# Fruit fly question. Help.



## desana (Oct 30, 2008)

High ive been thinking about feeding my fruitfly honey before feeding them to mantids. But ive been told from someone who been breeding mantids for years that normal flies eg. ( House fly,Blue Bottle, Green Bottle) will eat the honey. But fruit fly eg. D Hydei &amp; D. Melanogaster will not eat honey. Can anyone add to this their point of view or their experience pls thanks.


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## Peter Clausen (Oct 30, 2008)

I'd be surprised if the fruit flies didn't eat honey, but I don't know for sure. They'd be pretty likely to get stuck in it if you didn't water it down quite a bit.

Sounds like a lot more potential trouble than a slice of apple


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## Katnapper (Oct 30, 2008)

I've been adding a little bit of honey to my fruit fly culture mixture when I make it up, and it seems to be fine. They all keep eating and breeding in it!

Note: This is just what I use, and I've not had a lot of experience. And I'm definitely not an expert.... yet!  

Edit: Deleted ff media recipe... Don't add oatmeal! Lol...  Cultures did fine at first, then all died. Bought commercial media after that!


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## desana (Oct 30, 2008)

Katnapper said:


> I've been adding a little bit of honey to my fruit fly culture mixture when I make it up, and it seems to be fine. They all keep eating and breeding in it!I mix the drys first: mashed potato flakes, powdered sugar, a little oatmeal, a little whole wheat flour, yeast. Then I add apple cider vinegar (not quite enough to make a paste) then add a little honey. If it needs more liquid to form a pasty consistency, I add small amounts of the vinegar.
> 
> Note: This is just what I use, and I've not had a lot of experience. And I'm definitely not an expert.... yet!


thing is i tried it once and they looked as if they were tucking in there were about twenty flies round the bit of honey sucking away, none of em got stuck in it but with what he said i wonder if they were actually getting any at all i dont know!


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## Katnapper (Oct 30, 2008)

desana said:


> thing is i tried it once and they looked as if they were tucking in there were about twenty flies round the bit of honey sucking away, none of em got stuck in it but with what he said i wonder if they were actually getting any at all i dont know!


I guess you mean you are just adding some honey in the container, and not mixing it in with the rest of the culture? I have no idea about that. I just add it into my homemade mixture when making up new cultures (it's mixed in very well).

Edit: Deleted ff culture recipe using oatmeal.... it doesn't work well! Worked ok at first, and then cultures died, so don't use!


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## Dwaink (Oct 30, 2008)

desana said:


> High ive been thinking about feeding my fruitfly honey before feeding them to mantids. But ive been told from someone who been breeding mantids for years that normal flies eg. ( House fly,Blue Bottle, Green Bottle) will eat the honey. But fruit fly eg. D Hydei &amp; D. Melanogaster will not eat honey. Can anyone add to this their point of view or their experience pls thanks.


Hi,

It is quite possible to add honey to the mix. After experimenting with over 10 different recipes i find that if a person is worried about the flies getting stuck, it is best to use bee pollen found in the vitamin isle of the locale supermarket. A tablespoon of honey will always help as it also acts as a natural sugar for the flies and for the yeast to feed on and a binder to hold everything together, fruit flies do eat it in the mix. Everyone makes there recipes different, used in moderation it has never been a problem for me.

Regards


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## desana (Oct 30, 2008)

yes thats something else ive looked at dusting the flies with pollen but its hard to find pure natural 100% bee pollen without any additives cos obviously if its a man made mixture there will be other things thrown in such as preservatives if ya know what i mean.


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## mrblue (Oct 30, 2008)

i doubt you will see any difference in your mantids between feeding them dusted and non-dusted fruit flies (or flies with honey in their culture and flies without). the culture medium is food enough for them, and in turn your mantids. some people use honey in the culture medium but like happy mantis has explained, it is usually for its physical properties, personal choice or perceived improvement in yield as opposed to perceived improvement in nutritional value of the fruit flies produced.


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## hibiscusmile (Oct 30, 2008)

I get my bee pollen from a bee farm near me, it is all natural


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## desana (Oct 30, 2008)

hibiscusmile said:


> I get my bee pollen from a bee farm near me, it is all natural


So ya dont use yens blend then..


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## darkspeed (Oct 31, 2008)

She makes Yen's blend silly...  Yen is far too busy to make it for her


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## muleyyy (Nov 3, 2008)

i found that potatoe flakes, pinch of yeast, a little bit of honey and a little bit of vinegar works fine for fruit flies

i give the fruit flies fruit juice on cotten wool to keep them lively when i take them out of the culture prior to feeding the mantis


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## Rick (Nov 4, 2008)

They will probably drown in it. I feed honey to my bluebottle flies though.


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