Compost bin flies

[cheddarpaul]

I know there has been some previous posts about flies in compost bins but they seem to be mostly about what are they and how do they effect veg and flowers. My question is how do I get rid of them?

I put all of my compostibles into an old bin at the side of the house and then regularly take it up to my lottie to empty on to my proper compost heap. This morning when the misses lifted the lid to empty on the tea bags there was a 'swarm' of flies.

How do I get rid of them and stop them coming back in future?

I generally empty things like tea bags, veg peelings, etc into the bin.

Muchos gracias...

[cheddarpaul]

[sweet-pea]

I don't think there is anything much you can do since the flies have probably come from eggs that have already been laid on the waste you're putting in!  Apparently if you're putting the waste onto an actual compost heap, then if you bury it, or wrap it up in newspaper, this can help because the flies can't get to the fresh material.
I'd suggest maybe emptying the bin more often.

[Lazybones]

They probably like it in there because it is too wet.  Make sure you add enough paper to dry it out a bit and then leave the lid off for a few hours when it is dry.  Then after about a week do the same again so the ones that have hatched will leave and continue until they have gone.  This seemed to work in mine recently.

[redimp]

If it has a lid, leaving it off a couple of days is supposed to help - the birds help themselves.

[moonbells]

I just stand well back when I take the lid off my dalek bin!

I have a bigger problem with fruit flies at the house - no matter how fast I manage to put peelings etc into the lidded kitchen bin, I still wind up with fruit flies in it. Don't know how they sneak in... then I used to have to hose it down (now impossible due to ban) so now it's a scrubbing brush, just to dislodge the pupae after emptying the bin so I don't get a new generation immediately.

Wouldn't mind so much if fruit flies responded to domestic fly spray! Least something's about to feed the spiders that I can't reach to dust!

moonbells

[valmarg]

Ah well moonbells, - time flies like an arrow - fruit flies like a banana!!!

Sorry - couldn't resist

valmarg