bugs on my wrappers

[Dizzwave]

Hey pu fans,
This weekend I noticed some very small, off-white insects crawling on a couple of my bing wrappers. Not a lot of them -- just one on this one, one on that one -- I had to really look to see them. They're really tiny -- 1mm I think? (maybe 2mm, hard to say) And they're slow crawlers, don't jump, and are apparently wingless.
I think I've seen them before, crawling across the page of a book I was reading. Does anyone know what these are? They don't appear to be interested in the tea itself, but I didn't have time to really get in there and look.
Might they be termites? I also found something online called booklice, but it's hard to tell what they might be -- I thought I'd ask here first in case any of y'all have seen them too.
Thanks!
Dave

[shogun89]

It doesnt sound like its anything to worry about as they are in small quantities. I would just keep an eye on everything and make sure it dosent get out of hand, and DO NOT spray the cakes with pesticides! LOL

[Dizzwave]

hahaha, thanks, I'll try not to!

[beecrofter]

Do a web search using the term "pantry pests" those are the ones o worry about

Google images might be a good one to try

[Dizzwave]

Hmm, most of those pantry pests are bigger and nastier than what I saw this morning, luckily. Oh well, this'll be a good excuse to clean and re-organize my tea cabinet -- and do a long overdue mold spot-check on some of my cakes!
thanks again,
dave

[Salsero]

Be sure to let us know how it is looking and what your thoughts are.

[geeber1]

bugs on my wrappers ... is that like tears on my pillow?

Hope you figure out where those critters came from dizzwave!

[Dizzwave]

haha, where's Tenuki when you need a good tea song?

thanks guys, I'll keep you posted..

[puerhking]

When I recieved a few bings from Hong Kong they had a couple of really small bugs. Killed them and never saw them again. No worries.

[MarshalN]

If you just got them, it's from wherever the tea was stored.

Where do you live? Are you in a slightly humid environment?

These bugs don't eat tea. They eat the paper.

[Drax]

If you just got them, it's from wherever the tea was stored.

Where do you live? Are you in a slightly humid environment?

These bugs don't eat tea. They eat the paper.

Yikes... that could be very bad, I have a lot of books! Or do they only eat tea-paper?

Either way, extremely good to know to keep an eye out for stuff like this. Any ideas on how to safely fumigate.....?

[TIM]

If you just got them, it's from wherever the tea was stored.

Where do you live? Are you in a slightly humid environment?

These bugs don't eat tea. They eat the paper.

Yikes... that could be very bad, I have a lot of books! Or do they only eat tea-paper?

Either way, extremely good to know to keep an eye out for stuff like this. Any ideas on how to safely fumigate.....?

Freeze it... And gently defrost.

http://www.cigartrends.com/viewtopic.php?t=1984
http://www.cigartrends.com/viewtopic.php?t=1950

[hop_goblin]

If you just got them, it's from wherever the tea was stored.

Where do you live? Are you in a slightly humid environment?

These bugs don't eat tea. They eat the paper.

exactly. Dizz you have it right the first time.. book lice

[Dizzwave]

If you just got them, it's from wherever the tea was stored.

Where do you live? Are you in a slightly humid environment?

These bugs don't eat tea. They eat the paper.

They're so tiny that I'm not sure whether I just got them or not.. It's possible they've been there for months and i just noticed them.
I live in Portland, OR, which I think has fairly "normal" humidity for the US, I guess (lately anyway).. But my humidor has been fluctuating between 60-75% RH lately.

Anyway, thanks for the tips all... I might just try cleaning out the cabinet, make sure there are no little infestations in some dark corner, dusting it all out....
and if that doesn't seem to work, perhaps I'll try Tim's freezing idea.
Thanks!
dave

[shogun89]

Wait, are talking freezing the cake?!! That doesn't sound like a good idea to me.