants back to the food source. Once that first scout discovers your honey, you’re dealing with an army, not just a few stragglers.
Open Cereal Boxes are Pantry Pest Highways
Pantry pests are most likely to infest products that have been opened but they also can get into unopened paper, thin cardboard, and plastic, foil or cellophane-wrapped packages by chewing their way into packages or crawling in through folds and seams. That innocent cereal box you casually folded shut isn’t fooling anyone, especially not the determined beetles and moths eyeing your breakfast supply.
Insects inside an infested package multiply and can spread to other stored foods not only in the same area but in other rooms in a home, with all insect stages (egg, larva, pupa, and adult) present at the same time in infested products. The University of Minnesota Extension notes that insects infesting stored foods such as flour, cereal and other dried goods is one of the most common household insect problems, with many different kinds of insects called “pantry pests”.
Pet Food Bags are Pest Paradise
Your furry friend’s kibble might be more attractive to pests than you think. High carbohydrate content in dry kibble, especially, can attract ants, while the fats in pet food appeal to roaches and rodents, with seasonal variations impacting pest activity during warmer months like spring and summer. But the real shocker is what’s happening before the food even reaches your home.
The moths you find in dry pet food, such as dog kibble, cat food, or birdseed, are usually Indian meal moths attracted to dry food sources where their eggs can be easily hidden, with moths often infesting pet food before it even enters your home during processing, storage in warehouses, or transport. According to FDA data, over 1,300 adverse event reports concerning pet food contamination were received in 2023, making proper pet food storage more critical than most pet owners realize.
Spice Jars with Loose Lids
According to the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), a group of insects referred to as “pantry pests” can infest common kitchen pantry items such as flour, dry cereal, spices, candies and chocolate. Those expensive spice jars with loose-fitting lids aren’t just losing flavor – they’re broadcasting dinner invitations to every pest in your neighborhood.
Drugstore beetles are about 1/8 inch long, oval, and brown with heads bent down giving them a humped appearance, fly and can be found around windows, and feed on dried plant products such as spices, macaroni and other grain based foods, dried flowers, tobacco products and paper products. The University of Minnesota Extension warns that these tiny beetles can chew through surprisingly tough packaging, making even seemingly secure containers vulnerable to infestation.
Overflowing Trash Cans Without Tight Lids
Improper garbage disposal is a major attractant for pests, with indoor trash cans needing tight-locking lids and regular emptying to maintain a pest-free kitchen. But it’s not just about emptying the trash – the lid situation is more critical than most people realize.
Bugs love kitchens because they provide three essential elements that pests need to survive: food, water and shelter, with kitchens becoming particularly attractive harborage sites when the temperature drops, as pests seek shelter and sustenance from the abundance of food and moisture coupled with warmth from cooking appliances. Your overflowing trash can essentially becomes pest headquarters, especially when combined with the warmth and moisture typical in most kitchens.
Fruit Bowls Left on Counters
While fruit may look pretty on your countertop, it’s an inviting buffet for fruit flies. Those Instagram-worthy fruit bowls are basically pest magnets that get worse with time. Fruit flies are attracted to ripe or fermenting fruits, including bananas, drawn to the sugars and odors emitted by overripe fruit, with female fruit flies able to lay up to 500 eggs near these fruits, leading to quick infestations in your kitchen.
The problem accelerates because bananas produce ethylene gas that speeds up ripening and can attract fruit flies. This means your beautiful fruit display isn’t just attracting pests to the fruit itself – it’s actually speeding up the ripening process of everything in the bowl, creating a cascade effect of pest attraction. Many homeowners don’t realize that even washing fruit doesn’t eliminate the risk, as you should wash your produce when you get it home to remove any eggs or larvae and then store it in the refrigerator or an air-tight container.
