As temperatures rise across the UK, flies become increasingly active, making it essential to ensure your wheelie bin remains clean and free from maggots. With spring bringing warmer weather and sunshine, an unwanted consequence emerges: smelly wheelie bins that attract hordes of flies as the plastic heats up. When temperatures reach 15°C, flies start laying eggs, and wheelie bins provide the perfect breeding environment with their warm, moist conditions ideal for maggot survival.
Throughout spring, it is vital to keep a close eye on your bins, as food remnants seeping from rubbish bags create an attractive food source for these pests. Consequently, wheelie bins can rapidly become overrun with maggots as temperatures climb. A quick spray with a hose simply will not suffice, as stubborn food debris remains, spreading foul odours and dangerous bacteria, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Simple Cardboard Solution
Thankfully, Dean Botham from Wheelie Bins has shared a straightforward solution to stop flies from laying eggs: using cardboard to keep moisture under control. Dean said: “If liquid always seems to accumulate in the bottom of your bin, pad it out with cardboard or newspaper. This will absorb the liquid, then it can be disposed of afterwards.”
How Cardboard Helps Keep Your Bin Clean
Food waste and leftover scraps hold far more moisture than most people expect, which leaks through plastic bags and gathers at the bottom of bins, creating puddles of liquid. Flies have an extraordinary capacity to sniff out rotting material from a considerable distance, with even the smallest amount of moisture in a bin being enough to attract them during the spring months. Cardboard, being highly absorbent, effectively soaks up any liquid waste residue when placed at the bottom of a bin.
Lining your wheelie bin with cardboard not only makes it easier to keep clean and free from unpleasant odours, but also keeps it dry, creating an unwelcoming environment for flies to breed, as maggots simply cannot survive in such conditions. Cardboard is far better than other alternatives for keeping flies at bay, thanks to its thickness and sturdiness. Unlike newspaper, which eventually breaks down into soggy pulp, cardboard holds its shape.
Practical Steps to Prevent Flies
Simply set aside cardboard from online deliveries, cereal boxes or frozen food packaging. Flatten it down and lay it at the bottom of your wheelie bin before dropping your rubbish bags inside. The cardboard gets thrown away during your regular collection, so swap it out each time your bin is emptied to keep maggots at bay throughout the warmer months.
It is also worth double-bagging your rubbish before throwing it away. Make sure all the air is squeezed out of the bags, as this helps reduce nasty smells. You should also consider positioning your wheelie bin in a shaded spot, as direct sunlight increases the chances of odours developing and drawing flies in.
