Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I do not have any over-ripe fruit or garbage around. I'm very clean, yet I have so many fruit flies. I put a cup of sweet wine on the table and there will be as many as 24 a day in the cup.
Now I am wondering how they can continually keep popping up in the kitchen? Is there a greater problem with them this year? I hear bed-bugs are a problem also. I'm 79 years old and never have experienced anything like this.
Is there a scientific answer to this? I do not have food for them to be attracted to on the counters, etc. However, I keep that wine cup.
Thanks.
By aca
I don't have much faith in the wine trap - I think you just get inebriated fruit flies! They only live a few days anyway. Fruit flies can live & breed in recycle pop cans or juice boxes, or also in the dirt of house plants. You don't have to have anything particularly dirty to breed them once they get a foothold. They usually come into the house on fruit.
I have fruit flies in the house, but they seem to be found the most in the living room. I do not keep fruit on the counter in my kitchen and I have made sure my drains are clean. I am sure that the fruit flies have something to do with some new plants that my husband put in the living room since we have never had them in the living room before. Is there anyway to keep them from coming back once I get rid of them?
By Alissa
This is a variation on the Fruit Fly Motel.
Make a fruit fly flytrap by putting a small amount of a banana in a shallow dish, cover it with a plastic wrap, stretching and holding it with a rubber band. Pierce some holes on the cover. Attracted to the smell of the fruit the flies will crawl in and would not be able to escape.
I need an easy way to kill off fruit flies in my kitchen. Thanks.
By Ron
I've personally found that the best solution is to put banana peels or other fragrant fruit peels in a plastic bread bag and prop it open a bit so that they can go in. Leave it overnight, and in the morning, snap the bag up and put the tie on it and toss it in the trash.
We had our house professionally treated for pests. They sprayed our yard, but not inside the house. We are told this is the way it's done now. These fruit flies are driving me crazy. I have told our pest control service that we are having trouble with these pests - we have tried everything for months. How can we rid ourselves of these pests?
By Norma
Are you certain that you have a fruit fly invasion? If so, the site below can help. However, the most important step is to prevent bringing fruit flies (and other flies) into your house. This site will also help to prevent future invasions.
insects.about.com/
We had a problem with fruit flies in the house several months ago. They were everywhere and I could not find the source they were coming from. I read on the Internet that they can be hatching in your sink drains.
I took the crook part of our sink drains off and used a bottle brush to clean the pipes. Ours are plastic and easy to screw off and back on. Before doing this I set a pan under the pipe to catch the water and had another pan of water to rinse the brush. I got a lot of gunk out of the drain pipes.
I hung up a fly strip and also put out some jars of vinegar with plastic wrap over the top and a small hole in it. Some of the flies were attracted to the vinegar traps and a lot landed on the sticky fly strip. After a couple of days they were all gone. No fruit flies since then.
Hi, Norma.
Leaving fresh fruit or other produce on the counter and sometimes even plants can contribute to infestations of fruit flies. Put all your food in the fridge and let plants dry out a bit to discourage the little beggars from breeding. Sticky Traps are available where you buy garden supplies and work well in plant pots.
Good luck! Rose Anne
Fruit flies can also breed in places like recycle bins with pop cans or juice boxes. You might have a spill in the bottom of a garbage can that is providing a breeding spot. Fruit flies are best dealt with by getting rid of their breeding locations. They also come in on fresh fruit, and I've found oranges to be one of the worst sources.
We have millions of fruit flies that seem to love our wash room. I spray them with deoderizer and we have killed millions of them, but the next day or even 2 hours after there are just as many. Any solution?
By Coral
You must have some rotten fruit or veggies in there somewhere. You won't have fruit flies if you get rid of whatever it is they are eating.
I've used this approach and it has worked well (from Frugalliving.about.com):
Battling a swarm of fruit flies in your kitchen or bathroom? Get rid of them quickly with this simple, homemade trap:
What You Need:
Apple cider vinegar
Dish soap
A jar or small bowl
What You Do:
1. Pour a cup of apple cider vinegar into a jar or small bowl.
2. Add a couple drops of dish soap to the jar.
3. Place in the area where you've seen the fruit flies, and wait for the trap to do its job.
Why This Works:
Fruit flies are attracted to the smell of the vinegar, and will attempt to land on its surface. However, they're in for a surpise since the dish soap breaks the surface tension of the vinegar, the fruit flies fall in and drown. Say good-bye to that annoying swarm!
Benefits of Using Vinegar:
no harsh fumes
inexpensive
environmentally-friendly
Tips and Warnings:
1) Keep out of the reach of children
2) A bottle with a small neck can also be used. (Plastic wrap isn't necessary, if you use this approach)
You can do all of the above and it does work great. But those flies breed in your drain pipes. You will need to pull your sink and any accessible drain pipes. Take them outside and scrub them with a long handle brush. No chemicals needed. They lay eggs in the gunk on your pipes.
Good to know about the drains. Thanks. We did not have return of the fruit flies after using the other procedure. Maybe we got them in time before laying of eggs. Or, more likely, they are two different kinds of flies.
I have a small compost pail in the house for scraps and I want to know how to keep the pests out of it. I have put the cider trap next to it. I do empty it (the pail) on a regular basis, but still plagued by them. Is there anything else I can do to get rid of them, other than put it outside?
By E.
Fruit flies are likely reproducing in your compost pail. It doesn't take much. They can make a lovely home for themselves in empty pop cans! I do not have any faith in the traps. Fruit flies are annoying, but do no real harm. However, because they keep reproducing in such abundance, I think you can catch all you want, and there will still be more. A shot of Raid in your compost pail every day will help get rid of the problem. Or, use the pail for a day, dump, and then wash the pail. That is likely the best solution. If you do not dump and scrub the pail on a daily basis, you are just providing a lovely breeding ground for the little critters.
To rid our kitchen of fruit flies, I shopped at thrift stores until I found a plastic pitcher with a tightly fitting lid. The one I found is made by a famous company that makes plastic kitchenware with a lid that fits the inside the pitcher rim when you push the button on top of the flexible lid. It fits so well that there's no smell for you or the fruit flies, and they can't enter the pitcher to reproduce. It's also easy to empty and clean and can be bleached occasionally.
This is a page about making a fruit fly trap. Fruit flies can be really annoying. Making a homemade trap can help you get rid of these pests.
This is a page about vinegar and dish soap fruit fly trap. A simple effective fruit fly trap can be made with apple cider vinegar and a few drops of dish soap.
Swarms of fruit flies plaguing you in your kitchen are extremely annoying. There are ways to get rid of these tiny pests. This is a page about ridding your kitchen of fruit flies.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
I have fruit flies in my house and they are not leaving, but getting worse. How can I get rid of them?
We have fruit flies (I think) all over the house. How do I get rid of them without using ugly fly paper?
Fruit flies can be caught or trapped in an old jar with 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar and 2 drops of dish detergent mixed.
Since we keep a small compost container on the counter and it attracts fruit flies when they are in season, I was wondering about the cider vinegar/dish soap combo.
I have had fruit flies for several months, but no fruit has stood out since June. I tried half empty beer cans, killed many, but didn't seem to make a dent, they must multiply ten fold at night. How can I get rid of all of them?
I'd like to know how to get rid of fruit flies in the kitchen. The grandkids left unfinished fruit on the counter.
Tips for getting rid of those pesky fruit flies as posted from the ThriftyFun community. Post your own solutions here.
