Maggots in the kitchen

Small, white and yucky: maggots are a real nightmare, especially in the kitchen, although the maggots themselves don't affect kitchen hygiene one bit. Mother Fly didn't come into the kitchen to lay eggs because the kitchen wasn't clean, but because food is processed in kitchens. That's why you get rid of the maggots in no time; but may need to rearrange the household a bit if you want to avoid visiting again. The article lists the possible and sensible measures.

Where do the maggots come from?

Maggots are descendants of insects that crawl out of the eggs of flies. Some flies are very nimble when it comes to laying eggs. B. the bluebottle got its name. But also because she prefers to lay her eggs on faeces or carrion, which is why the thick, iridescent buzzer also not the most common household fly (but also lays eggs on proteinaceous leftovers). The normal "household fly" is the house fly, which flies to all foods containing butyric acid or sugar and lays eggs there; and the famous fruit flies can also lay eggs in households.

When the females of all these flies have got lost in the house and are in trouble to lay their eggs, they lay their eggs somewhere, and the maggots hatch shortly after the eggs are laid. This is the reason why maggots in the house have nothing to do with uncleanliness, because flies often get into trouble to lay eggs.

Normally the mother fly tries to place the eggs in such a way that the maggots escape from the egg into the middle of a paradise crawling on plant and animal matter that is currently being decomposed - the children should have it good and live like them "Maggots in the bacon". If the eggs are laid somewhere, the children do not have it so good and set out on a journey to find something to eat; that's why maggots can meet you in the most unlikely places in the house.

Maggots in the kitchen

Maggots in the kitchen can descend from the flies mentioned above, then they are usually found in the garbage, pet food, litter box. If the maggots are found elsewhere in the kitchen, they can still be fly larvae act, but often they are also moth larvae (which are then called caterpillars because moths are butterflies are).

These food moths and their caterpillars have slightly different preferences than visiting flies rather than protein or sugar, they go to cereals, spices, nuts often through packaging or with the packaging shopped If you decide to organize your household a little more when maggots have been sighted, it makes no difference whether you are dealing with maggots or caterpillars. As you will read in the paragraph after next, it is a question of "tweaking many small screws" with effect against many insects willing to move in.

Maggot infestation in the rest of the house

Maggots aren't limited to the kitchen, just as flies aren't limited to the kitchen either. They visit all places in the apartment where pets leave their mark, terrariums and aquariums and pantries that store pet food and other organic supplies for humans and pets becomes. And of course every rubbish bin in which organic residues were thrown, side rooms in which in a dark, damp place a fallen piece of food is waiting, the corner under the cupboard or the floorboards where a mouse has died.

The bigger the house and the more nature in front of the door, the more diverse the possibilities for a fly to find a suitable place to lay its eggs. And if she doesn't find it, she sometimes lays her eggs anyway, because it's urgently time to do so (this is called laying not). Worst case scenario, she will place these eggs in a small crack in the attic floor, allowing the maggots to meet you on the ceiling in the room below.

fight maggots

The maggots themselves are quickly with the garbage bag, animal feed, etc. or dusted off (from which they can be disposed directly into the garden as healthy bird seed). Where they have walked around can be wiped off, but more for a clean feeling, the maggots themselves do not carry large amounts of germs with them or in them.

It is more important to find the rotting leftover food that encouraged the fly to lay eggs, to remove it and to thoroughly clean the place where it was found. In any case, a little scent should also be sprayed here, because of the smell the fly has chosen this place to lay its eggs. In addition, locality-specific changes in cleaning measures can be announced so that the "your last maggots stay”: don’t leave animal feed lying around, muck out the rabbit hutch more often, etc., more suggestions in the next Unit volume.

If you can't find the "maggot's nest" with the best will in the world, you should first assess the situation and then decide whether further steps are appropriate. If

• the stream of maggots dried up after a few days

• Depending on the type of house, it is rather improbable that flies built extensive nests in cracks in the building fabric

• no unpleasant odor can be detected near the maggots

• maggots emerge from a rather clean environment, you can assume that a fly is in laying their eggs in an inappropriate place and the matter of the last ones appearing Made z. B. done on day 5.

If the maggots have developed into an adjoining room in the middle of the last, not yet renovated shithole, it looks different, then it's time to finally "clear the ship" here.

Preventing maggot infestation means fighting flies

Fighting flies is not limited to sporting rounds with the fly swatter, but it is about reducing the frequency of flies that can be observed in the house overall. There are many small things you can do to make your household a little less attractive to flies. There is no household without flies, but many households in which only a few flies fly around. Even if animals live in the household, even if there is a garden in front of the door. Here are your options:

Minimize fly attractants

In summer you are spared accumulations of hungry flies if the windows at the place where the food is prepared (juice preparation, jam bottling, etc.) are provided with fly screens. If there is a lot of traffic going through the front door to this room, an automatic door closer will help (a bit). In the transitional period, windows of "foodless" living spaces should also be secured with fly screens if Fly attractions can be found near the apartment (restaurant garbage cans, dung heaps, pomace from cider plants).

But the fly attractions can also be in your own home:

• Clean litter boxes and small animal enclosures regularly so that flies do not lay their eggs on the faeces

• Canned pet food is a mix of finely chopped food production leftovers that rot quickly, a culinary dream for flies

• The warmer it is, the faster other foods that are left open send clear olfactory messages

• Since cool storage rooms are rare today, any food outside of the refrigerator quickly becomes a fly lure

• Even in super clean households, flies can feel comfortable

• For example, because the fruit plate, dirty dishes, half-full pots are left open or the half-full dishwasher is lying around

• (raw) meat scraps end up in a seldom emptied compost bin without first being wrapped in newspaper

• A few drops of orange oil, tea tree oil, vinegar or salt solution can be used to avoid odors in the organic waste bin

• Purchasable bio-bin powder, rock flour or slaked lime from the hardware store also help against maggot development

• immediate use of biowaste, e.g. B. as plant fertilizer

• skilful organic bin management: layers of newspaper between the waste absorb moisture

• Wood shavings, coconut fibers can do that too, in a dry bin no fermentation gases and fungi form

• In some cities, an odour-reducing cover filter for the organic waste bin is offered for an additional charge (20 - 40 euros).

• Free hygiene guarantees immediate disposal of organic waste to the compost

• If you often have to do with flies/maggots, you should check the storage: no bags or foil, but glass, solid plastic, metal

You could use the maggots as an opportunity to go through your supplies and announce (and carry out, otherwise it's useless) the "Eat Up Weeks". You'll be there when there's only enough supplies left to pack everything maggot-proof (which takes up more space than the collection of bags crammed into the closet). Don't immediately fill half-empty shelves to bursting again, we don't live in shortages, and the supposedly cheap offers come a) again and again and save b) a few, if at all cents. In fact, they save nothing at all, on the contrary, they usually only increase the proportion of food that is disposed of while it is still in the packaging. Realize that pantry cupboards need to be sparsely stocked if they are within normal limits should be cleaned with the daily kitchen cleaning, because nobody clears out the pantry every day to close it clean. Wiping through is not a problem if the content can simply be pushed to the side.

If more food is thrown away in a household than is consumed, the realities of shopping should be adjusted to the realities of consumption. Tastes change, and we're all too busy to be constantly paying attention to our eating habits. Tasty foods that are satisfying to eat are eaten up and not thrown away.

Typical supply traps

When something should always be there because it's so healthy, but actually by no household member really likes to eat, it is not eaten and does not need to be bought become. When something should always be there because it's so terribly delicious, but it's actually so complicated to prepare that it's never find someone who takes over this complicated preparation, it will not be prepared and does not have to be bought become.

A little digression

The maggots have not yet made it onto the shelves with the bacon, but the cheese has: it is sold and eaten with the Sardinian maggot cheese “Casu Marzu”; In this case, “Made in Italy” also means: “Made made the Cheese”. On maggots, which populate the first gourmet restaurants as a substitute for beef, Saxon Mite cheese and French mimolette with maggot bark is not to be sniffed out in front of unprepared readers To be received; and no one has to taste all this - but it proves that maggots don't actually deserve their disgusting image. In fact, they secrete so many antibacterial substances that they are used medically for poorly healing human wounds, so maggots do not cause any problems in terms of hygiene.

Bring the household up to speed?

Is often not necessary and does not always work immediately, e.g. B. because the time of the maggot infestation is also a time of heavy workload. But every few years every household needs some kind of basic maintenance. This doesn't mean spring cleaning, we really wouldn't dare accuse you of any kind of uncleanliness. It's more about attention, about "a few jerks" to finally throw out the clutter in the corner (not that clutter attracts maggots, it's just for head and household ventilation); to really replace the kitchen cupboard, under which you can't clean, with a piece of furniture that is easy to care for (which can also be bought for a few euros via classified ads); really throwing open windows all over the house for five minutes a day (can be incorporated into morning Pilates practice), and so on.

"Getting the household moving" also includes various small repairs in your own home, and it is precisely these small repairs that often have to do with little cracks and crevices where a mother fly lays her eggs if she accidentally strays into the house has.

Anti-fly scent (that pleases people)

When it comes to smells, flies have practical preferences - they like exactly what we don't like to get rid of all those nasty residues like droppings, carrion, etc. they are among other things in the world.

So, human being can use plenty of anti-fly fragrance in the house and around the house, which only makes the human world more beautiful. People have long been bothered by too many flies in the house and have tried many scents, so by now we have a pretty good idea of ​​which scents make flies usually dislike: wiping with vinegar destroys odors and bacteria, evaporating peppermint or lavender oil (on the stove, in the mini smoker) keeps flies away and makes people more relaxed. Laurel oil in small bowls/wide-necked bottles with a little water is said to drive away many types of vermin.

As indoor plants, Indian frankincense (Plectranthus coleoides) and eucalyptus trees (Eucalyptus globulus have the strongest scent) are said to drive away flies; Geraniums and marigolds used as balcony plants scare off flies, and fresh basil should always smell “fly-hostile” in the kitchen. In the garden, the bed in front of the house can be planted with tomatoes, runner beans, nasturtium, catnip, lavender, peppermint, these plants separate scents that most flies don't like (and, apart from the vegetables, also provide material for scented sachets, which in turn flies out of the house hold). Exceptions prove the rule even with bow ties, but feel free to experiment with whatever scents you and your family like.

Mechanical Defense

Think of the good old fly screens that are gradually being fitted to all doors and windows, and they help noticeably, especially in warm weather. Even the well-known adhesive strips are not completely "out" yet, but noticeably relieve the "fly collection points" in the household. The good old fly swatter still does what it's supposed to do, especially when it's readily available in many places around the house.

Fly paradise please in the back garden

If it's a garden pond or water pond, then a little further back in the garden, where all the flies in the world can gather in "fly-heavy weather". In the vicinity of the house, on the other hand, permanently damp areas should be avoided.

Let natural enemies live

Spiders are powerful natural enemies of spiders that build large traps in their path. If you're one of the lucky people who hasn't developed a fear of spiders, feel free to let the spiders live in your house. They are very useful housemates, ridding our living spaces of a whole range of insects; and when they become too many, they are simply thrown out into the open, residue like cobwebs disappearing in the vacuum cleaner.

chemical control agents

There are of course also against flies, but cannot be recommended for use in living areas. They are also toxic to residents, can settle and accumulate in living spaces until the indoor air becomes quite toxic.

Biological Defense

If flies get the upper hand, you can use parasitic wasps, which are natural enemies and permanently keep fly populations in check. Ichneumon wasps can be bought; they are only a few millimeters in size, completely harmless to humans and pets and die when they have destroyed all the flies.

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