Intense Fruit Fly Infestation

[BennyG]

Hello all,

First time poster, but I've been around lurking in the shadows and reading random posts for a while. I've been struggling with fruit flies for a while now, but with the start of my blueberry wine they really seem like they are getting out of control. I've tried apple cider vinegar, sugar water, red wine, and some of the f-pack sweetener that I had lying around but to no avail!
They are really getting bad and I'm at a complete loss for what to do. I live outside of Pittsburgh and the heat hasn't been too bad, but it is warm, and the humidity is what you'd imagine.
Does anybody have any advice on how to get rid of these without just scrapping all my wine?! It's gotten to the point where I'm just sucking them up with the sweeper a few times a day.

-Benny

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

Flytape

 

[bernardsmith]

Flypaper and a fan might help.

 

[Urkelbot]

Since I'm somewhat of a slob I get a batch of fruit flies every summer. I try vinegar traps and fly paper which cuts back on their population but they're prolific. There are a lot in my garage/basement, where there is no food or garbage with the homebrew. I just have to clean out the airlocks every month or so on the more popular brews. The starsan in the airlocks should kill all the acetobacter or other nasty microbes infesting the flies.

 

[PatrickSweetman]

During the winemaking months I have clouds of them moving around the house, looking for the source of the fruit smells. I guess they breed in the little slops and spills that I miss cleaning up. But they are never a danger to the wine because it is at the other side of an airlock bubbler.

Edit: I put a lump of cotton wool in the airlock to prevent them drownding themselves in the airlock water.

 

[lukebuz]

Try some fermenting pears in a 20 oz pop bottle (with the top cut off, inserted upside down). Google it. Works for me everytime. They seem to go nuts for the pears, but not so much vinegar, red wine, etc...

 

[Krieger]

I've used something similar to Lukebuz: Apple cider vinegar(regular doesn't work, the apple cider is sweeter), and a couple of drops of dish soap in a 20 oz bottle. Inverting the top may help, but I usually don't, I just periodically check the bottle and if there are some in there, I close it off, give it a shake, and open it again. I've killed hoards of fruit flies, and drain flies this way. It's highly effective.

 

[BennyG]

The apple cider vinegar didn't really work for me in the past. I just gave my house a good scrub down and re-sanitized all of my buckets and carboys, it seems to have done something so far. I did see a few spiders too, never thought I'd be happy to see one of those lurking in the corners!
I also put some grain alcohol in all of my air locks, for some reason, the flies don't seem to be bothering my Plum Mead or Dandelion, just the blueberry.