Compost bin and flies!!!

[joelalie]

We have a compost bin just outside our kitchen window. It's been there since last autumn, but when the weather is hot we've got loads of little black flies all over it and all over the kitchen too!! It's really horrible. Is this normal? I don't remember it happening with my parents' compost heap. Will it damage the compost if I spray it with some noxious fly-killing chemical.

I think the answer is lots and lots of grass cuttings in there. Hope someone else can give you more info. Try the "Environment" thread

Sounds normal - They are probably just fruit flies which are harmless. Not very nice in the kitchen though. Apparently adding a layer of soil over the vegetable waste will help. \link{http://www.wrap.org.uk/recyclenow/home_composting/useful_info/compost_bin.html\see here}

It means that you've got too much kitchen waste going in at one time. You need a layer of garden waste every so often to cover the kitchen stuff. If you put more than a couple of inches of grass cuttings in, sprinkle a layer of Garotta in as well, otherwise the grass cuttings compact down and don't rot properly (now that really hums).

I don't think fly spray would be a good idea - no idea how long the poisons would remain in the compost.

also chunks of cardboard