Recurring maggots

[BellaRobbie]

New to composting but I’ve noticed maggots around the inside lid of my bin the last two times I’ve opened the lid to top up. The temperature on the long stem thermometer inside the bin has been in the green range each time so I’m a bit confused as to how they’ve survived. I’ve introduced a new cleanliness regimen of wiping around the lid thoroughly with bin deodoriser today to make sure there are no odd scraps getting stuck on there - maybe that was the problem before? My kitchen caddy has a lid with filter in it so don’t think flies are getting on the waste before it goes in the bin. Any other ideas? It’s pretty disgusting at the moment so keen to sort the problem out.

[WiseOldBloak]

Hi BellaRobbie,

It sounds like your heap is too hot for them to survive so they are trying to crawl up the walls to escape. I would use the rake to brush them back into the bin and stir them in to the hottest top layer of the heap. They cannot survive temperatures higher than 40°c. Hopefully this is an isolated occurrence so once you have composted these maggots they will not comeback!

[BellaRobbie]

Thanks I’ve done that - no sign for a few days, hopefully that’s the problem solved.

[davemeagher]

We recently bought a hotbin mini, about a week ago I noticed maggots around the top of the hotbin and yet the temperature gauge on top was showing 75-80 degrees.

Anyhow I read your guide on how to get rid of them, I bought chicken pellets to get the temperature higher and for the past week it has been 90-100 degrees but this morning the inside lid at the top was covered with maggots so I am baffled to say the least.

We have been careful with food waste making sure the lid is closed all the time etc. Can you tell me what I am doing wrong and how are their maggots in the hotbin when the temp is so high ?

[HotBinDjinn]

The hot bin isn't perfectly sealed (air has to get in and air and liquid have to get out) so there is scope for some flies to get in. While the compost itself is often very hot, the air above it usually isn't as hot and is probably survivable. Flies can lay eggs on any rotting material, so its likely the maggots were introduced from eggs that were already on some garden waste or other material that was put in the bin. I've seen a couple of maggots once or twice on my bin and a splash of boiling water from the kettle soon sorts them out.