Setting up the cages of adults:

About 12 to 14 days after eggs were first put into tubs (see inoculating cornmeal tubs with eggs), the adults will be ready to transfer from tubs to cages. The flies become unhealthy if left for several days in the tubs so it is best to transfer them shortly after they eclose. Consider transferring them on the 12th, 14th and 16th days after the tubs were first inoculated with eggs.

1. Assemble the cages. Our cages consist of 18 inch long pieces of PVC pipe that are 12 inches in diameter and have 3/8 inch thick walls. Each end of the pipe is covered by cylindrical tub of fabric that is about 2 feet long (the fabric was prepared from old curtains). The fabric is taped in place with masking tape and tied into a knot to close off the end. The cylinders are strapped on a metal shelf in the fly room using flexible cords.
2. Transfer the flies from tubs to cages. First, a grape plate with a strip of yeast paste down the middle is placed in the back of each cage. Place a tub in the cage by sliding your hand up the fabric sleeve. Remove the lid and set it off to the side in the cage. Repeat this procedure for each cage so that each cage contains an open tub.
3. Go back to the cage that first received a tub. Reach into the cage with one hand and grab the tub. To knock the flies out of the tub, tip the tub at a 60^o angle and gently tap the upper side of the tub with the other hand. The other hand is outside the cage, tapping through the fabric. Rotate the tub and repeat the tapping. Set the tub down inside the cage, grab the tub lid and recover the tub. Withdraw the tub from the cage, and replace with another tub. Remove the lid from this replacement.
4. Repeat the procedure, going from one cage to another so that each tub sits open for a period in the cage before it is tapped, covered and removed.
5. If there are still many pupae that have not eclosed, set the tubs aside for two days and then repeat the procedure.

The adults are fed at least once a day with a grape plate containing a 1 inch wide, 1/8 inch deep strip of yeast paste. More yeast paste is added if the flies a consuming it all between tray changes; less if they are not.

Clean-up of tubs:

After finishing with the tubs, they should be frozen for a day or more to kill remaining flies and larvae. After this, the tubs should be stacked and discarded. The lids should be washed in dilute bleach, rinsed with water, allowed to air dry and then stored for later use. Wear gloves and a lab coat to protect your hands and clothing from the bleach.  Repair any lids that are cracked or coming apart with hot glue or the heating iron (the latter is better).

Cleaning adult cages:

1. The flies must be left without any grape trays for at least two days so that they starve to death.
2. Clear things away from the sink and counter in the fly room. Put on a lab coat so you don't splash fly debris all over you cloths. Put on a pair of heavy gloves that don't leak. You will be submerging your gloved hands into dilute bleach solutions.
3. Off to the side on the floor, place a large narrow tub that will ultimately fit in the sink. This is where you will put the cloth covers from the cages until you clean them.
4. Keeping a cage horizontal so the dead flies stay at the bottom, remove the cage from the fly room and set it on the sink counter so that one end overhangs by a few inches. Place a garbage can under the extended edge of the cage and remove the tape that holds the cloth cover in place. Remove the cloth cover and shake the dead flies trapped in the cloth into the trash. Unknot the cloth, turn it inside out and brush loose flies into the trash. Put the cover in the tub on the floor.
5. Tip the back edge of the cage upwards and brush as many loose flies from the bottom of the cage into the trash.
6. Turn the cage around so that the end with the remaining cloth cover overhangs the counter top. Remove the cloth cover as for the first one and set it in the tub.
7. There should be a large black plug near the back of the sink counter. Plug the drain and fill the sink with about 4 inches of water plus about one cup of bleach.
8. Place the cylinder horizontally in the sink and roll it slowly towards yourself so that the entire surface becomes thoroughly wetted. If you roll it away from yourself, the cylinder may dislodge the plug in the drain.
9. Scrub the debris off of the inside and outside surfaces of the cylinder with a long-handled brush
10. Remove the plug and drain the bleach solution. Turn the edge of the cylinder upwards and thoroughly rinse the surfaces of the cylinder under running tap water.
11. Place the cylinder vertically on the counter so that excess water drains away while you wash the next cylinder.
12. Wash the rest of the cylinders as you have done the first. Pile the cloth covers in the tub on the floor. When you need more room to drain the most recently washed cylinder, move the ones that have drained to the side of the fly room; don't worry if the cylinders are not completely dry.
13. After washing the cylinders, put the tub containing the cloth covers in the sink. Fill the tub with several inches of tap water, add about one cup of bleach and then continue to fill the tub with tap water until it is about two thirds full. Hand wash the cloth covers by thoroughly agitating them but don't be so rough that they tear.
14. Dump out the dirty solution and fill the tub with tap water. Agitate the covers and dump out the dirty water. Repeat this until the rinse water is clear.
15. Gently wring the excess water out of the cloth covers and drape them over the edges of the cylinders.
16. Clean up the sink and surrounding area with a sponge. Sweep up dead flies that might have fallen on the floor.