Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
We first discovered them in our trash can in the garage. There were hundreds of them! The trash has since been picked up and the can cleaned and disinfected and there is no sign of bugs there. However, now we are finding them in our kitchen and our upstairs bathroom. I have dumped clorox down every drain in the house several times and spent an entire day cleaning everything. I've cleaned all our drains, the garbage disposal, inspected the fridge, oven, microwave, pantry, everywhere. yet, still cannot figure out where they are coming from.
We kill them as we see them, probably twenty to thirty a day , yet their numbers do not diminish. Please help, they are making us crazy!
David
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RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
The flies plaguing our house are not like the ones in the photos. Ours are very thin but longish bodies.
Since reading suggestions I have thrown out my orchid plant I had in the kitchen, I didn't know about the wine but the fact that there were about 6 of them dead in the bottom of my leftover wine 2 weeks ago has proved that, but again it doesn't fool all of them. a long term solution is needed.
I am extremely desperate now as these little #s have not fear and have landed on my dinner quite a few times lately and I have been unable to eat it, which makes me so angry. They follow me to the fridge and try to get in, they are so fast I don't even know if they've got in or not, so any food that's not sealed I then have to throw out, maybe a bit extreme but I am very queasy. I don't know if its my imagination but I constantly itch all over when I'm in the house, but not when I'm any where else. I'm wondering is it them?
If anyone can help any of us, or anyone has been helped please please tell me how. The one positive thing to come out of this is I've become mr miagi (karate kid). I can catch these little #'s sometimes and squash them in my hands.
Please help, thanks.
Post by cazzy
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
I have one small inexpensive answer...wine, any wine, ust put like a cup out on plate/bowl and let them feed. They'll drink, get drunk and drown! trust me, this works! Just like snails on a cup of beer outside!
Post by rhondaemery
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
Join the club I've been putting the vinegar and dish soap I started a few months ago and yeah I caught a lot but it's nothing compared to how they are multiplying. I think I may have to start sleeping somewhere else. They are also in the kitchen and bathroom mainly but are now coming to our bedrooms and hall way living room etc. they seem to hang around mostly on the walls and ceilings and cupboards.
It just keeps getting worse no matter what we do hairspray, alcohol, plastic containers filled with beer to bananas and every other suggestion. The beer worked for about a day or two but the flies stopped drinking it like they know. I think they have their own little AA meetings now on the bathroom ceiling. Hey they are so fast you can't hardly ever smack one. I like to take my lighter on high and burn them one at a time and watch them suffer and then finish them off. I tried the microwave but they don't die, we get newspaper roll it set it on fire and run it down the walls they pop off and die. They will not leave.
I really don't know what's worse if I were to have to live with cockroaches which I don't thank god or these things they looked like fruit flies at first red eyes tan bodies now they kind of morphed to black fruit flies lol. What do I do, one just flew by as I'm typing! Does anyone have them as bad as I described? People say their problem is solved with a few little bowls of vinegar. I have like at least 20 traps around and they are all on to it now they used to be in there dead tons of them but now just two or three maybe four little bugs. Maybe they just didn't get the "buzz" about the traps yet from their little buggy friends. HELP! Has anyone every tried those zappers with the black lights? or the tennis racket style? It won't stop the growing amount but it will give me some satisfaction hearing them zap.
Please anyone or someone HELP!
Post by giamarisa
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
I have the same bugs and the same problems. I've tried RAID and leaving out juice. The RAID kills but I still have them everywhere. We just built a new house in the country and we've only been living here for 2 months. We didn't have a fly or a spider anywhere. Then suddenly these small flies appeared and have multiplied. They are in every room in the house, upstairs and down, and I find at least 3 dead on every window every morning. I have no idea where they are coming from, if they are coming through drains or if they came in on some fruit, but my house is cleaned daily and there is no food or garbage left out. I need help on how to get rid of them!
Post By nadine (Guest Post)
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
These tiny flies are driving me crazy! I have tried the completely cleaning out and throwing away everything I could possibly think of that would cause these nasty little creatures and it seems as if there are more and more everyday! They are especially bad in the kitchen and the bathroom. I too want to know what causes them. I have a question, do any of you live in an old house? I live in my great aunt's house that was built in the 50's and we are getting ready to do some remodeling in the bathroom because the floor next to the tub is wet from a shower leak. Could this wet sub-flooring be the cause of the flies?
Post By Tammy (Guest Post)
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
I saw the picture that is posted but, these flies are much smaller .They are like maybe a half as small than the ones posted. they bite and leave marks like mosquitoes.
Post By leslie (Guest Post)
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
David, We have the same problem. Ive done everything you said including spraying raid before leaving the house. this morning we set bug forgers throughout the house but there still there. There driving crazy. when I wake up in the morning my hands hurt from smacking them. its been going on for 2 months. I NEED HELP!! PLEASE.... Hanns
Post By Hanns (Guest Post)
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
I've got the same thing in my bedroom right now! Exactly like in that picture. I've just had my room redone, so I think they might be attracted to the smell of the paint on the wall we put on the other day. But I suppose it doesn't help that with my room completely redone, every spider in it was eradicated! I asked my sister to use her hairspray but apparently it's a waste...
Post By rory (Guest Post)
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
David - after all these advises - did any of them work in the end? Would be interesting to know.
Thanks
Post By Vibeke (Guest Post)
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
What about all flies? i mean regular ones too. They always bug meflying around my head and all. Landing just out of your way on your elbow or your nose! Whats up with that.
Post By Grahm (Guest Post)
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
We are having the same problem! The only thing that seems to be helping is fly paper! Non-toxic and no-smell, 4 for like $1.25 at the supermarket.
Post By Natalie (Guest Post)
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
take some OJ concentrate, set it in a shallow dish undilluted and let it melt on the kitchen counter..
they will swarm towards it... then just spray them with hair spray a few times a day.. I get rid of fruit-flies-from-nowhere in a day or two this way.
Post by TheyGrewAgain
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
O.K. -- Have tried vinegar/ dish detergent, etc. Even used various flavorings to (hopefully!) entice them. All garbage is long since been removed from the house, and I am by no means a filthy slob. No luck. They are as numerous as ever and continue to fly into food, eyes, up nostrils, etc. (Just TRY and read a book! -- They are all over the pages!) These little guys have NO boundaries! The only thing left is to disinfect all drains, but I hesitate to use chemicals because I live in the couhtry and am on a septic system. - - - Any further suggestions?
Post by wizolwitch
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
I have these and I also have clover mites! :( Both are sit and wait for them to be gone kind of bugs
Post By Joe (Guest Post)
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
I have a similar problem in our developed walk-out basement and it's making me nuts too; they're about 3 mm long (roughly 1/10th - 1/8th inch) and seem to be somewhat seasonal, but are there all year. They like to get under things, especially baseboards - I put masking tape along the baseboard/carpet sticky side down; after a few days I had dozens stuck to the tape. If you pick up something that has a bit of space under it, you'll find dozens of them, always dead. Our only open drain is in the furnace room, and I never see them there. During the summer I'll find 50 or more dead on the window sill after a week. Help!! Photo attached
Post By Brad in Calgary (Guest Post)
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
I have killed fruit flies by spraying with hairspray diluted with alcohol. It seems to make the wings stick together, and it's non-toxic for the kitchen.
Post by pamphyila
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
I am having the same problem with gnats all over the place.
I have used, regular vinegar, apple cider vinegar, closed up drains, house plugs, and have used sticky traps.
As of the moment they are just flying around my bedroom, and I pray that I am not swallowing them while asleep.????
Post By (Guest Post)
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
Bleach down every drain is good, that's where they're coming from. Every other day pour boiling water down all the drains, icluding any floor drains. Within 2 weeks they will all be gone.
Post By Enter your name. (Guest Post)
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
Reading this is like having flashbacks. I had the same situation. But I knew they had came from some fruit that I had brought into the house. I know this sounds strange but trust me it worked. Put two saucers filled with unused coffee grounds on each end of your kitchen. They like to eat it but it kills them. It took about 4 days before they were totally gone. .
Post By Donna (Guest Post)
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
The vinegar is good, try adding a few drops of dish detergent to it so they can't fly out of the vinegar.
Post By Ann (Guest Post)
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
Do you have houseplants? Could be fungus gnats.
Post By Enter your name. (Guest Post)
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
thanks. it seems to be working, however, partially. since i posted this i have pulled out both the oven and fridge, dissasembled the garbage disposal and disconnected the dishwasher drain, and still, nothing. at htis point, i dont even care of they gho away, i just want to know where they are coming from!
Post by dsennis5215
RE: Small Flies Are Driving Us Crazy
Try putting small dishes of vinegar out around the house .. it works for us every summer!
Good Luck!
Rebekah
Post by Madelynnsmama
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