Hi There,

A few months ago we purchased a councol subsidised composter for
garden/kitchen waste. It has now reached a "steady state" where despite
having stuff put in every day the level doesn't go up at all. I assume
compost chemistry is in action.

One unpleasant side affect is that it has become home to a dense swarm of
annoying small flies.

I imagine this is a great application for some home grown technology. The
perfect product for this situation would be some kind of (low supply
voltage) electrical insect zapper, that perhaps uses a UV LED as "bait". Do
such things exist?

I see Maplin sell these http://tinyurl.com/mdf2t but they do not look like
they would last long inside a compost bin.

Any better suggestions?

D

Vortex wrote:
Hi There,

A few months ago we purchased a councol subsidised composter for
garden/kitchen waste. It has now reached a "steady state" where despite
having stuff put in every day the level doesn't go up at all. I assume
compost chemistry is in action.

One unpleasant side affect is that it has become home to a dense swarm of
annoying small flies.

You have it badly set up. It should be a not unpleasant smell. You put
a layer of waste covered with a layer of cellulose and soil or similar.
The process thus goes on under cover.

How many others are having the same problem? Take a look at what the
more successful users are doing.

In article ,
Vortex wrote:

A few months ago we purchased a councol subsidised composter for
garden/kitchen waste. It has now reached a "steady state" where
despite having stuff put in every day the level doesn't go up at
all. I assume compost chemistry is in action.

One unpleasant side affect is that it has become home to a dense
swarm of annoying small flies.

Cap it off every now and again with a few shovels of
earth. Also look out for any entrance holes dug
around the bottom rim... it could mean that you have
attracted rats.

--
Tony Williams.

Vortex wrote:
Hi There,

A few months ago we purchased a councol subsidised composter for
garden/kitchen waste. It has now reached a "steady state" where despite
having stuff put in every day the level doesn't go up at all. I assume
compost chemistry is in action.

One unpleasant side affect is that it has become home to a dense swarm of
annoying small flies.

I imagine this is a great application for some home grown technology. The
perfect product for this situation would be some kind of (low supply
voltage) electrical insect zapper, that perhaps uses a UV LED as "bait". Do
such things exist?

I see Maplin sell these http://tinyurl.com/mdf2t but they do not look like
they would last long inside a compost bin.

Any better suggestions?

D

leave the top off for a while to allow "fly eating insects" access

Alex

On Sun, 25 Jun 2006 09:25:17 +0100 someone who may be "Vortex"
wrote this:-

A few months ago we purchased a councol subsidised composter for
garden/kitchen waste. It has now reached a "steady state" where despite
having stuff put in every day the level doesn't go up at all. I assume
compost chemistry is in action.

One unpleasant side affect is that it has become home to a dense swarm of
annoying small flies.

Probably too much green material and not enough brown.

Have you put raw meat into the bin?

http://www.originalorganics.co.uk/compostinghints.htm doesn't cover
flies, but is a useful summary of what should be going on inside the
heap.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

On Sun, 25 Jun 2006 09:39:02 +0100, Tony Williams wrote:

One unpleasant side affect is that it has become home to a dense
swarm of annoying small flies.

But only if you happen to be disturbing the bin surely? Ours is home to
small flies as well but they aren't a problem, just a minor irritation
when the bin is opened. Open the lid away from you then they tend not to
fly at you.

Also look out for any entrance holes dug around the bottom rim... it
could mean that you have attracted rats.

If you've got rats in a compost bin it will be obvious, as they will turn
and mix the contents very effectively. The fresh stuff won't stay where
you left it from one day to the next.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

In article om,
Dave Liquorice wrote:

On Sun, 25 Jun 2006 09:39:02 +0100, Tony Williams wrote:

One unpleasant side affect is that it has become home to a
dense swarm of annoying small flies.

Ummm..... no I didn't write that.

--
Tony Williams.

On Sun, 25 Jun 2006 16:35:15 +0100 someone who may be Tony Williams
wrote this:-

On Sun, 25 Jun 2006 09:39:02 +0100, Tony Williams wrote:

One unpleasant side affect is that it has become home to a
dense swarm of annoying small flies.

Ummm..... no I didn't write that.

That is entirely obvious, because of the extra level of quoting.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

On Sun, 25 Jun 2006 16:35:15 +0100, Tony Williams wrote:

One unpleasant side affect is that it has become home to a
dense swarm of annoying small flies.

Ummm..... no I didn't write that.

But you quoted it. Count the 's... in my message an you will see it is a
quoted quote rather than a quote.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

On Sun, 25 Jun 2006 09:25:17 +0100, "Vortex"
wrote:

|Hi There,
|
|A few months ago we purchased a councol subsidised composter for
|garden/kitchen waste. It has now reached a "steady state" where despite
|having stuff put in every day the level doesn't go up at all. I assume
|compost chemistry is in action.

Compost always compacts as it rots down, Keep adding stuff you will win
in the end ;-)


--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk Google Groups is IME the *worst*
method of accessing usenet. GG subscribers would be well advised get a
newsreader, say Agent, and a newsserver, say news.individual.net. These
will allow them: to see only *new* posts, a killfile, and other goodies.

Vortex wrote:
A few months ago we purchased a councol subsidised composter for
garden/kitchen waste. It has now reached a "steady state" where despite
having stuff put in every day the level doesn't go up at all. I assume
compost chemistry is in action.

What are you going to use this compost for, then?

The message
from Chris Bacon contains these words:

What are you going to use this compost for, then?

Spreading on Cadbury's chocolate.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.