Fruit flies or bar flies?

[Lessismor]

This is my first post aside from my welcome post. Have been reading n here daily, and I always read about some newcomer asking a question that they could have read the answer to somewhere n here. But I honestly have looked everywhere for an answer to this but have not found it; I told my wife running a small still would not make a mess of her kitchen, and those pesky little mats or flies are here every spring. But she don’t believe me and I actually don’t recall them so thick?! We keep a clean kitchen, keep the drains clear and so on but these little pests just don’t stop showing up on our food plates. Anyone have a solution to this or is it set n stone for me to live with them while still in?

[EricTheRed]

gases coming off the fermentation attract them (CO2).
more ventilation is best solution

there are also automatic dispensers of organic bug deterrents - i use one and it works. - Mostly

[still_stirrin]

They can smell the heads from your still and appear seemingly out of nowhere. And they are drunks, often going for a swim in an open collection jar. The life expectancy of fruit flies is only a few days, but they can reproduce “like fruit flies” in a day. So, it can be hard to eliminate them. You’ll have to eliminate the conditions that they propagate in … trash bins and garbage containers. Old soda cans and bottles can also be a prime nesting site. Take away the “invitation” and they won’t be nearly as social.

I get them when I distill in the summer. When I start heating the boiler, as the early foreshots start to smell (acetylaldehyde) they show up. And, as I said, they’ll go for a swim in my collection jar, drinking themselves to death! What a nuisance.

Good luck with them.
ss

[OtisT]

As said above they love the smell of heads and I have not figured a way to keep them from appearing. Once you start pulling foreshots, they come running.

I made a few fly traps that greatly reduce the number of these buggers. You should cover/seal all of your heads jars when they come off of the still so they go to your traps. If the trap is the only thing nearby with fores/heads in it, that is where they will go. I keep the traps around for a day or two following the run, and usually they are all gone by then.

Make a paper funnel and cut just the tip off. Put a little heads in the jar and place the funnel on top. I use tape to make sure the funnel does not come off and release your catch.

Ps. Apparently these things attract cats too.

Otis

[Ben]

Nice trap Otis!

OP do you have a lot of house plants? They love nesting in the houseplants, the constantly wet soil is a happy place for them. A little insecticidal soap will take care of them.

[Salt Must Flow]

I don't ferment or run my still in the kitchen, but fruit flies can be a pain. This kills them reliably. It claims to be safe, but who knows. All I know is that it kills them dead and they stay gone. I've done the vinegar traps, but they don't work anywhere near as well as this stuff.

[NZChris]

If they are bad outside, they will be bad inside. Look for sources outside and deal with them if you can. They may be coming from a neighboring property.

[jonnys_spirit]

It's about that time of year around here when they come back! I still and ferment in the cellar and I'll put out a couple funnel paper traps taped into the top of a wine bottle with a little wine or some vinegar in there - that helps and is pretty easy.. Some invariably end up in the fermenter and collection jars but they die quickly and the ferment is done too quickly for acetobacter infections to be an issue at all...

Cheers!
-j

[Lessismor]

Well there’s no house plant, my cats both denied bringing fruit flies in with their daily collections.But the wife has been out gardening as of this past 2 weeks and I never saw them before then so it gotta b her? I will try the funnel thing, trying to limit my online budget to “still related” only. Thanks everyone

[Deplorable]

I just put a small jar, half full of apple cider vinegar and a couple drops of dish soap in it on the window sill. works a treat.