My worms were living upstairs in luxury for the last 3 weeks. Yesterday the fruit flies reappeared and the bin was brought back to the basement where the temps are 49 degrees.

I went down to feed this morning and there were worms in clusters all over the top of the bins. No doubt they want back upstairs but I'm not about to be swatting fruit flies for the rest of the winter.

Freeze or microwave the food before feeding it to the herd and it will kill the fruit fly eggs...

Rob

PS> I wish I would take my own advice sometimes because I just got down with the same problem. I fed them newspaper and cardboard till the flies died off.

I hear ya. I left the cover off for the summer and dried it out last 3 weeks to get rid of the fruit flies.

I think banana peels are the biggest culprit when it comes to fr flies. They hang around longer than the other scraps I put in there and they are probably more apt to host fr fly anyway. I am reluctant to microwave and kill the microbes even though I know that the worm bin will put the microbes back.

I freeze the food then warm it in the micro, I went down the other day and saw the fruit flies. pissed me off..
i also saw mold spores growing but i read somewhere that mold is normal, I am only into my third week but do alot of read hear...

If fly eggs can winter over then it seems they can hatch after frozen in freezer. The microwave will strilize them if run full blast for a time. i guess that's what you need to do to avoid fr fly infestation.

Bananas are a HUGE culprit for fruit flies. Long before I began vermicomposting, I would have the occasional swarm of fruitflies invade my kitchen for "no apparent reason". It took a while to figure out, but I finally realized it only happened a few days after I brought home bananas.

My daughter gave me this advice:
As soon as the bananas come into the house, dip a paper towel or rag into weak bleach/water solution and wring it out until barely damp. Wipe each banana thoroughly: don't forget the stem tips and the bottom end. No need to rinse: The bleach dissipates almost immediately, but it seems to work wonders. I have done this to every banana brought home since and not a single fruit fly has taken-up residence in the house.

Because the bleach dissipates quickly, I wonder if it is safe to give the banana remains to the worms?

Please verify this with members who know what they're doing.

It won't get rid of existing fruit flies, but may prevent infestations of bins that don't have them.
It probably won't work with open/outdoor bins, since the little buggers will be attracted to anything tasty they can get to. It may be helpful for indoor bins, though.

Any thoughts on this?

Bren