Imagine that you have eaten dinner and have to throw away the fresh food waste. You open the lid, and a swarm of flies flies out of the bin. You look down and there are hundreds of white caterpillars crawling around inside the bin, enjoying their food. A family in Bodø recently experienced this. This is what the food waste looked like for the Bodø family, who do not wish to be named in the case. – It was a disgusting experience to see a swarm of houseflies. And then discovered several hundred white larvae that were crawling into the can, says the man, who does not want to be named. And adds: – Now the wife refuses to go out with the food waste. Fly larvae are usually something you want to avoid in your own rubbish, but why does it happen? Lays 40 eggs every other day Summer heat is a key factor here. If it is 25 degrees Celsius and 80 percent humidity in the can, fly eggs develop into larvae in just 10 hours. A fly lays around 40 eggs every two days. Therefore, it can quickly become lively in your tank. When the weather gets warmer, it’s high season for flies and caterpillars in the food waste bin. Photo: Rune Aae – The larvae are hatched from eggs that the mother fly lays on various materials that the mother fly thinks are good growing conditions for the larvae, says Gunnar M. Kvifte, at Nord University. He says that the mother flies have a good sense of smell. They smell their way to the food waste. – Food that is good for humans is often good for other organisms too, says Kvifte. He says the earth benefits from the caterpillars. The larvae utilize the nutrients in the food people do not eat. This can eventually become plant food. Kvifte says that you still don’t need to have the larvae right outside the front door. – Take them out. Put them in a compost bin. Then they are not in the way of us humans, advises Kvifte. Gunnar M. Kvifte is associate professor at the Faculty of Life Sciences and Aquaculture at Nord University. Photo: Privat You can do this Geir Benden is the communications manager at the waste company HAF. He says it may be necessary to wash the cans after emptying if they are dirty. – The tip we found was to have some salmiac water so you can wash the can really well, says Benden. Benden says that if the larvae and flies become a big problem, it can be unpleasant to be around. – The larvae are completely harmless, but there is of course a nuisance with the smell and flies, says Benden. The flies are attracted to rotten food, so Benden advises to keep the heat low and ventilate for moisture in the cans. Then you can put a small brick between the can and the lid to aerate, and put the can in the shade. Have you got larvae in the waste bin? Put paper with salamiak in the jar. If you have the opportunity to get hold of some sawdust or similar that can absorb moisture, put some of it in the can. Are you able to move the can to a place where it is cooler/more shaded? E.g. back of house. If possible, open the lid – either ajar or completely, to get the moisture out of the can. If you can wait until after emptying day to deal with this: Wash the can with water and salt vinegar Make sure that all odors and moisture are out of the can Source: iris-salten.no – Feel free to put some sawdust or food paper at the bottom of the can to absorb moisture, he says. Monica N. Tennfjord, general manager of Iris Service, says blowflies in the food waste are a relatively common problem. She has the following advice for getting rid of the unwanted guests in the food waste; – The flies search for odors and moisture to lay eggs. Close the bags tightly and do not overfill them. This removes odors and prevents the flies from getting to the food. Since moisture is one of the main reasons why flies are attracted to cans, you should keep the bio bags as dry as possible. – You can limit moisture by letting as much water as possible run off the food waste before you throw it away. You can also leave the lid of the bin under the kitchen counter up, so that the water evaporates. Harmful bacteria Gunnar M. Kvifte says that the problem is that the flies can pick up bacteria from bad food or faeces. – The bacteria hitchhike with the flies, by hanging onto their legs. If they land in your food, the bacteria can eventually end up in your mouth. In the extreme, this can lead to disease bacteria, explains Kvifte. This is not a common problem in Norway, but Kvifte explains that this can quickly change with climate change, i.e. with increased temperatures. – When the flies get better growing conditions, there are often better growing conditions for the bacteria the flies can bring with them, says Kvifte.
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Fly larvae in food waste – how to get rid of them – news Nordland
