Dang $?%U$*(@ fruit flies

[porcupine73]

I ferment a lot of things other than homebrew. Fruit flies - what do you about these dang things. I manage to keep them at bay but I can never completely get rid of them.

I make sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir, kvass, plus homebrew, and I always see a few fruit flies loitering around somewhere. I've made traps, I slap them between my hands whenever I see them, but they're always around.

Can I use a bug zapper or one of those restaurant purple/uv light thingies maybe?

 

[Homercidal]

I've heard they love to live in your drains. Boil some water on the stove and pour into your sink drains. This should kill a good number of them. I have never been able to get rid of all of them, but doing that and trapping seemed to work pretty good last year until winter pushed them into seasonal extinction. Don't forget to take out the garbage, because they also love to breed and feed in trash cans.

The bug zapper might work. When we had real bad years back they would SWARM onto a light colored surface at night. Maybe a backlit sticky pad of some sort? Could be a new invention...

 

[Firebat138]

Apple Cider Vinegar and Dawn soap baby... I put it in a beer bottle and cap it, and then drill a hole in the top...

 

[Goofynewfie]

Get a venus fly trap

 

[porcupine73]

Wow thanks that's a lot of awesome ideas, I want to do them all. Yes I have noticed sometimes if I run water in the sink one or two will come out of there, so I'll have to down those.

I tried to set up traps with ripe kombucha in a cup covered with saran wrap with a hole, that works pretty well, I like the bottle idea better.

I love the venus fly trap idea, I really love those plants, I'll have to get some. There was a carnivorous plant display at the Botanical Gardens here, that was very neat, many plants that eat insects it was interesting.

 

[bluemoose]

Take a tall glass and put a bit of beer or wine in the bottom. Make a funnel out of paper and put it in the glass, small end down. It makes a perfect trap. Just make sure they can't get out. The smaller the hole in the bottom of the funnel the better.

It'll take a week to get them all. Make sure you cover your keg taps. They love to get up in there.

 

[porcupine73]

Thanks I will try that out. I have taps on my kombucha fermenters. Strangely I have never seen them get on or up in those, I would think they would love it. I think they like the smell of kombucha but I think maybe it kills them if they drink it. If they get into the kombucha it definitely kills them, I guess they drown maybe.

I've seen them getting into my airlocks too, like sometimes four or five big ones in there. I use the cheap vodka in the airlocks so I'm hoping that's enough to keep it sterile in there.

 

[headbanger]

Apple Cider Vinegar and Dawn soap baby... I put it in a beer bottle and cap it, and then drill a hole in the top...

Yes, this works well for me too. I just use a glass though and beer works as well as vinegar especially after sitting out a few days. It's also good to keep some foam on top too so the little bastages get trapped in it quicker.

 

[dkwolf]

Boil some water on the stove and pour into your sink drains. This should kill a good number of them.

That's good for your drains anyway. After having to have roto-rooter come clean out the bathroom sink drain, he told me to leave the water running as hot as I can get it while I shave - the hot water loosens the grease buildup in the pipes and flushes it downstream. Once a month or so, I'll run hot water down the sink drains for 5 minutes or so as well, filling the sink to the brim and pulling the plug out once or twice to give it a good, high-volume flush.

(Hey, what's worse... wasting 100 gallons or so of water a month, or dumping bottle after bottle of harsh chemical drain cleaners down the drain....)

 

[porcupine73]

The plastic cups with some kombucha and drops of soap in them worked great. At first I didn't think they were doing anything since I never saw fruit flies around them ... then I dumped on into the sink - eureka there must've been a couple dozen of the bastages in the bottom.

Nature also helped out, as some daddy long legs spiders moved in and set up their webs between the airlocks between many different carboys.

 

[Zuljin]

I have a spider that lives in my brew closet too. It's a reddish brown stripey spider.

 

[rhamilton]

Clean your kitchen, flush your disposal, take out the trash.

Then take a nice high ABV malty beer (I like 10%+ barleywine), drink half, then pour the rest into a glass. Sit it out. Now go away for a day or two.

The malty aroma will attract the fruit flies. The high ABV will kill them. Now it has to be high strength since you've probably seen them drinking lower ABV and having a good time but 10%+ will kill them almost on the spot. Dispose after a day or so.

Repeat when they come back.

 

[porcupine73]

Ahhh ok, could I just maybe add some cheap vodka to it to raise the abv enough?

 

[Subsailor]

Get a venus fly trap

Also try Sundews and Butterworts. I raise carnivorous plants and actually release fruit flies in their area, along with other insects that my grandchildren collect.

 

[rhamilton]

Ahhh ok, could I just maybe add some cheap vodka to it to raise the abv enough?

Or that. You just want something sweet smelling to get their attention. Maybe fruit juice + vodka?

 

[porcupine73]

Hm fruit juice and vodka lying around in a cup is going to be too tempting to drink in its own right ... probably when I've already had too much homebrew ... then just after I swallow it I'll wonder what that slightly gritty texture was ... then I'll remember this thread hahaha...

 

[ajlee]

We've done the vinegar and dish soap thing, works well. Found that sometimes they will hang around the edge of the bowl and not go in. For those, a quick spray of Lysol speeds things along.