Fruit flies in your worm bin

Does a worm hotel cause nuisance from fruit flies?

I’m often asked that question. The answer is: Yes, fruit flies will come to your worm bin. But….. you can do something about it to prevent nuisance.

If you suffer from fruit flies, it is usually in the (late) summer. The   eggs that are already in your fruit peels will scald nicely in your warm moist container. As soon as you open the lid of the container, they all swarm out. In addition, your worm bin can attract new flies to lay eggs with your waste.

You can do something about this!

First you have the design of the worm hotel.   With the Balkonton Classic, the worm tube is not closed from above. This ensures that it does not scald, and that any fruit flies do not accumulate, but gradually leave the nest. With the worm tower, it helps if you leave the container in the sun for a while with the lid open so that the top layer dries out. That also helps against many other annoying bugs.

Secondly, it helps enormously if you always cover your freshly added kitchen waste. This can be done with a thick layer of cardboard or sawdust. But even better with a hemp mat or an old towel.   This blocks both the access of new flies and the flying out.

Break the cycle. By covering the top with a layer of sand or a hemp mat for a week or three and not feeding your worms during that time. flies that crawl from hatched eggs have nowhere to go and die. TIP: use a large layer of growing soil to cover your waste. You can’t feed your worms for 2 to 3 weeks, but they will have the nutrition from the growing soil.

Increase the acidity by scattering some lava flour through the covering sand or by scattering the waste. Many insects, including fruit flies, do not like that.

And finally, you can catch the flies that still fly in and around your worm hotel with a fruit fly trap. In late summer/autumn, when the fruit flies are most present, I have a fruit fly trap in EN near my worm box.