On 16/07/2016 15:04, Phil L wrote:
David wrote:
With the unexpected arrival of warm weather we seem to be plagued by
little flies (probably fruit flies) breeding inside the compost caddy.

We empty it regularly (every day or so) and wash it out but the flies
are there again very quickly.

I understand that the eggs arrive on fresh fruit and vegetables so
there will be a constant supply.

The only solution (wait for it) I've seen advocated is to build a
fruit fly trap from a jam jar with a bit of banana skin (because
fruit flies like a banana) and some cider vinegar as bait.

Blasting your future compost (or at least the Council's) with fly
spray seems non-green.

Any other sensible solutions?

fly spray doesn't work on fruit flies as they don't breathe through their
skin like other flies. They do breathe, but not in the same way as, say
houseflies or bluebottles.

I hope you have a source for that... but... back to the OP

The life cycle of the Drosophila, the geneticist's favourite fruit fly,
is IIRC about three weeks. So they won't be breeding in their in a day,
they'll be flying n from somewhere else.

Andy