Beetles

[frankie]

I seem to have a plague of very tiny beetles, no larger than a pin head, in the house.  I have no idea where they are coming from and have cleared out all cupboards and sprayed Maton inside them before putting tins back.  They are all through the house, not just in the kitchen and bathroom.  It is quite disconcerting to find them in the kettle, mugs, bed and living rooms.
Has anyone else had these and if so, how did you get rid of them?

[Quietman]

Are they beetles, or ants ??

We had a plague of ants which seem to live in the walls of the house. We put 3 or 4 ant traps (from Mercadonna, Green colour) and that seems to have solved the problem.

However, we did find that they were only around in the morning, especially if we had dropped a crumb of food on the floor.

They were also "wandering " around the kitchen cupboards, but we found that a spray of ant powder, in the area where they were seen, soon sorted it.

Hope that you get it sorted.

[olly]

 If they are tiny ants, they will be pharough ants which are a pain , and hard to get rid of once in the house.
DO NOT try spraying them with ant killer , as this just makes the colony split up, and there are more than one queen in a colony. This just makes them colonize all over the house.
It’s a long job, but, if you can get some boric acid from the chemist, mix it with smooth peanut butter and Castor sugar, ( a teaspoon of each.) then get some drinking straws and fill them with the mixture, then cut them into 1 inch lengths and put them everywhere you see the ants following each other, they will take the bait back to the colony and this will kill the colony. It may take some time and patience, (over a year or two,) to see them all off, but it works.
Had them in our house, but because I knew how to get rid of them, no longer a problem.
Or you could go to your local Town Hall and see if they know anyone who would fumigate the whole house.
Hope this helps.

[frankie]

No they are not ants as they fly around in front of the TV at night!  It is 3 weeks now since they arrived and I am no closer to finding where they came from than back then.  It is quite disconcerting to have them crawl over me at night!!

[olly]

 Welcome back online.
A photo of the beetles might help us identify them if you could put one on.
Meantime, try looking up the drugstore, or bread beetle on Wikipedia. They sound like the type you have.

[frankie]

Taking a photo is doubtful as they are no larger than a pin head.  Never had them before and would really like them gone...  I will look at the bread beetle as you suggest.

[frankie]

YESSSSS!  That's it! 
Many thanks, Olly!!
I will now check to see if they are coming from any of my dried herbs.

[olly]

 Good luck.
Hope you soon get rid of them.

[frankie]

I threw out all the old herbs (some I'd brought over from UK 16 yrs ago!!!) and washed the wooden container they hung in with disinfectant yesterday.  So far, I have only seen one this morning!   
Fingers crossed

[frankie]

While still seeing one or two a day, since the clear out of my old herbs, it does seem to have worked in eradicating them.
Thanks Olly for pointing me in the right direction...

[olly]

 Your very welcome.
 Glad you’ve nearly got rid of the the little blighters.

[frankie]

I am still seeing the odd one or two but nothing like before and it's so nice not having them crawling over me at night!!!