How I make fruit fly medium!

[hibiscusmile]

The regular packets one gets to make pizza dough or bread is a brand like Red Star or Reddi yeast, thats the one that u use a few grains for, and as Phil said, either sprinkle on top or most mix in with the liquid. The brewers yeast is used for quick growth in animals and I think some weightlifters and is used for the same reason.

 

[angelofdeathzz]

The regular packets one gets to make pizza dough or bread is a brand like Red Star or Reddi yeast, thats the one that u use a few grains for, and as Phil said, either sprinkle on top or most mix in with the liquid. The brewers yeast is used for quick growth in animals and I think some weightlifters and is used for the same reason.

Now that's a answer to a old question for me as well, I just gave up after a few not so good batches and bought the stuff ready made from Joshsfrogs. Thank's Rebecca!

The more I know, the more I know there's more I need to know !

 

[hibiscusmile]

And that for certain is what you know!

 

[sporeworld]

Becuase it's hard for me to do 10 of the same thing and not change at LEAST ONE of them, here's an alternative to excelsior that I'm testing out. The material has a strage smell to it, but there are nylon versions out there as well... I'll let you know how it goes (at least it won't come out and clog the funnel.

 

[hibiscusmile]

I used this too, only in white, but problem is if it gets to wet , it collaspes on the maggots, flies and they smother, at least I think they do as you will not get as many as should be there. I havent seen it in brown, where is it from?

 

[d17oug18]

and that looks like WAY to much lol

 

[RevWillie]

Made my first hydei culture over the weekend using masa, applesauce, honey, Yen's blend, vinegar, and yeast, with coffee filters and a bit of excelsior on top.

It ended up fairly thick, like stiff mashed potatoes - should I have added water or will it still work?

 

[minomantis]

I made a fruit fly culture by using oats, blended banana and strawberries, and a 2 tablespoons of vinegar, and then sprinkled yeast after i mixed it all together!! I put my flies in and put the container in my dresser, checked on it in a week and a half and there were TONS of flies in there!

 

[Malakyoma]

Just started my own experiment today. Didn't have any flightless flies in a culture already so I trapped some standard flying kitchen fruit flies. Mix includes flour, peach juice, oats, vinegar, honey, and a grape for good measure. Looks like I caught about 10 or so when I put the coffee filter over the top. Will see how many I have in a week or so

edit: forgot to say I added a pinch of yeast on top. The mixture ended up being too runny though so I mixed in more oats and therefore mixed the yeast in as well

 

[hibiscusmile]

only prob with flour is it rises and has air bubbles, which may hold gas, not sure I like that, doesn't work that well, but u bettcha we will be awaiting your answer.

 

[Malakyoma]

Its certainly a mess. The stuff stuck to the side of the container when I mixed it and Im having a hard time seeing inside now! but I know its attractive to fruit flies because two of them that I didnt manage to catch were actually hanging out on top of it

 

[Malakyoma]

So I found something with the Hydei cultures I whipped up a few weeks ago. I made 3, each in the same type of container, with the same ratio of oats to juice, but I varied the amount of vinegar I added for mold control. One of them is booming, the other 2 have some very tiny maggots but thats it. The one thats doing really well is the one that I added the least vinegar to. It smells the worst too, but not bad enough to stink up the whole room.

 

[hibiscusmile]

see how it does keeping the mold down.

 

[sinensispsyched]

Being a cheapskate, I followed a recipe online which uses oatmeal, applesauce, and vinegar. I've only had it like that since Saturday, so I'm not expecting many flies right now, but does that recipe sound OK?

 

[Malakyoma]

Being a cheapskate, I followed a recipe online which uses oatmeal, applesauce, and vinegar. I've only had it like that since Saturday, so I'm not expecting many flies right now, but does that recipe sound OK?

Similar to mine. I use rolled oats, fruit juice, and vinegar. Like I said above, The culture I used very little vinegar in is doing much better than the others. I followed the advice on the UKmantis forum and added crushed banana/sugar to the 2 that aren't booming. we'll see.

So far my melano's could care less how much vinegar I use. Only the hydei that are picky.

 

[Dwaink]

WHAT IS ( & )

Regards

 

[Introvertebrate]

I want to get off the Repashy SuperFly, so I've been trying my homegrown mashed potato flakes and powdered sugar recipe. I add a pinch of mold inhibitor and yeast. So far, the melanogaster seem to like it. I'm keeping the hydei on SuperFly. I hear they're more finicky.

 

[Azziza22]

I want to get off the Repashy SuperFly, so I've been trying my homegrown mashed potato flakes and powdered sugar recipe. I add a pinch of mold inhibitor and yeast. So far, the melanogaster seem to like it. I'm keeping the hydei on SuperFly. I hear they're more finicky.

Here's the recipe I usually make they all seem to do pretty good. I found this recipe online somewhere but It bugged me that it was so variable when using volume over weight.

I buy all the stuff at WinCo (if there's one near you) usually in their bulk food section (since they have everything you need and you can buy exactly as much you need)

For the "overall recipe" I mix everything but the yeast and the powdered milk and blend it (in a Vitamix in batches) then I store it in mason jars and measure out the other stuff as needed. Over time I've gotten to the point where I eyeball the water and vinegar based on the time of year (whether or not my heaters going to dry out the medium depends on how soupy I make it) I bought a yard of stiff mesh from Joann's for a few $ a yard and I cut it up into 1"ish strips and press it down with a chopstick before it's completely dry so it doesn't fall out every time I try to grab flies.


I haven't had the need for many flies recently but I usually keep them on hand to feed all the spiders who come in during the winter and I still have a thriving colony after 3 months of not tending to it at all.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Here's the recipe I usually make they all seem to do pretty good. I found this recipe online somewhere but It bugged me that it was so variable when using volume over weight.

I buy all the stuff at WinCo (if there's one near you) usually in their bulk food section (since they have everything you need and you can buy exactly as much you need)

For the "overall recipe" I mix everything but the yeast and the powdered milk and blend it (in a Vitamix in batches) then I store it in mason jars and measure out the other stuff as needed. Over time I've gotten to the point where I eyeball the water and vinegar based on the time of year (whether or not my heaters going to dry out the medium depends on how soupy I make it) I bought a yard of stiff mesh from Joann's for a few $ a yard and I cut it up into 1"ish strips and press it down with a chopstick before it's completely dry so it doesn't fall out every time I try to grab flies.


I haven't had the need for many flies recently but I usually keep them on hand to feed all the spiders who come in during the winter and I still have a thriving colony after 3 months of not tending to it at all.

I like the mesh over the medium idea. Do you know what the yeast is actually for? Is that a bacterial inhibitor?

 

[Azziza22]

It's a mold inhibitor. You want to load it with "good fungus" i.e. yeast so it can outcomepete any potentially bad mold in the air that would cause damage to the culture.

I usually buy fleischmann's active dry yeast 4 oz from the grocery store since you don't need very much and keep it in the fridge. In my experience it stays active for over a year in the jar, and it ends up being a lot cheaper than buying the packets and throwing away the majority of one for the culture


Edit: I really have liked the mesh a lot I have gotten mold every single time I've used any medium. I've tried boiling it leaving it dry tried buying from different places, no matter what I always seem to get stinky moldy runny cultures within a few weeks. Since I switched to the mesh I've only had it happen once or twice in the past few years. And it's also pretty compact compared to other mediums since you can fold it up

 

[Dwaink]

I'm very happy with the results I get from this stuff. I've tried adding more MASA & the mix was to dry, I tried adding more apple sauce & it was to moist.. Only use 6oz of apple sauce & 2oz of MASA.. I just put it in the microwave for 30 seconds & that makes it a little easier to mix the medium.

I will be selling the MASA with a new fungicide added to it. So all you have to do is add the apple sauce & yeast. You dont have to add vinegar.

First you start with a clean 32 oz container.

All the things you will need.

White vinegar.

Apple sauce.

You will need 6 oz of apple sauce & do not add more than this. Otherwise you will have to much moisture in the medium.

Put the 6 oz of apple sauce in the cup.

MASA, This stuff the flies love!

Add 2oz of MASA to the cup with apple sauce.

Add 1 TBS of white vinegar as a fungicide, It really works well for me!

Honey is a great fungicide too. Plus it makes it a little bit sweeter.

Add a TBS of honey to the cup of medium.

Add 4 drops of dye & dont add more than this... otherwise your maggots will not do so well! I have done lots of tests :lol: The dye is used for seeing the maggots.

A little 2oz cup i'm using.

Put the medium in the 32oz cup.

Add yeast.

Add some coffee filters, So that the maggots have somewhere dry & for the flies to hang out.

One week later & check all the flies.

I started this culture with just 5 flies... Now look at it!

Close up...

This would have been better if you would have explained all ingredients preparation to how much yeast and apply on top ,mixed in active yeast fast acting yeast etc.

Regards