Yuck - Maggots In The Bin Help!!!

nixinix

Stompa wrote: »

I do occasionally leave stuff in the fridge for transferring to the bin just before collection. Unfortunately, I also sometimes only remember that it's in the fridge just after the binmen have collected!

Glad thats not just me!!! LOL!

Really though I don't have enough room in my freezer for 'rubbish' - I barely have enough room for all the food I want to have in!

Fozz

Just to say that we have a local bin cleaning service, it does cost £55 per year, but to us it's worth it not to have to clean out 3 bins (oh dear, not very OS I'm afraid). They have a van with a power washer and clean them really well, lovely to come home to a fragrant wheely bin!

penguin83

Hi all, just bumping this thread instead of starting a new one - apologies for the gross subject!

Just gone outside to put a box in recycling and our whole front step and driveway is covered in maggots - our bin is empty (it was emptied yesterday) and there are no dead animals around, we don't have pets so no food or presents left around!

They may have come from the bin (the bins are about 20m from the house) but why have they collected on my doorstep? Are they attracted to light or heat? OH has poured boiling water and salt on them but we haven't ventured out past the sea of maggots to check the bin yet - but we will give it a good clean out tomorrow.

Salt/hot water doesnt seem to be working - as this thread is quite old is there anything else not yet suggested that will kill them??

I'm all itchy thinking about it - so glad I noticed them before I stepped out! xx

Fire_Fox

Maybe we ought to think what the Old Style solutions are to this sort of issue. In the not too distant past people didn't even have fridges never mind freezers, and they didn't make the sheer volume of landfill we create today. Surely the 'reduce reuse recycle' message is part of being Old Style??

oystercatcher

I thought we were 'immune' from maggots as quite careful with waste but low and behold our brown waste bin (garden waste, food waste and cardboard) is swarming with maggots. We've still got a week until it's collected. I can't pour boiling water into a wheelie bin two thirds full of grass cuttings etc...... if I spray bleach it's only going to touch the surface. Anyone got any ideas? I'm not willing to spend much money on them. Not squeamish either but it is a horrible thing to have sat just outside the house .
Obviously once the bin men have been I will clean the bin thouroghly but I'd like to 'subdue the masses' before that, they try and escape every time I open the lid !

thriftlady_2

Oystercatcher, could you try leaving the lid open and letting the birds eat them? I had maggots in the bottom of a bin once, I tipped them on the garden path and the birds had 'em all in minutes.

oystercatcher

thriftlady wrote: »

Oystercatcher, could you try leaving the lid open and letting the birds eat them? I had maggots in the bottom of a bin once, I tipped them on the garden path and the birds had 'em all in minutes.

That seems the ideal solution. My only worry is that more flies will then lay eggs in the bin and perpetuate the problem.
I'm giving it a try though. Hoping maggots don't head for the house though.
An hour or so ago I tried both of my bathroom sprays, stardrops with bleach and stardrops with vinegar. The maggots didn't seem very happy when sprayed but when I went to recheck them just now (hoping they would have died) there seemed to be even more than normal of them swarming around the sides and lid of bin.
Now the lid is open they are swarming over the edge dropping to the ground like little commandos in battle.

Come on birdies do your stuff!!

Olliebeak

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Maybe we ought to think what the Old Style solutions are to this sort of issue. In the not too distant past people didn't even have fridges never mind freezers, and they didn't make the sheer volume of landfill we create today. Surely the 'reduce reuse recycle' message is part of being Old Style??

One thing about years gone by, is that we probably BURNT everything that we could. I remember that we had only one small bin for household rubbish which was mostly tins. Absolutely EVERYTHING that would burn went on the fire - including 'female products' (but we HAD to wait till there were no males in the house!). But, unfortunately, all that carbon didn't do any good for he atmosphere, did it .

Curlytop40

My bin is now full of maggots as our bin men are on strike and have missed two collections. Will salt work once the bin is empty?

oystercatcher

I forgot to come back and update.
The vinegar and bleach sprays didn't work at all. Think the little blighters liked the wet atmosphere actually!

Once the bin men had been I got the hose out and washed and washed the bin out . This was one of the most revolting things I have ever done even with 25 years of nursing under my belt!! There was a lot of disgusting muck stuck to the bottom of the bin which wouldn't flush down the drain so I had to put plastic bags on my hands and pick it up, even in double bin bags knotted tightly the stench still came out .
Used up all the bleach in the house and bin finally came up relatively clean.

Have resolved not to put food waste into our brown bin again it can be tightly wrapped and go to landfill. I can't be going through that every couple of weeks !

Curlytops I'm not sure the salt would work, a good wash with bleach would probably be best. I don't envy you at all....good luck! Hope your bin men come soon!