This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/sociallyawkward_teen on 2025-08-12 00:07:49+00:00.

My family is still relatively new to composting, but after a successful garden last year, heavier reliance on produce this year, and plenty of backyard space to make compost piles, we’ve decided to keep a small bucket in our kitchen for composting.

A while back my parents left for a work trip/vacation and the compost bucket was emptied of its goods and the liner on the inside. I did not compost while they were away because of this. I was under the impression that when there was a bag in the bucket, we could put scraps, coffee grounds, and other goodies inside.

So, when they got back home a new bag was put into the compost bucket and I began to put things in there. It started with some peach pits, avocado skin, apple cores, the ends of a zucchini… And before I knew it, there were at least 20 fruit flies on top of the bucket lid before I even opened it. This felt out of the ordinary, but I figured that we would take it out sooner or later because it usually fills up in less than a week. I also thought that the increase in fruit flies was due to our new fruit haul, as the flies always sneak in with the bananas and peaches.

Well, a week went by and the flies hadn’t gone away. The fruit pile had dwindled but the flies grew in number. To be honest, I have no idea how long its been, but I’ve seen more and more flies with each passing day. I’ve been sick recently so haven’t paid much attention to the bucket anyways. Then today, while I was standing by the compost bucket talking to my sister, she commented on the amount of flies on the wall, cabinets, and surrounding fruits. “Thats so odd… I thought Mom said we weren’t composting this week.” My heart skipped a beat. I had completely forgot to check how full the compost was, and if I was the only one putting things into it, then it was long past its regular takeout time.

Before I could stop her, she lifted the lid to the compost bucket. All hell broke loose. A black cloud arose from the opening of the bucket. Flies went everywhere, we screamed, and I think I inhaled a few. Anywho, we eventually took out the compost, swatted at flies for a bit, and laughed it off. I tried and failed to kill them with cleaning spray. Its been a few hours but there are still groups of fruit flies everywhere. I’ve set up some fruit fly traps and drowned at least 20, but I swear they keep spawning out of thin air. No matter how many I smash they keep reappearing in the same spot. I went to swat at one and suddenly there were three others taunting me. There are five pestering me as I type this. They have managed to spread from the kitchen to every other room in the house. I will never neglect the compost again.

TL;DR: I put food into the compost bucket under the impression we were composting, but the bucket was neglected for a few weeks. Now we have a nightmare fruit fly colony in our house. Don’t be like me- take out the compost before the flies find out about it.