Fruit Flies

They are swarming around my taps. Any good methods of getting rid of them? Seems every time I pour a pint, I get one out of the tap.

I have recently started having the same problem...I bough some tap plugs, but would love to hear other options as well...subscribed.

Take small custard cups and fill them with a soapy solution. Leave the traps close to your taps and the flies are attracted to the soapy solutions. Replace/replenish the solution often and you'd be surprised how many flies you end up with.


I culture fruit flies like crazy and have an entire closet full of them. Believe me, the soap solution works. Palmolive is best.

-Matt

Ps. Clean out your taps.

Another trick is to leave some dregs in a bottle of beer. Add a little sugar and baking yeast (or brewing) and even mash a small piece of banana or strawberry or whatever and put it in the bottle. The idiot flies go in and can't get out! Yay!!

I've heard of this except i was tld the saop needed to be in a wine or fruit vinegar to attract them?

I had fruit flies last year. This year I got those little black covers that fit over the ends of the faucets and had a few flies hovering around but none in any beer or faucet. Other than that, just fish them out of the foam and move on. That's what I did last year.

Mcbobs said:

Take small custard cups and fill them with a soapy solution. Leave the traps close to your taps and the flies are attracted to the soapy solutions. Replace/replenish the solution often and you'd be surprised how many flies you end up with.


I culture fruit flies like crazy and have an entire closet full of them. Believe me, the soap solution works. Palmolive is best.

-Matt

Ps. Clean out your taps.

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Star San will also work. I think in general they are attracted to any fragrant liquid and the soap/surfactant reduces the surface tension of the water so when they land on the water they can't stand on the surface and drown.

I've got c*cksucker Japanese Beetles in my flower garden. I pick them off and drown them in a bucket of StarSan. Or Seventh Generation dish soap solution. It's fun!

Oh boy do I feel your pain.

KayaBrew said:

I've got c*cksucker Japanese Beetles in my flower garden. I pick them off and drown them in a bucket of StarSan. Or Seventh Generation dish soap solution. It's fun!

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Wouldn't be easier to just squish em instead of wasting the star san?

+1 to StarSan. Keep a spray bottle next to the keggarator. Put a couple squirts up the tap after each pour. It sanitizes and keeps the buggers away.

I but yellow foam ear plugs in my taps

Hang a roll of fly paper near the keg for a couple days. They will all be gone.

RugenBrau said:

Wouldn't be easier to just squish em instead of wasting the star san?

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Not nearly as satisfying.

strauseman55 said:

I but yellow foam ear plugs in my taps

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Then, what do you do about the taste of earwax???

I found 3 gnats in my airlock. I figured it is just the airlock doing it's job, will it cause any problems?

Protein protein protein !!
A few fruit flies in your beer, an extra slice of ham at Subway? It's all good !
If I put caps or earplugs in my taps, I'd end up drinking one... That would be MUCH worse than drinking a fly

They don't drink much I have found. I have gotten 1 or 2 in my fermenters the last couple batches. Not that big of a deal. I mean I hate the little bastards but what are you to do?

First things first, throw out all the damn garbage! Given the choice, they love old fruit and veggies, and especially spent grain and hot/cold break from brew boils. Without any food, they survive on the moisture in the drain traps around your house. For about three days in a row, pour a little bleach into every single drain in your house. Floor drains, sinks, showers, all of em. And put a little more in every time you run a faucet. Next time they go for a drink, they burn and die the terrible painful death they deserve. by the end of three days, there aren't any eggs left to hatch and the epidemic is over. THEN, stop buying sub-grade veggies and fruits at walmart and meijer and you can avoid a re-infestation.

Hang up a plastic bag half full of water, and tightly shut, like a ziploc, between your taps. Seriously. It works like a charm. They see their reflection, 20x bigger, and think "Oh Damn! Monster fly is gonna eat me!"

JebCkr said:

Not nearly as satisfying.

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Exactly! We currently have a mouse that is driving us crazy. I have regular traps, but haven't caught it yet. I am considering getting some live traps so this bastard can have a more interesting exit from this world!

ozzy1038 said:

Exactly! We currently have a mouse that is driving us crazy. I have regular traps, but haven't caught it yet. I am considering getting some live traps so this bastard can have a more interesting exit from this world!

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I have a great cat. Every autumn she catches 1 or 2 before I even know they are there. I can always tell when she catches one because SWMBO always screams.

ozzy1038 said:

Exactly! We currently have a mouse that is driving us crazy. I have regular traps, but haven't caught it yet. I am considering getting some live traps so this bastard can have a more interesting exit from this world!

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what bait do you use? a little raw bacon and soy butter worked magic for me.

We had them REAL bad last year. I tried a few different things to get rid of them, but nothing worked better than this..

Big bowl, 1/2 cup of orange juice, 1 banana peel.
Cover it with a piece of saran wrap.
Poke some small holes in the saran wrap.

They'll get in through the holes, but can't get out.

A day or two later, problem solved.

Last night I was enjoying a blend of homebrews, Belgian Tripel mixed with a Wit with cherries in it. I set my glass on the table and did some chores only to come back, take a gulp and realize there were 4 fruit flies in the glass. I took this as a suggestion for a trap and poured the rest into a new glass and set it beside my fermenters where I had seen a few buzzing around. This morning I had at least 2 more dead in the beer, I hope to get them all.