Symptoms and Causes Time flies like an arrow, Fruit flies like a banana (Groucho Marx) Fruit is irresistible to flies Flies are also attracted to odours (rotting cooked food)

Possible Solutions Fruit will alsways attract flies, but if you always bury the fruit deeper in the compost heap, the flies may never come to the surface, and there will be no problem Never put cooked food in the compost heap A layer of soil on top of the heap may be enough to stop the flies getting to the fruit Leave the lid off the heap on a windy day and all the flies will go Do NOT use insecticides on you compost heap - a lot of insect activity is essential for good compost

Remember
Compost is an eco-system of insects, worms, fungi, which need air, moisture and warmth. Most of the components we need arrive in particles of soil, or as spores on leaves or roots.
Compost is what happens naturally - we speed it up with our containers and accelerators, but we should not interfere will it any more than that - all parts of the compost eco-system are essential, and we should not interfere. Occasionally there may be flies, but there are flies everywhere - with well-managed compost, they should not be a problem

And, read our general compost information pages