Mowbray is busy and mixed: old cottages, student digs, a station and taxi rank, small shops and the Liesbeek running along one side. That combination keeps us busy with rats, cockroaches and, more than most suburbs, bed bugs.
Stored product pests around Mowbray
Student kitchens with half-open bags of pasta and cereal collect weevils and pantry moths. Corner shops and food outlets need regular checks of their storerooms.
A lot of the housing is Victorian and Edwardian semi-detached cottages and terraces, many converted into student lets or split into rooms. Shared walls, old suspended timber floors and crumbling air bricks give rodents and cockroaches easy movement between homes. Blocks of flats near Main Road add shared ducts and bin rooms. The commercial strip around the station has takeaways and small grocers with busy back yards.
The Liesbeek River runs along the eastern side, joining the Black River near the Observatory boundary, and its banks are a natural highway for rats. Table Mountain's Devil's Peak side rises behind Groote Schuur, bringing heavy winter rainfall and damp walls. Old stormwater drains under the streets connect the river to the houses.
Rats are the top call, especially in houses near the river and the Main Road shops. German cockroaches are rife in shared kitchens of student houses. Bed bugs and fleas move with tenants and their furniture, and fishmoths like the damp older homes.
From the technician
A lot of people think pantry insects mean a dirty kitchen. In reality they nearly always arrive in a packet from the shop, so even a spotless pantry can get them.
Tell-tale signs
- Small brown or reddish beetles walk along pantry shelves or across the kitchen counter.
- Flour has a greyish tint, a musty smell or moves slightly when you look closely.
- Insects collect in the folds of packaging or along the seams of sealed boxes and bags.
- Silky webbing clumps cereal, nuts or pet food together, sometimes with small caterpillars inside.
How we handle stored product pest control in Mowbray
The first and most important step is finding and removing every infested product, because no treatment works while the insects still have food. Shelves, cracks and crevices, and the gaps behind and under cupboards and racking are vacuumed out to remove spilt product and eggs. We then apply a targeted residual treatment into cracks and crevices, and an insect growth regulator where the pest is a moth or beetle that keeps cycling through. Pheromone traps for moths and beetles go in to monitor for survivors and new arrivals. In warehouses, mills and food factories, larger infestations of bulk commodities may need fumigation, which we plan and carry out separately under the right controls.
Want the full step-by-step? See how our stored product pest control service works.
Keeping them out afterwards
- Move flour, rice, cereal, pasta and pet food into sealed glass or hard plastic containers as soon as you get them home.
- Store birdseed and pet food away from the kitchen, as these are common sources of pantry moths.
- Put new bags of flour or grain in the freezer for a few days if you have had weevils before, which kills eggs inside.
- In commercial stores, rotate stock on a first-in, first-out basis and keep pallets off walls so you can inspect behind them.
- Buy dry goods in amounts you will use within a month or two, rather than letting big bags sit at the back of the cupboard.
What affects the price
For homes, the cost depends mostly on how big the pantry is and how far the insects have spread into other cupboards. For commercial sites, the size of the storage area, the type of commodity, the level of infestation and whether fumigation is needed all affect the price. Food businesses that need regular monitoring and audit paperwork are usually best on a service contract, and we quote free after an inspection.
In a home pantry, throwing out infested food, a thorough clean and sealed containers fixes most problems, and we will happily talk you through that over the phone. Spraying insecticide in a cupboard full of food is a bad idea, so please do not. Where you need a professional is when the insects keep returning after a clean-out, or when you have a commercial store, bakery or factory where losses and audits are at stake.
Stored Product Pest Control questions from Mowbray
Do I have to throw everything away?
Throw away anything infested and anything open that is close to it. Unopened tins and sealed jars are generally fine once wiped down.
Are these insects harmful if I eat them by accident?
They are not known to be dangerous in small amounts, but infested food is contaminated and should not be eaten or sold.
How quickly can you treat a student house in Mowbray for bed bugs?
Our average turnaround is about 48 hours, depending on the season. Send us a photo on WhatsApp first so we can confirm it is bed bugs and tell you how to prepare the rooms.
Do you come out to Mowbray for stored product pest control?
Yes. Mowbray is part of our regular Southern Suburbs route, along with Observatory, Rosebank, Rondebosch, Pinelands. Most bookings are done within about 48 hours, and after-hours visits can be arranged.
Can I spray inside the pantry?
We would not recommend it. A thorough clean-out and sealed storage do more, and any residual treatment should be targeted into cracks, not sprayed over shelves that hold food.
Do the rats in Mowbray come from the Liesbeek River?
Many of them do. The river banks and connected stormwater drains give them shelter, so houses on the river side need sealed air bricks and well-closed bins.
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