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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask about tiny flies appearing in my flat

44 replies

Rainyrainy445 · 21/12/2020 16:23

Not the most exciting thread! So in the last couple of weeks I’ve had a lot of tiny flies appearing.
Modern flat if that makes any difference ie no old brick work etc. I have an indoor cat and wondered re fleas but her behaviour hasn’t changed and didn’t think indoor cats were prone to fleas.
I’ve ordered some flea treatment just in case.
I don’t normally kill any living thing but I’ve been killing about 10 of the tiny flies a day in case they are fleas. I’ve not been hoovering etc any less than usual. Windows have been closed as it’s cold
Could it be fleas, or any ideas why the flies are suddenly appearing? Thanks...

OP posts:
Fartymcnarty · 21/12/2020 16:24

Google drain flies, I get these all the time.

LikeaSnowflake · 21/12/2020 16:24

Are they fruit flys? Come off your bananas? Get them all the time. If you put a cup of red wine out, they fly into it and usually this gets rid of them. Don’t leave any food out at all.

HeronLanyon · 21/12/2020 16:25

Oo er. Are they behaving like fleas - ie jumping - kind of see them and then they’ve jumped elsewhere. On soft furnishings etc
Or are they flying or on walls like fruit flies maybe ?

hensintheskirting · 21/12/2020 16:25

I have this - they live and breed in the soil of your houseplants. Do you have a new plant or one you've repotted recently? If you give any plants a shake take a look and see if little flies buzz off. Not sure what you can do - I'm hoping they'll just die out eventually! They do no harm...

Watto1 · 21/12/2020 16:25

Fruit flies? We had millions of the buggers at work after someone brought in apples from their tree.

TheresNothingIWantMore · 21/12/2020 16:26

We had this recently, turned out to be some manky old potatos the kids had put in some shelves!

Assuming you've got the same flies I'm afraid you need to drag everything out and look for something that's started rotting! The good news is as soon as you're close you'll disturb the flies and they'll give the location away! Once you've got rid of the route cause the flies will soon go too.

TheFootIsDown · 21/12/2020 16:26

Got any house plants?

CamelsAreMathematicians · 21/12/2020 16:26

Could be drain flies, fungus gnats in your houseplants soil or tiny flies drawn to gone off fruit or veg (missed a ding on an orange or onion maybe?).

RolandSchitt · 21/12/2020 16:26

We've had them this week too. They go for food. I've had to make sure we empty the food waste bin daily to try and keep on top of it. No food scraps into the main bin at all. My kids seem to ignore the food waste bin and put it into the main one and this really doesn't help things.

SummerHouse · 21/12/2020 16:28

We got them at the same time we got a poinsettia.

Squeejit · 21/12/2020 16:28

Fruit flies I reckon. Chuck your fruit out and clear your drains.

Dorisdaydream2 · 21/12/2020 16:29

These sound like fruit flies to me. We get them if bananas get over ripe. Fleas don’t fly, I don’t think that they have wings. They can jump a surprisingly long way though. Hope you manage to get rid of them.

SimplyRadishing · 21/12/2020 16:30

Fruit flies or do you have stagnant water ?

monkeyted · 21/12/2020 16:30

We've had this before in a new flat, it was drain flies, caused by a leak from a pipe behind the walls.

FiresideTreats · 21/12/2020 16:31

House plants were the cause in my house 😑

Lillyhatesjaz · 21/12/2020 16:33

We get tiny little black flies from the house plants, we got a honey dew plant which we keep near the other plants and it catches them so there are a lot less flying around.

Original poster
Rainyrainy445 · 21/12/2020 16:34

Thanks so far... I have no plants at all.
I’ve been buying bananas a fair bit during lockdown so it may be either that or the drains...
.... so I take it I just put some drain treatment down the drains?
And thanks for the red wine tip!

OP posts:
FamilyOfAliens · 21/12/2020 16:36

Fleas jump, they don’t fly.

Hmm
yetanothernamitynamechange · 21/12/2020 16:44

If its fruit flys its either a forgotten banana somewhere or one of your children has spilled fruit juice without telling you and thats attracting them.

SummerHouse · 21/12/2020 16:44

Do you have potted herbs. Coriander is a bugger for flys.

yetanothernamitynamechange · 21/12/2020 16:45

And if it is drain flies then even bleach will get rid of them in my experience.

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 21/12/2020 20:20

Seen your neighbours recently? .... Wink

Original poster
Rainyrainy445 · 21/12/2020 22:22

Eh? Treadsoftly... I don’t get what you mean

OP posts:
Ontheboardwalk · 21/12/2020 22:24

Gotta be fruit flies. Those feckers appear from no where

Might just want to give your neighbour a knock just in case

Reallynotavailable · 21/12/2020 22:26

I get these sometimes. A simple trap is to set a glass on the counter with a squirt of dish soap, half a cup of vinegar and half a cup of water. Mix them and scrape off the bubbles so you have a clear surface. The flies are attracted to the vinegar but drown as soon as they touch the surface, as the soap breaks the surface tension.