Pick 'Em or Sift 'Em

• Flour weevils are not disease-carriers or tagged as pests that transfer illnesses to humans. Despite their harmless nature, their mere presence can be a nuisance. Flour that contains weevils is still usable, although it is better to kill or remove the pests first. If there are only a few weevils in sight, picking them out by hand is an option. If doing so makes you squeamish, putting the flour through a sifter is also an option. You can, of course, throw the flour out, but it's best to treat it before you do.

Heat 'Em Up

• If you worry about missing a few weevils during sifting or hand picking, heat treatment is a highly effective way of ridding your flour of weevils. Heating the flour in the oven kills all weevil stages, including the eggs. Simply empty the flour into a baking pan and pop it in an oven heated to a temperature between 125 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit for a minimum of 30 minutes. Running the flour through the sifter after heating helps to remove any weevil remains.

Freeze 'Em Out

• Freezing provides another means to kill weevils and salvage the flour at the same time. Keep in mind that with freezing comes excess moisture, so it is important to place the flour in a tightly sealed plastic bag before freezing. Place the flour -- packaging and all -- inside the plastic bag and put it in the freezer for a minimum of four days. Remove the flour from the freezer and sift.

Keep 'Em Away

• Of course, if you feel the flour is too heavily infested, throw it out. But, before discarding, heat-treat the flour to kill the weevils or they may live on in the garbage can, crawling out and making their way back to your pantry. Vacuum and wash down the pantry with soapy water, caulk crevices and treat the area with an insecticide specifically designed for the task. Store flour in a tightly sealed plastic bag to prevent the weevil problem from occurring in the future.