fruit flies?

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gunwolf

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them little buggers have invaded my wine making rm. OK now how do all of you control this problem?

before I forget... NO open juice or any fruit in my rm
NO garbage in my rm, Room is in the basement with glassblock window and no vent.
I wipe all my table sefaces down with bleach once a week,so what are these things getting at? is there some type of trap or something? I want to start my apple soon but I am afraid to have an open bucket in there.(by open I mean only to prepare the must and add stuff)

please help Thanks
 
You can make your own trap by having a bottle of wine open (just a small amount in there with some dish detergent in there also. They are attracted to the C02 from fermentation.
 
These little guys are a problem every year. I have a small bottle trap that captures many ( cut a plastic water/pop bottle in two and invert the top into the bottom and add some wine, fruit juice, add a little sugar & yeast, etc.) and I also vacuum a few when they are plentiful ( thanks to runningwolf for that idea). I also have a small table fan that I blow over my open buckets when working on them and this helps keep them at bay.
I don't know that you can truly rid yourself of them!
 
You can make your own trap by having a bottle of wine open (just a small amount in there with some dish detergent in there also. They are attracted to the C02 from fermentation.

I also do this but be careful you do not run any soap down the inside walls of the bottle. Drip it straight into the wine on the bottom or else they detect it.

I also use a few fly strips and have even attached tiny paper cups to the bottom of them to attract the flies.

When things get bad I'll tell you the ultimate tool that worked like a champ every time. I went after them with my shop vac and it really help out immensely!!
 
an additional three things that i find to be a must...

do get some sticky fly traps....its a once and done thing for each fly that hits it...no reproduction and 9 day life cycle

secondly, get a fan...air movement over your wine keeps them from feeding...they cant operate in air flow that is stronger then them ( place your traps in the still air environs

third...shut the lights and leave one area such as a window letting some light in...stand there w the vacuum cleaner and when they come to the light....suck the suckers in....doing this for a few days usually greatly assists in keeping the numbers down so that traps and things have a fair chance of working
 
didnt see dan's post/////and that tells me i am a slow typer!
 
I had them bad & I used fly tape around my main table. That really put a dent in them. I also used black flag flying insect spray. Just be very careful with this & you may not be able to at all depending on your room & set up. I wiped down with clorox disinfecting wipes every time I used this spray.

I tried the "bottle traps" & food sealing wrap traps & had no luck with these.

Brian
 
Brian, just a warning to the wise. I see two big no no's, The spray and the clorox really have no place in any wine room. Please be very very careful as I'm sure you are. Ibglowin can give you the spacifics on the clorox. I know when we used it at work all of the barrels were removed from the basement for several weeks.
 
Brian, just a warning to the wise. I see two big no no's, The spray and the clorox really have no place in any wine room. Please be very very careful as I'm sure you are. Ibglowin can give you the spacifics on the clorox. I know when we used it at work all of the barrels were removed from the basement for several weeks.

I know its risky, but the flys were over running me and something had to be done. When I used the spray it was aimed away from the equipment. As for the Chlorox disinfecting wipes, I use the generic & it actually contains absolutely no bleach.

But, the tape works great! I was amazed how many were stuck to it in one day.

Brian
 
I knew you were being careful. Seriously consider the shop vac next time you get over run if you have one. It really is the ultimate terminator!
 
I knew you were being careful. Seriously consider the shop vac next time you get over run if you have one. It really is the ultimate terminator!


LOL. I will no doubt try the shop vac. I've got one right in the room. Maybe get the kids involved & make a game of it.

Brian
 
I am nit sure why but once I built the wine room I have nit had any problems with fruit flies since!!! Up until then though it was not fun. Once in awhile I get them in my kitchen when a fruit in our fruit baskets sneaks past its prime and thats when I tried those tricks, wish I knew about them when I had then near my wine. Maybe because my wine room has no windows and is always dark as the doors are shut also?
 
thanks for the replies guys...I did make a "trap" last night, went down to put it in the rm and those little suckers were gathered on or around the airlock! that would have been a good time for the shop vac method.

also I do not keep bleach in my Room, should I not be wiping my table tops down with bleach once in a while? I think someone posted above about NOT using bleach.
 

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