These worms were initially seen in the food waste. I calmed myself that it comes in the rotting food during summer.
Today I found them behind bottles and tins, inside kitchen towel -running away from light.photophobic.
Now I am alarmed. I can tolerate them near the waste bin....but finding them in unexpected places has made me paranoid.
I googled about them and come to the conclusion that these are maggots and they come from the eggs laid down housefly in moist area and food waste
Since our garbage collection in only once a week, there is no other way to get rid of the food waste earlier.
I usually put a plastic bag on to the green food waste bin and keep it next to the sink for easy access to dump the waste before washing the plates. I do not put any lid on the bin.
How long can one keep the windows closed to prevent flies entering.i need some fresh air !!
And yes some flies do get in when I open the windows.
Any pointers on how ( better way ) to store the food waste and the worm containment.
Should I keep the bin inside the drawer below the sink....
Ive got a bottle of bin powder if you want to buy it. It repels flies and maggots and pests. You sprikle a little over the waste and it makes your bin smell fresh.
Put netting designed to keep out insects in your window frames. This way you can keep your windows open, but the bugs can't get in. You can buy them at Migros, or similar. They are sold with sticky tape which you place around the window frame, and then just stick the nets on. Not expensive either.
We keep our food waste bin on the balcony and empty it regularly into the communal compost bin. Saying that though, we have had an invasion of ants in the bin!
Just now entered the kitchen and switched on the light, walked towards the sink ........yuk the whole area was full of them. And they were wriggling away frantically to escape the light. They had climbed out of the food waste. Thankfully tomorrow morn is the waste collection day and we have put the bag outside now itself.
Keep a wellfitted lid on the bin that the food scraps go into. If the flies can smell decaying food they are going to come in, so instead of an open bin that is emptied weekly, use a fresh inner bag each day.
Only organic waste goes in the green bin. These bins have a lid. They are often stored under the kitchen sink and collection is once a week. Leaving this open is not a good idea. If your building has a large green container empty yours regularly in there. If not then buy a container with a tight fitting lid where you can keep this waste outside and limited amounts in your own flat.
Leftover cooked food on plates goes in the garbage. (if you never have leftovers you don't have issues ). The bin should have a cover on it. Never leave open garbage. Most apartment buildings have a container where to place your own plastic bags which are full waiting for collection. Bags left out are a problem, even on balconies. One of my tenants had mice because of a neighbour who put her garbage bags on the balcony.
I suggest you need to get the source of the problem under control before other units in your building are affected. You may need to call a professional to exterminate these bugs.
I used to work in a fruitfly lab, so having the little beasts annoy me at home was not good, and during this kind of weather there is always a lot of them.
The tight fitted lid on container is key here. If the adults can't get to the food they won't lay the eggs on it, so you won't have larvae (ie your worms) hatching out of the eggs...
They like pretty much anything fruity / sweet / yeasty / vinegary so if you are keeping recyclable stuff inside make sure it's well rinsed (or put that ourside too).
Google fruit fly traps on how to make those. Also if you're only making small amounts of food waste you can put that it the freezer (but freezers are a little smallish here).
One thing I miss about home is insects screens as a common fitting...
Wow... you don't put any lid on the bin containing rotting food, and leave it open, in summer... and then wonder what you can do about getting maggots and flies? The mind boggles...
always throw away food waste in a smaller bag, tie it up securely before throwing it into the zürisack. We have those grey bins under the sink and never had any problems even though we throw out a big bag of waste only once a week. I also sprinkle a bit of baking soda to soak up any unpleasant bin smells over the summer.
Keep the drawer/bin close always and invest in one of these, under 15chuffs from Coop and hours of perverse fun guaranteed:
Another tip I`ve learned here is that after cleaning out those"peg holes" in cupboards (the extra holes for adjusting shelf heights) - cover all the unused holes with sticky tape - to prevent the moths laying their eggs in there.
Agree about putting food waste in the freezer, and those piss thin plastic bags from the supermarkets are perfect for that, and free.
I found the best way to get rid of fruit flies was a three pronged attack.
Create a trap. A simple jar with 1cm white vinegar/Tafelessig in the bottom and a squirt of washing up liquid mixed in works wonders. Keep it fresh, say once per day. Get your vacuum cleaner out and suck those little b'tards up! This is actually huge fun! I was almost disappointed when there were no flies left. Almost. Boiling water down the sink, every day. (I don't know this was necessary, but they apparently like dark, damp places to breed, and I first noticed them around the sink, so...). This advice comes with a money back guarantee. If it doesn't work then I'll return any money you've paid me for it. But that won't be necessary, it will work.