Brown bin problems: tiny flies

[unapam]

How does one deal with the swarm of small flies that have made the brown bin their home. These are not the normal houseflies. I am told that they are fruit flies

That's not the worst of it. I live in a terraced house and when I brought it through the house some of them stopped off in the kitchen. I have sprayed and sprayed but they just keep coming - they seem to be immune to fly spray.
I have had to stop using the brown bin which goes against my green ethos. Any ideas?

UPDATE: I contacted the help line at Fingal and they said to pour boiling water into the brown bin. I tried it..but it did not work.
This bin is not going to be collected until the 26th Aug. I can't bring it through the house with those clinging to and in it.

[ireneo]

Hi
First spray a lot of fly spray into your bin and shut the lid to kill whats in it, then get a quarter of a jar of jam and top it up 3 quarters of the way with water. stir it up and leave it on top of your bin obviously without the lid and they`ll go in there and drown before the get into ur bin. Its great for wasps too. Just keep emptying the jar and refill every 2-3 days
It worked for me!
Good luck.....

[dtrc]

If you have young kids and don't like using fly killer try hairspray it 'fixes' the flies and you can then just hover them up.

I have also used the old fashioned fly sticky tape that hangs from the ceiling, its not prety but it does the job, hang it near a door or window and it gets them on the way in.

If you have a compost bin in the garden (I do and it was infested with fruit flies) Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co.Co. Environmental Awareness Officer Suggested keeping it covered with grass or shredded newspaper as it keeps the smell down and doesn't attract so many flies!

Hope this helps

[Naillij]

My compost bin (and house) full of wasps!!!!!!
horrible horrible things. cant take the babies into the garden and cant even leave their bedroom window open for naps...

[Tribesman06]

I had the same problem with wasps. I know they only last one season and are then supposed to move on or die but with small kids it was either the wasps or the kids. With that in mind I did the enviromentally unfriendly thing.............I found the nest in the garden and late at night (when the wasps are least active) I poured a litre of petrol on the nest. No need to light it because the fumes destroys the nest. Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa

[happiness]

jam jar with some jam and water in it.works for me as when they go into it they usually get caught in the water and hey presto it cheap and a way of getting rid in one piece.

[unapam]

Right - I am going to try the jam jar solution. Thanks for all your replies

[Naillij]

have jam jars full of wasps but still thousands (well maybe a slight exaageration!) of them round the place. had scout round last night and couldnt find the nest, have to get hubby to look, apparently some nests are 'ariel' in bushes etc, but some are in the ground and only have tiny hole entrance so you have to watch and see if you can see where the wasps go.... Fun

[TheBear]

have jam jars full of wasps but still thousands (well maybe a slight exaageration!) of them round the place. had scout round last night and couldnt find the nest, have to get hubby to look, apparently some nests are 'ariel' in bushes etc, but some are in the ground and only have tiny hole entrance so you have to watch and see if you can see where the wasps go.... Fun
They're a pain, but as you can see, the jam jars work. Empty them out and start again.

As the season comes to an end, the wasps get weaker and they fly slower. It's possible to just swat them with an open hand at this stage to knock them out, and then dispose of them. Obviously, don't try this when they're full of life, as they may take exception to it. :)

[Chris P]

Hi unapam,

According to "Go M.A.D. (Go Make A Difference -- 500 ways to Save the Planet)," natural fly deterrents include lemon, cloves, pine and cedar oils...and bats.

Regards
Chris P
Admin

[cathy]

hi ya, can I recommend you wrap your food in the bio bags.I think they are €4 for about 35 of them.They are the only type of bag allowed in the brown bin.They go to compost in about 18 days.This stops the smells, dirt etc.I think it helped for us .Best of luck,
cathy

[sparklesreid]

Let me know how you get on

[biddy1]

Empty a bottle of cider (if you can bear to waste one) into a bucket, wasps love apples and will go Kamakazi for the bucket. Leave it at the end of your garden and they wont go near the house.

[saundra]

[QUOTE=unapam]How does one deal with the swarm of small flies that have made the brown bin their home. These are not the normal houseflies. I am told that they are fruit flies

That's not the worst of it. I live in a terraced house and when I brought it through the house some of them stopped off in the kitchen. I have sprayed and sprayed but they just keep coming - they seem to be immune to fly spray.
I have had to stop using the brown bin which goes against my green ethos. Any ideas?

UPDATE: I contacted the help line at Fingal and they said to pour boiling water into the brown bin. I tried it..but it did not work.
This bin is not going to be collected until the 26th Aug. I can't bring it through the house with those clinging to and in it.[try vinegar in the bin]

[cler]

Heard a similar solution for getting rid of fruitflies this weekend - pour some white wine vinegar into a glass then wrap the top of the glass with cling film and pierce several times. The fruit flies are attracted to the white wine smell, crawl through the holes in the cling film and then are trapped inside and killed by the vinegar. This is good for flies in the house as the cling film will also prevent flies being spilled everywhere if the glass is accidentally knocked over.

I'm going to try it tomorrow.

[misstake]

in the country i know my mum still keeps nettles mixed with flowers to keep the flies away honest She is now 86 and still believes its the only cure for flies Ive noticed she dont get flies in the house

[HappyHunter]

I had a community of wasps living under the eves over the back window here. I watched them come and go for a few weeks out of curiosity. When I began to get an idea of how big a commune of wasps can be I decided to take action.

I bought a cheap jar of honey in Lidl, I got some neem oil and blended the two together in a flat plastic dish. I constructed a shelf using a piece of wood and some coat hangers bent in a way that the shelf hung from under the guttering right where the wasps were going in and out. Within about three days all the wasps were gone, those that did not drown when they could not resist the honey were so sickened by the taste of the neem that they went elsewhere. Of course they are more than likely infertile now because if they ingested the neem it messes up their cycle.

During normal composting bugs are welcome visitors because they are part of the decaying process in making compost, as far as I know. Washing the bin out with a solution of neem oil would help to deter the flies and be safer where there are children and pets than fly killer or other chemical insecticides.

Neem can also be applied to the skin as a repellent.

Other than that a few drops of Citronella oil in the bin should help. You can also buy Citronella oil candles to use in the garden which repel wasps and flies.

Also a clove of garlic in the bin may also do the trick on keeping the fruit flies away.

[unapam]

Thanks to all who have made suggestions. The bin was collected last Wednesday and I have washed it out with power hose and sprinkled it with vinegar. I haven't used it yet.

I love that Neem oil and soap. Great for so many things.

[the cookie monster]

bleach its the only way to get rid of them the smell will kill them hope this helps

[flybynight]

Hi, I use the bio bags and haven't had any problem with flies or bees so far. I did get a good tip (which most of you probably know already :)) from my hubby about putting meat, fish, chicken etc.....left overs in the brown bin as even in the bio bags it can pong quite a bit especially in Summer. Since visiting him in Aussie last year, I now freeze any meat leftovers including fish bones, chicken bits etc......just wrapped in a plastic bag and then put them in the brown bin the day before it's collected. Works for me.

Flybynight

[keep-it-tidy]

had the same problem my land lady changed from the council bin to aes and i tought it was great at 1st until last summer the brown bin stinked and them little flyes the min ya open the bin poof in your face :( my grandmother showed me how to stop them get domestos [cnt spell that] kitchen spray with bleach and spray the lid and underneath the lid it should stop the flys, if you have room to wash it out after every time the bin is emptty would be a help as well as your keeping it clean :) good luck

[Etana]

Try wrapping the waste in newspaper. I get those flies in the house during the summer they came from compost bin.