Flies In Cheese Cave

[Bella]

I am wondering if anyone else has a problem with insects in their cheese caves? I have two wine refrigerators and have the same problem in each one.

Right from day dot, I have had tiny flying insects (like flies) inside the cave, and they even seem to be able to get in when the thing is closed. They are also able to get into my ordinary frig where I keep the milk, and while there are not very many cheeses in there, I do keep blue vein and tallegio there.  To date, they have mostly been obvious in their movement by flying around and landing on the maturing cheeses, but twice there have been occasions when they have pupated and the grubs have been crawling around on the cheese surface. One major problem was encountered when I was trying to sweat the swiss cheese at 24C, and they invaded the cheese surface and occupied down about 1 centimetre, and that in only a few days.

Because I am so early in my cheese-making experience and this is my first summer (and it's been a hot one), I am hoping that they are seasonal and once the cool weather comes in, they will depart. If not, then I have a major issue and few resources to solve this.

Any ideas very, very welcome!

[DeejayDebi]

I'd turm the temperature down for a few days and kill the little buggers! They don't take cold well. If you don't kill them they'll just keep invading and ruining your cheeses.

[Rich]

They may not take cold well, but I'm thinking it will take a freeze to kill them.  Most likely they are residing in the seams around weather stripping, or in the enclosed area around the condensing coils.  It may be very difficult to get rid of them.

I obtained a used refrigerator that I was going to convert into a cave.  Unfortunately it was infested with bugs - roaches.  It took a very long time and a lot of spray to kill them all.  They were in the insulation and around the motor, in the weather stripping, in short - everywhere.  Then it was a major cleaning job to get rid of the effects of the spray.  Having said all this, once the critters were eradicated it did make a fine cave.

[Bella]

Yes, Rich, I'm inclined to agree about the freezing bit. I took a stilton out of the wine frig after reading DeeJay's post and it into the regular frig, but after two days, they were still wriggling their way around on it - not as many mind you, but there were still about 5 or 6 there. I hope this is reduced when it gets colder as they will be a constant and major problem if not.

I wonder how they go in the caves in Europe? If they are an issue in the US, and they are here in Australia, one can assume that they are also in Europe. MMMmmmmm!!

[Rich]

So that's where the holes come from in Swiss!!! And all this time I thought it was due to bacterial action.

[DeejayDebi]

Yes I agree you have to turn the temperature down low enough to freeze them or darned near freeze them. I think most fridges will at least get frosty.

[Bella]

After a pretty traumatic week trying to deal with these critters, I spoke with an entymologist who identified them as the common vinegar flies (drosophila sp). I would not have thought they'd be interested in cheese, but on thinking it over, of course they would!! They are into anything fermenting! He is a beer maker and told me that he has to be extremely careful with them when he is making beer as one or two can spoil the entire batch.

They really got stuck into my Stilton, St. Paulin and St. Nectaire – they were all dampish, the stilton because it wasn't very old and mould hadn't started to form, and the St. Paulin and Nectaire because it was being washed regularly. They had just started onto a batch of camembert, but I have just checked them in the last hour and they seem to have been halted in their tracks, though I did have to cut off a bit around the edges.

It was amazing to see how quickly the larvae form and in what numbers – kinda grossed me out to be honest. Anyway, I picked them all off, plus the many pupae that had also accumulated on the surface of the cheese, dried it off, and have put them into the regular fridge for a week. It's getting a bit colder here now, so hopefully the problem will recede in coming weeks.

What is also interesting is that these didn't seem to be a problem for the first 3 months of my cheesemaking projects this year, but all of a sudden, they started getting stuck into it. I had seen these little flies around the place, particularly in and around the cheeses in my wine fridge, but they didn't seem to be a problem – at first!!

Anyway, for those with a similar problem, the entymologist has given me some websites which describe traps for these rotten little sods.

http://www.vinegarbook.net/Make_a_vinegar_fly_trap.shtml
http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/FruitFlyTrap.shtml
http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/ipm/UPM/1/VIII-11.pdf
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2109.html

I have tried the first one and there are about 6-8 flies in there after one day, so it seems to work – to a point. This is in my kitchen where I have a couple of other cheeses drying, and there are a couple of flies moving around the cheeses as well. But they get smacked pretty smartly!

B

[Cartierusm]

I just glanced at this thread but thought I might chime in. Most friges have hoses in back that drain condensed water out of the frig, so two things might be happening. One still water in that hose might be a breeding ground for bugs and as it's a hose bugs might be able to crawl up in there.

[OudeKaas]

Hm. Glad to see from this thread that this issue is a known thing, I seem to be one of the sufferers now! After using my mini-fridge for about 10 months with no issues, this week I opened it up to find 2 or 3 tiny winged insects, gnat-like, running around on the walls, and one walking on the surface of a cheese. Gack.

Further inspection revealed another 8-10 dead ones floating in my humidity water cups or frozen in the freezer section on top. I do think I've had more standing water in various places lately, and I wonder whether the overall outside hotter summer weather (July) might have had an impact. . .  In any event I have not yet seen evidence of any larvae or compromised or penetrated cheeses as yet, but then I just noticed this.

I'm going to look into the measures linked to above, give the whole space a good cleaning, and will post an update when I have a better sense of how it is going. At least the other drawbacks of having my blues in a sealed box might be offset by their being protected from this incursion . . . .

[darius]

Cool thread!

Recently I came home after a 3 day weekend to find maggots in my Stilton. It went in the trash but I was unsure how they got there. The bottom of the plastic container was a mix of vinegar and water, and the lid was slightly cracked for oxygen.

You may have solved the puzzle, Thanks!

[Delislem]

On that note, has anyone ever tasted this? Gordon Ramsey - Maggot Cheese - F Word

[Tomer1]

I wonder how the extenssive exposure to summer heat effects the cheese in terms of bacterial activity.
I imagine unhospitable bugs begin to break down the proteins because there is still enough moisture for spoilage by the look of the inside.

[fied]

Vinegar flies will attack anything that's acidic, given the chance. In cheese-making, often the problem starts at the air-drying stage and so can be transferred to the cave. I've found that a way round this is to buy a number of gauze umbrella food/meat covers and those keep the flies off when air-drying. I often drape gauze round the shelves for caved cheeses, if I'm in doubt. Maybe something like that would work in a fridge, too? Usually, it's only a summer problem.

[Tomer1]

A very fine mosquito net will work and still allow for air circulation.