Doggone Knats

[JohnH]

Are there any Ideas for catching and killing the Knats in the wine room.

John

 

[robie]

Lots of methods to do this. Google "capturing fruit flies" or "trapping fruit flies". Same method works for gnats.

 

[CBell]

Yeah, mine is over-run with them.

Vinegar deters them a bit, so I wiped down my wine table with a half vinegar half water solution

We also have some honey in a saucer because they will try to eat it but then get stuck and die.

I've also had to lock down the lids on my primaries and put them all under airlock to keep them out.

I put vodka in all my airlocks so they'll die quicker when they get into the airlocks, and I've just been swapping out the airlock liquid every couple of days.

Fly paper strips will probably work, too, but we have adventurous puppies and can't really use any noxious chemicals or anything that they can't consume without expensive vet bills.

 

[CBell]

Also, I like to sit in the wine room and CLAP them like I would a mosquito. I keep my video games in the wine room, so when they fly in front of my face, I pause, drop the controller, and KILL THE BASTARDS WITH MY BARE HANDS. I've got over a hundred kills under my belt.

 

[WI_Wino]

I would avoid using vinegar in the are you are making wine. The last thing you want is to get a tiny bit of vinegar in your must and spoil the batch.

 

[Chiumanfu]

CBell. Vinegar and the wine room do not mix. It has acetic acid bacteria which can go airborne and turn the rest of your wine into vinegar.

Fruit flies are the primary mode of transport for acetic acid bacteria in the wild.

 

[robie]

I would avoid using vinegar in the are you are making wine. The last thing you want is to get a tiny bit of vinegar in your must and spoil the batch.

Good catch!

You don't even have to get vinegar directly in the batch to spoil it. The bacteria will take up permanent residence in the cracks and crannies of the room. Any wine open to the air for even a short time in that room will very likely end up with that bacteria.

Keeping oxygen away from the wine and utilizing sulfites will help but it is best not to have vinegar anywhere near your wine making area.

 

[WI_Wino]

Avoid bleach based cleaning products as well! We had a minor "domestic" a few weeks ago when my wife was cleaning my wine making sink with a spray cleaner containing bleach. I had 3 primaries rocking right in the overspray area. Luckily we seemed to have avoided disaster (fingers crossed)...

 

[Enologo]

This is good to know. In the beginning I was trying to use white vinegar to clean the carboys when I found some residue on the bottom. Just did it a couple of times thankfully no problems so far. I've since switched to Oxy Clean. Whew!

 

[CBell]

Weird. Good to know. Hopefully since everything is under airlock it won't be an issue, but I'll have to swap out for something else to keep the gnats at bay.

 

[dessertmaker]

Easy. Put some fermenting wine in an open cup with a drop or two of dawn soap in it. The wine attracts them and the soap kills them. Works great for us!