bugs

[mikey1273]

I'm doing a kit wine and it gotten really darn hot this week. I do have it in the basement were its generally a stable temp cooler than outside. My problem is I had not taken the basement trash out and the bag the juice was in seems to have attracted some fruit flies. I got rid of that as soon as I seen it. but I still have a few that seem to want to be around the sealed bucket near the air lock. I need to more the must to a carboy this weekend but I don't want them bugs in my wine. what can I do short of some bug spray which im not sure I'm ok with near the wine to get rid of them?

 

[JohnT]

Try building a fruit fly trap. Take 2 liter soda bottle, cut in half and place the top, funnel shaped piece and invert it into the bottom. Place about a cup of your fermenting wine into the trap, and set out next to your fermenting bucket.

It really does the trick for me.

 

[jswordy]

If you want to go the pesticide route, pyrethrins are OK.

I usually don't worry about a few fruit flies, but if they get to be a problem you might have to do something. They are more of a problem in primary than secondary, where your wine is sequestered from them.

Believe me, they can be quite numerous in wineries during the press.

UNDER EDIT: John's trap works! I have used those for regular flies, and for biting flies, by putting a small piece of meat in the bottom.

 

[dessertmaker]

You don't even need the "trap." Just a put some fermenting wine in a regular old cup and add a couple of drops of dawn dishwashing liquid. They're dead as soon as they hit it. Apple cider vinegar and dawn works too but you don't want that near your wine. I have glasses like this in the vicinity of all my trash cans inside my house.

Also, pour bleach down your floor drain and your sink drains. For some reason the nasty little fruit flies like to lay their eggs in there.

 

[JohnT]

You don't even need the "trap." Just a put some fermenting wine in a regular old cup and add a couple of drops of dawn dishwashing liquid. They're dead as soon as they hit it. Apple cider vinegar and dawn works too but you don't want that near your wine. I have glasses like this in the vicinity of all my trash cans inside my house.

Also, pour bleach down your floor drain and your sink drains. For some reason the nasty little fruit flies like to lay their eggs in there.

chlorine and wine do not mix. Use anything other than bleach!

 

[Sammyk]

I posted this photo not too long about about wine ( I prefer white wine because cannot see the bodies in dark colored wine).

The photo was taken a few hours after I set out the trap!

 

[Sammyk]

I have these set up even when I don't have wine fermenting because we a lot of fresh fruit sent in dish to ripen; peaches, nectarines and bananas. Also tomatoes from the garden. I never ever refrigerate tomatoes, even store bought ones.

 

[mikey1273]

Thanks for all the suggestions.. I think I will build the trap.... see if its true...." If you build it they will come"

I dont see the harm in using bleach in the floor drain and washer stand pipe is they lay eggs there it not like it close to the wine or the wine will touch that area at all. Opinions?

One thing I was thinking this was an issue with me not being clean enough but seems its not just me that has the issue.

 

[Sammyk]

mikey1273
Cleanliness has nothing to do with it! They are so small and easily attracted. They can fit through a window screen. We are very clean and we have many of them. My method works and it has for many years, even before we started making wine.

 

[Sammyk]

Another thing many call them fruit flies but they are actually vinegar flies! They are attracted mostly to ripen fruit.

 

[jamesngalveston]

hooray for sammyk...i do will not refrigerate my tomatoes.....

 

[JohnT]

Another thing many call them fruit flies but they are actually vinegar flies! They are attracted mostly to ripen fruit.

Very true! They are know carriers of acetobacterium.

 

[Arne]

Nobody mentioned the shop vac trick, Just vac them up as they fly by. Get a decently strong fan and blow them away from where you are working. Have not tried these two, just from old posts on here. Tomatoes have not been ripe here yet, they are usually the culprit that attracts the fruit flys, at least here in our house. Everything is late here this year. The flys aren't a bother yet. They will be, tho, Arne.

 

[Sammyk]

Tomatoes once refrigerated will not continue to ripen. In the winter we buy hydroponic tomatoes because grocery stores do not refrigerator those varieties. FL tomatoes go in coolers and that stops the ripening process. And once it sets out it will go bad instead of ripening further. If we have to many when our few plants ripen, more than we can eat, I cut them up and put them in the freezer to use in soups and sauces during the winter.
You can dip them in boiling water and then cold water to remove the skins.

Most of the hydrophobic tomatoes come from Canada in the winter. They are greenhouse grown.

We had a nursery/greenhouse business in MI and sold hydroponic tomatoes in the winter. Pretty price too but our customers drove to buy our tomatoes!

You can tell if they are hydroponic because they come in clusters on a stem, generally 3 or 4 tomatoes to a bunch. Expensive in the winter but if you really appreciate a good tomato in the winter, they are well worth the price. Or you can continue to buy the "cardboard" like tomatoes all winter long.

 

[jswordy]

Very true! They are know carriers of acetobacterium.

They are commonly called fruit flies because of their affinity for fruit (flies that like dead cactus are cactus flies, etc.) and yes, they can carry the vinegar bacteria but do not always do so.

The biological name is Drosophila melanogaster, and they have a genomic match for about 75% of human disease genes. Geneticists love them as study subjects because a generation takes just 2 weeks and the research results can correlate to humans.

I just did an article on Drosophila melanogaster diet research at our university.

http://www.uah.edu/news/research/62...-affect-our-offspring-s-vitality#.UelAzxbvwuA

 

[dessertmaker]

Interestingly enough, when I use vinegar and dawn in an open container, I often snag regular flies and mosquitoes too. The one time I made the actual trap it seemed to take longer to catch fruit flies and I didn't get the added mosquito/housefly bonus.

 

[cintipam]

Hi everyone

I've read all the posts and tried lots of variations and I must be doing something wrong since my traps remain basically feeding stations. I've used apple cider vinegar and fermenting wine mixed with either Dawn or Ivory dishwashing detergent. I have tried both just dripping the detergent into the wine and also mixing with my finger to combine the fluids. If I don't mix it the Dawn remains as dark colored drops that clearly be seen unmixed into the wine or vinegar. I know this sounds petty but could someone please try again to explain step by step how to do this so maybe my pea sized brain can figure out what I'm doing wrong? I am using fly strips which help but I want to start a couple new batches with lots of fruit in bags and have too many flies to even think about it at this time.

thanks in advance

Pam in cinti

 

[Sammyk]

Do not make bubbles with the dish soap. Stir with a finger. I prefer white wine like you saw in the dish so I can see them in the dish and empty it when it has too many. I then mix up a new solution.

Keep it close to where the wine it placed so that they are attracted to the dish.

We also get a house fly and or mosquito occasionally.

 

[cintipam]

Thank you Sammy K. I knew that was one area (to mix or not to mix) that was unclear to me. Also wondered if my Dawn Ultra was too thick to mix well. Anyway, I'll go try one more time.

Something just sunk into my noggin. It hit me why it's important to keep vinegar away from the wine making area. I'm really very new at this and somehow it's the small things that are tripping me up.

I'll report back, hopefully with success. If not maybe another question that might just do the trick.

thanks again, everyone.

Pam in cinti

 

[Runningwolf]

If using dawn (which I do) do let let any get on the side of the container or the flies won't go near it. It only takes a few drops (no more) and I do not stir it. In addition to that I use fly strips and they do work. I've gone as far as attaching a small dixie glass of wine to the bottom of the strip to attract them to it.

When they get really bad I go in full force and it knocks out 90% of them in no time at all..The shop vac as Arne mentioned. It's awesome!!!