DIY Cultures

Producing your own fruit fly cultures is easy, fun and can really be quite interesting.  It is a great way to save money and requires little time.

Components of a good fruit fly culture

-Container: For the container, your best bet is to use a 32oz. clear deli cup with insect lid.  These are a good size to produce 1000's of flies and the insect lids hold in the moisture properly.

-Media: This is the food the fruit flies will eat as well as where they will lay their eggs.  It should fill up the bottom 1.5 inches of the container to ensure the fruit flies will have enough food to produce plenty more.  We recommend our Premium Media which has incredible yield rates.

-Mold Inhibitor: This is what keeps the fruit fly culture from molding and killing the flies.  Methyl Paraben is the most widely used and best mold inhibitor known.  For convenience, it is already pre-mixed into our Premium Media.

-Aspen Fiber: Aspen fiber is a special type of sterilized wood shaving that greatly increases the surface area when added to a fruit fly culture.  It also helps to absorb excess moisture ensuring a high yield rate and a successful fruit fly culture.

To make your own culture, follow these simple steps...

1.) Make sure your container is perfectly clean.  If you bought them from us and just took them out of the box, they will be.  Otherwise, consider washing them with a mild dish soap, but make sure all of the soap is completely rinsed out and that it is dry.

2.) Add your dry mix media to the bottom of the container.  If you are using our Premium Media, Add 1/2 cup.

3.) Add water to the dry mix and stir. Some medias require warm or hot water.  If you are using our Premium Media, Add 1/2 cup of room-temp water.  Make sure all of the media is dissolved into the water.  Let set for about 1 minute and it will harden.

4.)  Some medias require that you then add a pinch of active yeast on top.  This will help the media breakdown so it is easier for the fruit flies to digest.  Our Premium Media does not require this.

5.) Next, take a handful of aspen fiber.  You don't need too much, but atleast 3/4 of the container should be full.  Make sure you spread it apart with your fingers so it isn't all clumped together.  Place it into the container with it just touching the media.

6.)Take a fruit fly culture that is already producing and tap the top of it so all of the flies fall down, away from the cover.  Open it and tap about 50 or so flies into the new culture.  You can experiment by adding less or more flies. If you add too little, it won't produce well; if you add too many, they can over produce and die. 

7.) Put a lid on the new fruit fly culture (and don't forget to put a lid back on the old one).

8.) You now have a brand new fruit fly culture ready to produce 1000's of fruit flies.