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brown bin - how to deal with flies

  • 20-03-2011 2:35pm
    #1
    Turty3
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 95 ✭✭


    :( I live with just one other person so the amount of food waste we put in the brown bin is minimal. As a result our bin only becomes half-full over approximately three months. While that's a financial saving it means we have a serious problem with these little fruit flies :eek: that emerge and multiply rapidly. As it's an organic-waste bin I don't want to use chemical fly spray to kill them but they're invading my kitchen now that the weather is a bit warmer and they're a nuisance. I've tried trapping them in containers, I've tried swatting the little blighters too, I keep the windows & doors closed now so they don't get in often but they multiply far quicker than I can kill them. I use 100% biodegradable bags, I've lined the bin with cardboard, I can't keep the bin free of them. Does anyone know how to eradicate them? Is there something I can do with the bin itself to prevent them emerging in the first place? :mad: I'm starting to think I may give up on the brown bin and go back to stuffing all food waste in with all regular waste so at least my space is free of this irritants...


Comments

  • #2
    Macha
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 6,376 Mod ✭✭✭✭Macha


    Jam jar with some syrupy water? Worked for me when a certain flatmate left a bowl of food in the kitchen for 2 weeks and the flies took advantage.


  • #3
    Macha
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 6,376 Mod ✭✭✭✭Macha


    Gentle reminder that this isn't AH

    Edit: Off topic posts deleted.


  • #4
    MASTER...of the bra
    Closed Accounts Posts: 411 ✭✭MASTER...of the bra


    I leave my little kitchen waste bin outside the back door, grand, not a problem.

    If your in a flat can you not leave it on a outside window sill.


  • #5
    edwinkane
    Closed Accounts Posts: 376 ✭✭edwinkane


    MASTER...of the bra wrote: »
    I leave my little kitchen waste bin outside the back door, grand, not a problem.

    If your in a flat can you not leave it on a outside window sill.

    It's unlikely the OP keeps the brown bin indoor for the three months mentioned between being emptied.

    If I were the OP I would either (i) get a smaller brown bin or (ii) find a neighbour or neighbours who have/has a similar problem and all use the one bin which then gets emptied more regularly.

    If neither (i) or (ii) is possible, the other idea which might help is to go a garden center and buy a piece of plastic wind break, which can also be used as a fly screen. Then have it made so it fits snugly over the top of your open bin in such a way that the lid can be closed on top of it, and it can be easily briefly removed or opened to allow you to put your waste in. Then, if there are any flies, they can't get in or out while the fly screen is in place.


  • #6
    Turty3
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 95 ✭✭Turty3


    :) certainly I wasn't suggesting I have an organic waste bin in the kitchen for three months - it's the large waste bin in the garden that seems to erupt with the little flies and somehow they then get into the kitchen (they are tiny so it could be anything) where i have a mini organic waste bin too (that i empty every couple of days). I'll try the syrup suggestion, ring the council about a smaller bin & talk to a neighbour about sharing a bin - thanks guys.


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  • #7
    edwinkane
    Closed Accounts Posts: 376 ✭✭edwinkane


    Turty3 wrote: »
    :) certainly I wasn't suggesting I have an organic waste bin in the kitchen for three months - it's the large waste bin in the garden that seems to erupt with the little flies and somehow they then get into the kitchen (they are tiny so it could be anything) where i have a mini organic waste bin too (that i empty every couple of days). I'll try the syrup suggestion, ring the council about a smaller bin & talk to a neighbour about sharing a bin - thanks guys.

    I'll bet you the syrup won't work in a garden. A smaller bin is probably a good idea, and a properly fitted flyscreen could be made for less than €5, with a piece of plant screen and a few bits a "2 be 2" or similar, as I think it's colloquially known.


  • #8
    Merch
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,327 ✭✭✭Merch


    few sheets of newspaper, slightly damp seems to help


  • #9
    vaalea
    Closed Accounts Posts: 151 ✭✭vaalea


    If you have a garden you might just compost the scraps yourself in a far corner?
    Personally so I didn't have the smell etc I froze my compost in compostable bags while it was fresh until the time I could get rid of it... or you could look at other alternatives like http://adhdcanuck.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/eco-experiment-indoor-composting-with-no-worms-smell-or-flies-is-it-as-easy-as-blue-box-recycling/


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