I've got a compost pile that has a nasty population of fruit flies. Probably started because I left veggie waste in the open for too long before adding it to the bin and dressing it.
Is there easy way to keep them from reproducing? Maybe a garden-safe additive I can put on the pile? The bin is outdoors and well away from my house, so they're not a real problem, but they make turning the pile a serious annoyance.
Thanks for the input. I'm realizing that the bin is probably a little too large for the amount of waste I generate, which makes keeping it covered a little more difficult.
Out of curiosity, how often do those bins get emptied? Regularly, or just when people come to buy some?
Not sure how often they get emptied, but based on how much we fill them in one day, it's gotta be at least once a month, maybe twice.
We definitely don't have people just coming by to buy it, because these are 3 huge dumpsters that are locked up every time we use them, and I doubt anyone who has use for compost is driving up to the suburbs just to buy it off us. More likely we just have a distributor come by regularly or whenever it's full, and they probably resell it to manufacturers or farmers.
Our store has some compost dumpsters, we probably put literal tonnes of rotten meat and bread and produce in them every week.
Obviously, we don't do anything with it besides selling it, but I've never noticed any flies or anything, even when they get really full. It's probably just a matter of keeping it covered except when you're putting stuff in. I haven't seen them putting any additives in.