In article m,
VX wrote:

I've been using a compost bin and putting all garden waste in them and also
kitchen waste that seems to be the same sort of thing, ie plant material
only. This means in addition to prunings etc from the garden I also put in
salad leftovers, vegetable scraps (uncooked), banana peel, rotten apples and
apple cores, used teabags, and not a lot else.

In warm weather there is a steady prescence of tiny flies in and around the
bin, along with a few wasps. The tiny flies pose a real problem since windows
are nearby- so I need to either stop using this type of composting, or if
possible change what gets composted to remove the fly problem.

But I have a feeling that these tiny flies will be hanging around whatever I
put in the compost bin. They seem to hang around bags of commercial compost
and even potted plants that are planted in compost!

Can anyone clarify this for me- is there any restriction on what material I
compost that would mean I no longer get these tiny flies in attendance?

My confusion arises partly from the idea of "garden waste" versuns "kitchen
waste"- if the latter is all uncooked vegetable matter like peelings (and I
suppose the exception, cooked teabags), how can any other organism tell that
it has been inside a kitchen?

TIA for any insight.

I have the same problem, small flies and wasps (anyone know why wasps
would hang around compost bins?) the flies don't fly very much, they
seem to give up after about 3ft, and head back to the compost. The wasps
may well be drawn by other composted items, like old raspberries. So far
the only was I have found of reducing the problem, is covering the
compost with a thin layer of soil from time to time, also, when putting
food waste in, cover it with papers, other weeds, anything not food
waste. One thing that might work is put the household compost out, then
mow the lawn! Unfortunately I can't comment on that one, my lawn mower
doesn't produce clippings.

Hope some of that helps, if you find an answer, let us know

Dominic