Opening Fruit Fly Containers for Dummies!

Fruit Flies and how to actually get them out of the container without making a mess of things.

What tricks or tips are you using to accomplish this simple task? I currently have been using the smaller glass jar with the screw on top to feed my darts. I also dust them and have developed a simple technique to dust them. I take a 32 oz plastic container without the lid and place the powder in it. I then unscrew the glass jar containing a commercial fruit fly culture. It is relatively easy to dump the flies into the 32 oz container. I then shake the container around to coat the flies. Then I sift the flies by using a strainer that I picked up at Wal-Mart. Its a small clam shell strainer that encloses the flies when both sides come together. This allows me to just dump the entire content of the flies and powder into the stainer and close it up. Then I just shake or tap it to remove all the excess powder. Then I just go over to the vivarium and open the clam shell strainer and the flies either fall out or I dump them out. Simple and easy to do.

Now the issue I have is working with the larger 32 oz plastic containers and the snap on lids. How the heck to you keep from having so many flies get loose when you open the container up? I tap the container to knock them down but they scurry back up to the top really fast. I always have trouble getting it to open up quickly or closing it cleanly. I even purchased a large funnel to open up the container over but they still get everywhere.