Fruit Flies Be gone

[Scooter68]

About every 4-6 weeks I refresh my airlocks with clean sanitizer solution.

Interestingly this year was a bad year for fruit flies in my basement winery work area. Used a vinegar trap and caught a few, very few.
So today it was Airlock-Refresh day. I found out where all those Fruit flies went to. Body counts ran from 2-3 to a dozen or more in some airlock. Weird thing is very few were visible until I emptied the airlocks in my sink. Good news is of course when you use StarSan in the airlocks, they can't swim through that for long.

Sorry if you thought this was an idea for getting rid of Fruit Flies. My experience with the vinegar trap is meh, something you can do but... they seem to know Apple Cider vinegar from the real deal and they prefer the real deal.

Maybe next time I'll dip out a couple of ounces for the must and put it in a trap.

 

[salcoco]

using the must is better than vinegar

 

[Scooter68]

using the must is better than vinegar

Clearly the results point that out. AND I don't like the idea of having any open vinegar around the wine.

 

[1d10t]

I've used a funnel sealed with 'perma-gum', kind of like modeling clay, in a canning jar with banana as bait to good effect.

 

[Scooter68]

Good point about the banana. I need to pay more attention to what gathers the most in our kitchen. we have a counter top container (With a lid) where we place our compostable kitchen scraps. So I suppose it would be wise to watch what draws int he most. Bananas definitely get a good crowd of FF's.

 

[BigH]

Sorry if you thought this was an idea for getting rid of Fruit Flies. My experience with the vinegar trap is meh, something you can do but... they seem to know Apple Cider vinegar from the real deal and they prefer the real deal.

I trap fruit flies with a combination of vinegar traps all over the house and Raid Fly Sticks near the wine during fermentation. I stick a few grapes on them and place them right above my fermentation buckets. They are coated with fruit flies now.

Also, consider replacing your liquid airlocks with "breathable silicone bungs". Just discovered these a couple weeks ago, and so far, I love them. morewinemaking has them.

H

 

[bshef]

I used these many years ago when my apple trees were still alive. https://www.gardensalive.com/product/fruit-friend-fruit-fly-trap-2

 

[Scooter68]

"breathable silicone bungs"

Probably perfectly safe but I just wonder how much Silcone vapor is left in those bungs. I've seen how ugly that vapor can be and if there was any of that, I'd prefer not to have it near my wine. Especially if the alcohol vapors from the wine might interact.

I know that's probably way over the top, but; these days with China and other countries exporting all sorts of Cr@p to us with different nasty chemicals, I struggle sometimes to wonder who's really taking care of our health.

 

[Ajmassa]

"breathable silicone bungs"

Probably perfectly safe but I just wonder how much Silcone vapor is left in those bungs. I've seen how ugly that vapor can be and if there was any of that, I'd prefer not to have it near my wine. Especially if the alcohol vapors from the wine might interact.

I know that's probably way over the top, but; these days with China and other countries exporting all sorts of Cr@p to us with different nasty chemicals, I struggle sometimes to wonder who's really taking care of our health.

The silicon breathable bungs are fantastic. Absolutely ZERO smell whatsoever. Nada. No different than the universal silicon bungs. Compared to the standard drilled rubber stoppers— which DO have a rubbery smell that can leach.

 

[Scooter68]

Yeah, Rubber and Alcohol - not a good mix. My concern is only for the quality/sources care in production and materials used. Certainly not suggesting that ALL silcone or even most Silcone products are suspect. Just that care has to be used. These days "Lowest Price" can lead to issues.
Glad they are good.

 

[Ajmassa]

Yeah, Rubber and Alcohol - not a good mix. My concern is only for the quality/sources care in production and materials used. Certainly not suggesting that ALL silcone or even most Silcone products are suspect. Just that care has to be used. These days "Lowest Price" can lead to issues.
Glad they are good.

Well actually not necessarily, you do make a good point. I have a bunch of em. Buying a few at a time from all different sources. LHBS’s, multiple websites etc. whenever purchasing necessities I’ll throw in a couple smaller items like these bungs.

There are a couple I do not use. Poor quality. Top seal weak, different lesser quality silicon used, not completely odorless (not overwhelming) and i don’t trust them. The bungs from MoreWine are tip-top tho [emoji1305]

Wish I could remember where they came from

 

[Johnd]

These are the ones from MoreWine, have been using them for years : https://morewinemaking.com/products/silicone-stopper-breathable-carboy.html
You can see that I use them extensively..............

 

[Intheswamp]