Fruit flies

[wineview]

I have six buckets of red wine and one bucket of white in their 6th day of fermentation. When I open the lid to take a reading or give it a stir, I noticed a fruit fly floating on top. I remove the insect and find another the next time I open the cover. Easy to see in white wine not so much in red. Question is are they harmful to the wine.

 

[stickman]

I think fruit flies are more of an annoyance than anything else. They may carry some bacteria, but wine from fresh grapes always contains various bacteria at much higher levels than you may realize, normal acetobacter in the range of 100 to 1000 cells/ml, and lactobacillus and pidococcus in the range of 1,000 to 10,000 cells/ml. It's doubtful that a few fruit flies will make much difference. The proper use of SO2 and minimal exposure to oxygen, as well as other factors like low pH and alcohol content etc., is what prevents the bacteria from doing major damage.

 

[salcoco]

a good trap for fruit flies is place some wine in a small jar. cover the jar with plastic, take a pencil or other sharp object and punch holes in plastic fruit flies in cannot come out. replace wine periodically

 

[cmason1957]

What I do to keep the fruit flies away is just turn on a fan, blowing near the fermentation buckets. Even a very low speed makes it hard for the fruit flies to fly

 

[Jovimaple]

a good trap for fruit flies is place some wine in a small jar. cover the jar with plastic, take a pencil or other sharp object and punch holes in plastic fruit flies in cannot come out. replace wine periodically

But not by drinking the fruit fly jar wine!

 

[Raptor99]

I think fruit flies are more of an annoyance than anything else. They may carry some bacteria, but wine from fresh grapes always contains various bacteria at much higher levels than you may realize, normal acetobacter in the range of 100 to 1000 cells/ml, and lactobacillus and pidococcus in the range of 1,000 to 10,000 cells/ml. It's doubtful that a few fruit flies will make much difference. The proper use of SO2 and minimal exposure to oxygen, as well as other factors like low pH and alcohol content etc., is what prevents the bacteria from doing major damage.

This is an interesting point. Maybe is is not a big problem if a few fruit flies get into the primary. If we assume that acetobacter is already present, then the main thing is to control the conditions to prevent it from doing major damage. This is very relevant to me right now because I am getting ready to start a batch of pear wine and there are some fruit flies in the house.

 

[hounddawg]

pump there bellies, get your wine back,
Dawg

 

[Scooter68]

Ditch the plastic lids and put some cloth* tied down over the containers. A plastic lid just laid on top of the bucket is an invitation to the fruit flies.
Make sure your fermenting container cover is tied down (Cloth cover ?) so the little critters can't get in. As cmason1957 said use a fan especially when you happen to have the container open.

* I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a couple of yards of unbleached muslin cloth. washed and sanitized it and I tie that over the top of the buckets.

 

[hounddawg]

a good trap for fruit flies is place some wine in a small jar. cover the jar with plastic, take a pencil or other sharp object and punch holes in plastic fruit flies in cannot come out. replace wine periodically

where'd you get your plastic frut flies, i understand your train of thought, kinda along the line of decoys while duck hunting, dang, you're good
Dawg

 

[bade50]

I use sticky glue traps (the kind commonly used for spiders, mice, etc). I just put one on top of each cloth covering my primaries and dribble a few drops of wine (or juice) onto the middle of the trap. I’m always surprised at how many of those little boogers are flying around and get stuck on the sticky traps.

 

[BeeMad]

I always put paint strainer bags over my buckets, sometimes more than one. I don't usually see any fruit flies around my fermentation buckets, but I did find one this morning trapped between two bags.

 

[Jim Welch]

I make fruit fly traps with plastic bottles using a method I found on the net. I bait half with apple cider vinegar with a drop of dish washing liquid and the other half with wine and a drop of dish washing liquid. Seems to make a nice rest home for the poor pesky critters.

 

[Bossbaby]

cider vinegar and soap works well, I've got two going now with probably 100 dead flies in each, but definitely a cheese cloth and I wrap a 12 gauge wire around the top of the bucket and twist it over itself, makes it easy to undo quickly each day.

 

[wineview]

All good information. Thank you.
WV