[ness]

Hello
I have been composting for a few years now but had to stop last summer because of blinking fruit flies, they fester in my compost then all migrate en mass to my kitchen.
I then started composting again in winter figuring the little blighters would be dead but this mild winter has meant they are still in evidence biding their time til they can invade again. :?
Is there any way I can get rid of them without damaging the other necessary fauna.
Thanks
Ness x

[muntjac]

leave it uncovered ,i only get them in my bins when the lids are on not in my tanks

[Trillium]

Hi Ness, I get fruit flies in my compost too, but that's because I'm a lazy composter. I let it do its thing by itself, no turning. I'm told that if I pulled out and turned over my compost 3-4 times a year that the sheer heat of the composting process would kill and or eliminate flies. It's something to think about. And please, no chemical formulations on this from the science mob    

[beansticks]

I dont get fruit flies,but do get whitefly usually from brassica waste material,however i have found a sprinkling of lime usually does the trick,keeps the compost sweet too.

[Annie]

Last year around here seemed to be a bad one  for flies in general.For fruit flies in the compost bins a good layer of grass seems to damp them down but regular turning is the best solution but I am a lazy composter!

[Eristic]

Quite frankly, you are supposed to get fruit flies in your compost bins along with hosts of other insects and lowlife critters. That is the whole point. You provide the waste goodies in a convenient spot and leave it to nature to process into something of use.

Because of the unappealing nature of compost heaps in modern times, we endeavour to site them as much out of sight as possible but at the end of the day, they are what they are: a rotting pile of waste veg.

As the old saying goes. Time flies like an arrow - Fruit flys like a banana.

[ness]

I guess that makes me a lazy composter too, oh the shame!  
I have been down to open the top of my compost bin and poked it around with a stick (its a plastic composter, not the easiest design to turn the contents).
Thanks folks
Ness x

[Trillium]

I suspect we're a growing breed, Ness. I have a big wooden bin I built myself for the large waste: grass, weeds, leaves, whatever. Also have a smaller plastic (and pretty useless) job for the vermin attractors like fruit leftovers, veg peelings, etc. For both, it helps quite a bit to chop up larger bits into smaller pcs to hasten the process (especially citrus peels, hard stalks). Also, if you add eggshells to either, make sure you rinse out the shells inside first. Rats in particular just love the leftover whites (albumen) and when it starts to rot, the rats will beeline for it. Since I started rinsing (another nuisance) I have no more rats, but mice will still go after anything edible. Can deal with the mice, not the rats. I've also bought (on fall clearances at 90% off) Compost Accelerator powder which you mix with water and use a can rosette to sprinkle over the compost to generate more heat. Apparently just giving the pile a light hosing will do the trick as well, but I want definite results.