Annoying tiny flies - at this time of year?

drain flies?

Are you sure they aren't fruit flies? We traced a similar problem recently to a potato which had fallen unnoticed out the back of the veg rack - and no smell whatsoever.

David

Look back at this thread:

(Sorry for that rather long URL!)

In summary - drain flies. Cure - sort out drain problem. (The drain problem was not obvious from either inside or outside the house. It seemed to have been builders who had dropped rubble down the stack vent years earlier.)

Post if you need any more details.

Have you got a compost heap/bin close to the house?

Roy

Do you have any house plants?

I am. Mine are slightly larger than fruit flies ( which would correspond to the size of a 0, say - the ones I have are more like smaller houseflies ). Never seen them before this winter - I seem to find about half a dozen flying around the house on any given day.

Regards,

You might have the same problem as me - cluster flies. They live in the loft (in clusters) where they overwinter. Can't do anything about them until Bertie (a rather chubby long-eared bat) moves out in the spring. He's overwintering in the loft too!

Thanks for all the comments/suggestions.

I suspect they are drain flies myself, although i haven't found a decent picture of one for comparison yet.

We do have a small kitchen 'slops' bin which goes out to the composter at the bottom of the garden regularly (daily at least). We've recently taken to covering it over, but I've seen no evidence that the flies are coming from/congregating there. We also have a few house plants nearby; I'm isolating those.

We're having a 'deep clean' at the weekend and I'll be checking the drains shortly; lets see if any of that helps.

Ta J^n