I've had a similar experience. My flatmate shared some chocolate (he's on this forum and knows who he is ... ), as i bit into it, bits crumbled down my top... imagine how i felt when i looked down and found my top crawling!!! Needless to say I spat out pretty quick.... I kind of wished I'd waited just that little bit to see him bite into his chocolate too

Turns out our cupboards were invested with kitchen moths, we washed everything out and threw away a lot of food. 2 months later they were back... turns out they feed on dry food, they can get through anything.. nothing is safe unless in tupperware. This time we disinfected everything... they laid their eggs in the holes at the side of the cupboard where you adjust the shelf height. To clean these we dipped cotton buds in disinfectant.

Good Luck!!!

It was the same here. And I killed the eggs with a spray. I sprayed every single day during 3 weeks. Since this happening I have a lot of dry food in the fridge and try to use anything up as quick as possible.

Wow, is this maggot thing a common issue in Switzerland?

I've honestly never heard of this happening to someone here in NY, as we are too busy worrying about roaches, mice, house centepides, fruit flies, Bed Bugs, dirty roommates etc.

Ugh...I have been staring at pictures of fly larvae and maggot larvae trying to compare the two, and honestly I can't tell which one it is.

I have not noticed any moths flying around in the kitchen (or the house for that matter) so at this point I am really hoping they are just flies!

My plan of action is to not eat anything out of the cupboards today or tomorrow, just stuff from the fridge, and let my hubby go through stuff on Friday

@NYC- The only time I ever saw maggots back in California was when I was a kid and my dad had made an all natural compost pile in the backyard...I went to take something out there and when I opened the lid to it, the entire top of the pile was crawling with maggots.

This is why I am afraid to look now

If you have a vacuum with a bag, throw out the bag and put a fresh one in. If it is a bagless vacuum, empty the dirt collector and clean it before putting the vacuum away.

Get yourself a garbage can, and use a larger garbage bag (60 litre). Place the filled bags in the larger bag outside. If you live in an apartment, they really should have a container outside for garbage. You cannot leave garbage in an apartment nor is a balcony a very nice option. Consider talking to the other tenants and see if you can come up with a better solution.

Let me know if anyone wants a catalogue sent out

The issue is more prevalent here because generally there is no a/c AND the windows (which are left open most of the time, particularly in summer) generally have no screens.

Garbage is only supposed to be put on the street the evening before collection (7pm earliest here in Basel my hubby says) and a lot of apartments do not have any place to put the trash prior to that. Bags of trash which many of us (particularly those - like me - accustomed to suburban life) are accustomed to sticking into a large bin once full, to be wheeled down on "trash day" rather than having it hang out in our kitchen / on the balcony.

If they were under bags of cans and bottles waiting to be taken to recycle, most likely they were indeed maggots. The wet paper is about as likely as anything else to have attracted the flies to lay eggs but unless you put the items through the dishwasher, they're not clean "enough" to escape attracting flies anyhow.

I've had issues with both at times... the garbage much like others who move here "new" - you miss a trash day in the summer and you've got high possibility of dealing with maggots. Nasty nasty nasty... While I know they are used for "medicinal purposes" sometimes and considered a delicacy in some places, I'm pretty sure those were raised someplace cleaner than the bottom of my garbage bin.



Meanwhile, the cupboard moths were something I'd had an ongoing battle with in Florida because we had birds and often the bags of seed would only later reveal evidence. Flour and ground nuts are easier to detect because often you can see cocoons and "webbing" around the bottom edge of the bag (thanks to bird seed even the grocery store had issues so you had to really pay attention). If you open a sack of flour or a bag of pasta, anything like that and see webs, throw it away.

Other (dry) pet foods are of course also susceptible to the moths so as others have said, anything dry - ANYTHING - which contains ground nuts and / or grains should go into a sturdy sealing container. Plastic (tupperware, rubbermaid and the like), glass or metal all work as long as they truly seal "air tight".

For me it's one of those "ah ha!" moments as realization hits that that is exactly why people used to keep such items in jars, and here I'd always thought it was just to look pretty.

To copy my post from another thread:

We had a maggot invasion here last year. It was a nightmare, especially since I had to take care of it alone (my girlfriend has a deadly fear of worms and almost had a panic attack).

The cause is always quite simple, you leave meat or something lying around, or a trash can open, and a fly drops its eggs in there. A while later you get maggots. We were a bit behind in our house cleaning (let's be frank, the place was a bit of a mess), missed a trash day, and the window was always open. The freaking things were everywhere when I woke up one morning - under the bath, under the couch, behind the radiators, you name it.

To get rid of them, you have to be thorough. I see people on other forums talking about getting rid of them by pouring some water or looking for some magic solution or spray. Useless. You have to exterminate them one by one (I squished every one I found with cleaning paper, or later vacuumed the rest up). Check every corner, every hidden place. Once you're done, get to cleaning. First, vacuum everything. Then scrub and wash every floor surface. Leave nothing to chance. When you're done, throw away all the trash cans and the vacuum bag.

The glass of whiskey (or your alcohol of choice) which you'll have afterwards will be the most rewarding of your life. I think my solution was pretty effective, the evening of the same day I only found one stray maggot crawling around, and haven't encountered any since.

It taught us to keep our place clean, especially in the summer. I now have a trump card whenever I feel it's time to clean up and the girlfriend's not up to it: "Do you want the maggots to come back?"

just be careful not to fall asleep..... ever. mwahhhhhahahahahah


http://www.smh.com.au/world/strangeb...729-10weh.html

ewwwwww

Oh wow, thanks Peg, you actually just made me realize something new. I always wondered why my girlfriend would keep the garbage on the balcony. I had no clue there are no large bins to put them in. I didn't realize that there don't allow a specific place to put it and also it must be done at such specific times. Here in NYC, you always have 2 choices: Either throw it out in the kitchen garbage, then take the garbage when its full to the compactor chute or go straight to the compactor chute in the hallway.

You also made me remember something else I love about Switzerland:

BIG HUGE WINDOWS that open like doors and have no screens!!!

Friggin love that. I even love the shape of handles on the doors and the windows and the thickness of the construction of the Entrance doors to an apartment. I must be weird right?

So whatever happened to those 3 little beasties?

fduvall

AHHH!!! This made me plan a thorough apartment scrubbing plus garbage and compost disposal before going on holiday this summer.

I resurrected this thread because I need some advice on my compost situation. I have a 5l compost bin and use these



bags during the colder parts of the year.

It takes about 2 weeks to fill one of these bags and I never put meat in them.
In winter, using the bags is no problem because it's not as sunny/hot etc.

I always wash and scrub the 5l bin thoroughly after emptying it into the communal bin and leave it open to dry.

But days are getting warmer...

I detest maggots and absolutely can't touch these little beasts. So, is there any way to prevent them when leaving the compost inside for 2 weeks? I'm sick of emptying my compost straight into the communal bin outside every 2 days for weeks now...

Any suggestions? Thanks.

pictures would help.

worms and maggots are not the same -- worms aren't insects.
Larvae from some families of flies, beetles, moths and wasps can look very similar... "maggoty".

What was their food source?



The offspring of some families of flies are called "maggots". Maggots don't reproduce (because they are the immature stage of flies), therefore, there is no such thing as "maggot larvae".

The lifecycle of flies is just like butterflies. Egg ---> larva (maggot) --> pupa --> adult

----

I've had my windows open for an entire year now (even through the winter) and (knock on wood) I haven't had a single fly, bee, spider, et al. in my apartment. I'm not even spraying insecticides. I don't know what's keeping them out, but I'm very happy about it.

No tips?

Keep them and feed them in case you get a really bad wound one day - then you can apply them to the wound with a bandage around, and they will cure you, just like that (true).

BLEEEEEEEEEECHHH!!!!!

"ew" to the infinite power

It's true, fly maggots will eat any rotting/dead flesh and prevent infection spreading further. If it's gotten that far you won't feel anything anyway but it's best not to think of it

Put up fly nets on all windows, so that you hugely reduce the number of insects in your home at any time. That way your compost will be ok. You can get them at the DIY stores and can be adapted to any shape of window frame. I need to go and buy some too now that the warmer weather is here. I learned the hard way about food moths, it's all old school glass jars and air tight plastic boxes at my place, as well as the traps which are remarkably effective. They get into any crevice possible if you let them. I HATE BUGS!

.........and when they're nice and full, do they develop into flies and flutter around under the bandage?

not that I think there'd be enough space, but... shudder.

Do you use white or black fly nets?