# HELP I saw a fruit fly in my cellar!



## Hoonakwa (May 30, 2020)

Ok I saw a fruit fly in my wine making area in the cellar. Any tips on what to do?


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## Boatboy24 (May 30, 2020)

First, take a deep breath. Everything will be OK. 

If you're really panicked about it, you can build a trap with a used water or soda bottle. Cut off the top third of the bottle and insert it back into the bottle upside down. In the bottle, keep a little wine with a drop or two of dish detergent. They'll find their way in, but can't seem to find a way out. Another simple solution is to just keep a fan going over your wines - fruit flies aren't particularly strong flyers.


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## ceeaton (May 30, 2020)

I get them in my airlocks all the time and just clean them out when I find one. They are attracted to the fermenting juice that is your wine.

If that doesn't work, call out the National Guard Swat team, they'll handle it from there. You might not have a house left afterwards, though, LOL.


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## Ajmassa (May 30, 2020)

A couple here and there ain’t no thing. You can handle that!
Nothing will seem as bad to me ever since the great fruit fly war of 2018. Store bought Vinegar traps, homemade water bottle traps, baited fly tape, constant fans, chemical bombs, plastic ‘Dexter’ room etc. that was a battle ill never forget and makes anything less seem like a cakewalk. Eventually was entire house. Wife still brings it up often. But I survived. So take it from me— You’ll be fine!

The great fly war in pictures:


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## Rocky (May 31, 2020)

Hoonakwa said:


> Ok I saw a fruit fly in my wine making area in the cellar. Any tips on what to do?



Don't worry about it. They really don't drink that much. And they don't have a negative effect on the wine except, if you are Catholic, then you can't drink it on Fridays.


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## Hoonakwa (Jun 1, 2020)

Ajmassa said:


> A couple here and there ain’t no thing. You can handle that!
> Nothing will seem as bad to me ever since the great fruit fly war of 2018. Store bought Vinegar traps, homemade water bottle traps, baited fly tape, constant fans, chemical bombs, plastic ‘Dexter’ room etc. that was a battle ill never forget and makes anything less seem like a cakewalk. Eventually was entire house. Wife still brings it up often. But I survived. So take it from me— You’ll be fine!
> 
> The great fly war in pictures:
> ...


OK now I am scared!


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## Sage (Jun 1, 2020)

Did you check if it was male or female? Watch carefully for a mating pair.... Bad news!!


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## DizzyIzzy (Jun 2, 2020)

Hoonakwa said:


> OK now I am scared!


I'm scared too!! Your wife must have loved the invasion!


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## Ajmassa (Jun 2, 2020)

Hoonakwa said:


> OK now I am scared!



No! Lol. My point was to NOT be scared! That was a very VERY extreme situation in an already bad fruit fly season from the poor decision to crush grapes inside the basement. The perfect storm.

It did not happen gradually over time from
neglecting the presence of a few flies. 
But the wine was not jeopardized and all worked out in the end despite the flies.


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## pete1325 (Jul 17, 2020)

How could you NOT panic with them covering everything. My wife would freak and never drink another ounce if they were that bad in my wine room.....More for me I guess. All kidding aside, that seem like an infestation. I've had them fly around for a few weeks during wine making season but never that bad.


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## Sailor323 (Jul 18, 2020)

This is what I use https://smile.amazon.com/AMREP-0739...595081685&sprefix=country+vet+,aps,301&sr=8-4


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## hounddawg (Jul 18, 2020)

1/3 of of his body weight if a male is his manhood, so be careful


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## Ajmassa (Jul 18, 2020)

pete1325 said:


> How could you NOT panic with them covering everything. My wife would freak and never drink another ounce if they were that bad in my wine room.....More for me I guess. All kidding aside, that seem like an infestation. I've had them fly around for a few weeks during wine making season but never that bad.


Well considering the lengths I went i think it’s safe to say I _did_ panic lol. I did pretty good keeping the wine covered tho and don’t think any got in but can’t be certain of that. And when ya press the wines again exposed to thirsty flies. Can only do so much.

But I guess my panic was more about ridding the house of the disgusting flies than specifically the wine being jeopardized. When occasionally making just a few gallons it’s easy to have full control & ya tend to keep everything under the microscope, so the concern when noticing a fruit fly hovering around the wine is understandable.

I’d bet the house that the big commercial joints all get at least a few incidental bugs. But with the natural acids, the high abv%, all the co2 produced, and the so2 we add, the wine can be pretty damn resilient. And the natural process of fermentation, racking & so2 is usually enough to clean up the wine and fight off any nasties.

also keep in mind that wasn’t a normal scenerio. I crushed 300lbs of grapes in the basement On a Sunday. Worked late and could only do a half assed cleanup until home from work the next afternoon. But by then it was too late. Even leaving the hydrometer tube exposed for 30 seconds there’d be dozen in it already.

***But again— the main point I was making —- if I was able to get through that w/o any issue then ya shouldn’t lose any sleep seeing a couple flies around the room. That’s all.


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## hounddawg (Jul 18, 2020)

Ajmassa said:


> Well considering the lengths I went i think it’s safe to say I _did_ panic lol. I did pretty good keeping the wine covered tho and don’t think any got in but can’t be certain of that. And when ya press the wines again exposed to thirsty flies. Can only do so much.
> 
> But I guess my panic was more about ridding the house of the disgusting flies than specifically the wine being jeopardized. When occasionally making just a few gallons it’s easy to have full control & ya tend to keep everything under the microscope, so the concern when noticing a fruit fly hovering around the wine is understandable.
> 
> ...


i don't like hearing about commercial processes , an example, the FDA says peanut butter is good as long as no more the 3 rat hairs are found per batch, that don't count droppings, i have spent years after leaving the road, trying to forget what is concerned clean for us pinons, but now being a jersey boy, i bet you know why you order kosher not deli when you have your lunch meat or franks,,, 
i grow all i can, raise my meats, my eggs, and much more, knowledge can be a very disturbing thing to say the least, whew, lol.. bahwaaa
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Jul 18, 2020)

dose anyone use Diatomaceous earth food grade, my floor is covered in it, peppermint extract to keep the ants away,
Dawg


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## ceeaton (Jul 18, 2020)

Diatomaceous earth is great for soft bodied bugs and slugs in the garden, use it all the time. I have a bag of it left over from a filter I used to use when I bred tropical fish.


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## RichardC (Jul 19, 2020)

Hoonakwa, I feel your pain!! One fly sends me in a panic because I keep reading that one fly can spoil a 1000 gallon batch! I even spray the bloody things with MBS solution, when racking or mixing. Hahahaha.


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## Val-the-Brew-Gal (Jul 19, 2020)

I've tried dishes of sanitizer or wine to drown them but that is more of a long term solution and doesn't help with the ones flying around the wine room when you're ready to work. The best thing I've found for the that is a vacuum. I keep it running and as flies try to land anywhere near my fermenters or carboys, I simply suck them up.


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## hounddawg (Jul 19, 2020)

Hoonakwa said:


> Ok I saw a fruit fly in my wine making area in the cellar. Any tips on what to do?


a small thermal nuclear explosion should do the trick, that or flystrips , i tend to go for the flystrips,


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## cmason1957 (Jul 19, 2020)

I tend to go with just a fan blowing near my fermenters.


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## KCCam (Jul 19, 2020)

Not too many of them in my neck of the woods. (Touch wood.)


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## hounddawg (Jul 19, 2020)

ceeaton said:


> Diatomaceous earth is great for soft bodied bugs and slugs in the garden, use it all the time. I have a bag of it left over from a filter I used to use when I bred tropical fish.


it works great on flies and gnats,i keep fly strips, boric acid and peppermint extract... i raise a few dexter cattle, for pure grass fed beef, but i usually keep out blocks for black flies, they are passed and hatched in cattle manure , i got to get more, now what i butcher is put in the mule, horse and jack pasture for a year, so no nothing is in my beef, thursday i think my brother and i went and got our steer, the steer was so cool he must of froze to death lol, for better then 30 years we butchered our own meats, beef, pork, chickens, rabbits, but now all of us, either to old or disabled, and we have it done for us, although we still do our own deer, wild boar, turkey.
Dawg


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## Sailor323 (Jul 19, 2020)

I use one of those dispensers that sprays a pyrethrin insecticide every 15 minutes. Takes care of fruit flies, other flies and pests. My wine cellar shares space with cheesemaking and sausage making so fly control is crucial.


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## Boatboy24 (Jul 19, 2020)

Sailor323 said:


> I use one of those dispensers that sprays a pyrethrin insecticide every 15 minutes. Takes care of fruit flies, other flies and pests. My wine cellar shares space with cheesemaking and sausage making so fly control is crucial.



Do you worry about having insecticide all over everything? Aside from that, it seems like a simple solution.


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## RichardC (Jan 16, 2021)

Hey all. A fruit fly went swimming in my 10 gallons of banana wine. I was giving it the second to last rack before bottling. Should I give it another 3 months to see if it turns to shit?


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## Rembee (Jan 16, 2021)

Take a small glass dish with apple cider vinegar in it. Cover it with plastic wrap and cut slits in the top of the wrap. They will go in but will not get out. Eventually drowning in there own stupidity.


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## Rocky (Jan 17, 2021)

"Take a small glass dish with apple cider vinegar in it. Cover it with plastic wrap and cut slits in the top of the wrap. They will go in but will not get out. Eventually drowning in there own stupidity."

I do as Rembee does but I also add about 10 drops of dishwashing detergent to the vinegar. I have an old clear plastic container from the grocery store olive bar, punched a few holes in the top, added the liquids, covered it an let it work.


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## hounddawg (Jan 17, 2021)

RichardC said:


> Hey all. A fruit fly went swimming in my 10 gallons of banana wine. I was giving it the second to last rack before bottling. Should I give it another 3 months to see if it turns to shit?


how much did he drink ?
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Jan 17, 2021)

RichardC said:


> Hey all. A fruit fly went swimming in my 10 gallons of banana wine. I was giving it the second to last rack before bottling. Should I give it another 3 months to see if it turns to shit?



how long are you bulk aging?
Dawg 
mine just turned a year old, so i got 1 more year before bottling
Dawg


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## RichardC (Jan 17, 2021)

I presume with the responses provided, I shouldn't ball up and cry myself to sleep? I added a little more than half TSP sulphites when racking, then sprayed sulphite, sanitizing solution after scooping out bug...

Dawg, this banana was boiled and definitely doesn't have as much fruit as you'd use ( maybe 4lbs per gallon, with 5 lbs sultanas ) It's 6 months old now and had a little sediment, ( maybe 100ml,) which I disturbed, with about a gallon of wine left to rack, due to invader. ( It's being kept separate.) I was planning to bottle in the next month and was considering adding liquid oak ( was going to consult with you experts first) .

The wine is a clear, but depressingly brown colour, instead of light yellow. Is that typical? ( Other thing to note: I made a smaller batch of banana wine, with about 6lbs frozen fruit per gallon, that wasn't boiled, and it's VERY DIFFERENT from the big batch. The frozen banana wine is as thick as light oil and not clear in the least, even though it's about 6 months old too.)


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## katsboytoy (Jan 19, 2021)

Haven't found any in the wine cellar yet, but in the kitchen in the summer, a few. Use "AUNT FANNIES" FLYPUNCH! (amazon) and a portable fly ZAPPER. Both work great and fun for all ages to just swat and zap.


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## RichardC (Feb 3, 2021)

RichardC said:


> I presume with the responses provided, I shouldn't ball up and cry myself to sleep? I added a little more than half TSP sulphites when racking, then sprayed sulphite, sanitizing solution after scooping out bug...
> 
> Dawg, this banana was boiled and definitely doesn't have as much fruit as you'd use ( maybe 4lbs per gallon, with 5 lbs sultanas ) It's 6 months old now and had a little sediment, ( maybe 100ml,) which I disturbed, with about a gallon of wine left to rack, due to invader. ( It's being kept separate.) I was planning to bottle in the next month and was considering adding liquid oak ( was going to consult with you experts first) .
> 
> The wine is a clear, but depressingly brown colour, instead of light yellow. Is that typical? ( Other thing to note: I made a smaller batch of banana wine, with about 6lbs frozen fruit per gallon, that wasn't boiled, and it's VERY DIFFERENT from the big batch. The frozen banana wine is as thick as light oil and not clear in the least, even though it's about 6 months old too.)


Any opinions about the colour of the wine?


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## hounddawg (Feb 3, 2021)

RichardC said:


> I presume with the responses provided, I shouldn't ball up and cry myself to sleep? I added a little more than half TSP sulphites when racking, then sprayed sulphite, sanitizing solution after scooping out bug...
> 
> Dawg, this banana was boiled and definitely doesn't have as much fruit as you'd use ( maybe 4lbs per gallon, with 5 lbs sultanas ) It's 6 months old now and had a little sediment, ( maybe 100ml,) which I disturbed, with about a gallon of wine left to rack, due to invader. ( It's being kept separate.) I was planning to bottle in the next month and was considering adding liquid oak ( was going to consult with you experts first) .
> 
> The wine is a clear, but depressingly brown colour, instead of light yellow. Is that typical? ( Other thing to note: I made a smaller batch of banana wine, with about 6lbs frozen fruit per gallon, that wasn't boiled, and it's VERY DIFFERENT from the big batch. The frozen banana wine is as thick as light oil and not clear in the least, even though it's about 6 months old too.)


mines in the carboys look very dark brown, but when i pull some out with wine thief, it is a golden yellow, as for pounds of fruit to gallon of liquid, this wine is for my brother he bought the bananas and dead leaf bottles, he'll get one carboy as is, the other of his carboy has3 cinnamon sticks and 20 grams all spice, now i get the third carboy, I'm waiting till his two are ready to bottle so i can see if i want cinnamon and all spice in mine, i have 4 carboys of apple cider, two just cider and two with 3 cinnamon sticks and 20 grams of all spice 
Dawg


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## RichardC (Feb 5, 2021)

Thank you!


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