DEAR SUN SPOTS: What are the little bugs that get in boxes of cereal and pasta and how do you get rid of them? If we put a box of pasta on the shelf, in no time it has these bugs in the bottom and they put holes in your pasta, like chew holes. We can’t shop ahead at all anymore. — No Name via email

ANSWER: Sun Spots does not have enough information to tell you what kind of bugs they are (pantry weevils?), but she can give you some tips on getting rid of them.

Start by throwing out everything that is not in a sealed jar or a can. Flour, all pasta, rice, anything in a paper or cardboard container must go. 

Take everything else out of your cupboards and wash them thoroughly. This means everything! You’ll need to really clean to even stand a chance of beating the bugs. 

Use rubber gloves and water laced with chlorine bleach and wipe down every surface in your cupboards and drawers.

After all is clean, use metal cans, glass jars or good-quality plastic containers to store all your dry goods. Don’t leave out anything bugs might eat. This includes things like potatoes and pet food. (Don’t starve your pets; just feed them away from the kitchen and don’t let old food stand around.)

If the infestation is too severe, cleaning alone may not work and you may need to consult an exterminator. They can identify the bugs and recommend a pesticide. You will still have to throw all the infected food away.

Alternatively, you can capture some of the bugs and identify them online. The state has a website with several options for pest identification: maine.gov/agriculture/pesticides/gotpests/more-help-with-pest-id.html 

DEAR SUN SPOTS: This may be the pickle recipe a reader asked for on Aug. 3. My mother got the recipe for sweet pickle chunks from a friend of hers years ago. I still make them every year.

Take seven medium cucumbers. Pour boiling water over them and let them sit. Repeat for four days, pouring off the water before adding new boiling water.

On the fifth day, after pouring off water from the previous day, cut them into chunks. 

Bring pickling mixture (6 cups of sugar, 2 tablespoons pickling spice, 5 teaspoons salt, 4 cups of vinegar) to a boil and pour over the cucumber chunks. Let them sit.

On the third day in the mixture, heat them to a boil and pour into sterilized jars.

I then process them in a water bath. My mother simply stored hers in the refrigerator. — Harriet Lewis Robinson, Otisfield

ANSWER: The three recipes Sun Spots received are very similar, with the differences primarily in the quantities of the ingredients.

DEAR MRS. SUN SPOTS: I also read your column every day. However, this is the first time I have responded to a query.

Enclosed is the recipe for company best pickles.

20 medium cucumbers

8 cups sugar

2 tablespoons mixed spices

5 teaspoons salt

4 cups vinegar

Cover cukes with boiling water, stand until morning. Drain. Do the same three nights.

On the fifth day, drain and slice. Bring other ingredients to a boil. Pour over cucumbers. Stand for two days.

On third day bring all to a boil, can in jars and seal. 

This recipe is at least 80 years old and sounds like the one in question on Aug. 3. Hope this is what she is looking for. — Pat Edwards, Auburn

DEAR SUN SPOTS: This recipe for sliced sweet pickles might be the one that No Name via email is looking for. A friend gave it to me, so I don’t know if it came from the extension office or not. They are very sweet and crunchy.

Cover 16 pickling cukes with boiling water daily for four days. Pour off previous day’s cold water.

On fifth day, slice cukes a half-inch thick. Boil syrup of 8 cups sugar, 4 cups vinegar, 4 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon powdered clove, 1 teaspoon dry mustard and 1 teaspoon powdered turmeric.

Cover cukes with syrup and let stand for 24 hours. On sixth day, drain and heat syrup to a boil. Heat jars. Put cukes into glass jars with a few cloves in each jar (I use two in a jelly jar). 

Cover with hot liquid. Clean and seal jars. Make sure liquid is hot, because lids may not seal (pop) correctly. Those that don’t seal, may be refrigerated and eaten in a reasonable amount of time. — Elaine, Lewiston

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