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Ridding Your Kitchen of Fruit Flies


Gold Post Medal for All Time! 858 Posts
March 13, 2011

Photo of a fruit fly.Few things are more irritating than swarms of fruit flies hovering over the produce in your kitchen or pantry. Although primarily a nuisance, these tiny flies also have the potential to contaminate food with bacteria. Here are some quick, easy, and environmentally friendly tips for ridding your pantry and your produce of these unwelcome little pests.

Avoid Attracting Them

Fruit flies are attracted to all types of ripened fruits and vegetables. Not only do they feed on them, they also lay their eggs in them - up to 500 eggs in a lifetime (which from egg to adult lasts about 7 days). Although they prefer ripened fruits and vegetables, feeding and breeding can also take place in any type of moist, fermenting material. That includes things like sink drains, garbage disposals, empty beverage cans and wine bottles, and even damp mops heads, kitchen sponges, and dish rags.
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The first step to getting rid of fruit flies is to remove the things they need to survive:

So How Did They Get In?

At times it may seem like a fruit fly magically appears the minute you set your wine glass down. So how do they get into your house in the first place? Most infestations in the home originate from one of two places: from previously infested fruits or vegetables brought home from the store, or from rips and tears in window and door screens.

Steer clear of over ripened or bruised fruits and vegetables at the grocery store. Keep windows and doors in good repair and fitted with 16 (count) mesh screens to help prevent adult fruit flies from getting in from the outdoors.

An Easy Fruit Fly Trap

After removing all potential sources for feeding and breeding, use this trap to take care of any remaining adult flies.
  1. Fill one or more small jars with 1 inch of beer, wine, or Apple Cider Vinegar (not white vinegar). This fermenting liquid is your "bait".

  2. Place a plastic sandwich bag over the mouth of the jar, so that one corner reaches down into the jar just above the "bait" (you're creating a funnel).

  3. Poke a small, 1/8 inch hole in the corner of the bag with the tip of a pencil.

  4. Secure the bag around the rim of the jar with a rubber band.

  5. Place the jars around your kitchen or near your problem plants. Since you've already taken away their food supply and breeding grounds, the fruit flies will be searching for more. The "bait" will attract the fruit flies to the traps. They'll enter through the hole in the bottom of the funnel, and not be able to get out.

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Gold Post Medal for All Time! 523 Posts
May 12, 2020

I'm sorry people. Call me the oddball. I have tried the classic trap with no success. It consists of pouring an amount of vinegar and a bit of dish detergent in a container and covering the top with perforated cling wrap.

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