Fruit Flies | Imamother

kaye

Mon, Jul 26 2010, 9:55 pm

We have a huge fruit fly problem in our kitchen. I keep fruit including bananas, peaches, apples on the counter and when I move them a swarm of fruit flies fly out. All fruit attracts them even ones straight from the grocery store. Any tips on storing the fruit differently and ways to get rid of them?

ra_mom

Mon, Jul 26 2010, 10:19 pm

at this point in the season you need to keep the fruit in the refrigerator. (fruit flies are especially attracted to over ripe fruit by the way.)

to get rid of the flies, make sure there is no open food around. all fruits and veggies in fridge.
hang fly paper from your lights in the kitchen.

good luck.

skcomputer

Tue, Jul 27 2010, 7:59 am

First - be careful when you buy fruit and veggies not to bring the flies into the house. Shake out the fruit and bags outside. I find that the onions in bags can attract them too.

To get rid of the flies, take a glass or plastic jar (like from mayo or gefilte fish). Put in some attractive fruit rinds (like melon or banana peels). Take a regular piece of paper and shape it unto a funnel with a small hole at the bottom. Put the funnel into the jar and tape around the edges of the top of the jar to the funnel. Should take a few days to catch them all. You can either catch and release outside (far away from your house!) or throw away.

mimivan

Tue, Jul 27 2010, 8:42 am

how narrow do we make the funnel at the bottom? What would prevent them from just flying out again? I am also desperate for a solution. Mine are not coming from just fruit and have been trying to get rid of them for ages. Have a headache from yet another deep clean and intensive spraying session this morning.

thought about cleaning every day the bottom cabinets (have removed ALL food. I had a serious attack..and I put the food above.) nothing uncovered all fruit in the fridge. Keeping surfaces as clean and as dry as possible. and then cleaning affected areas with economica and putting essential oils with smells they hate. I heard citronella oil is good (by the way essential oil of clove is excellent to ward off small ants)

see if it works. If this doesn't work, I'll have to get professionals. And I need to improve my health iy'h and am avoiding toxins so I HATE having to spray!!

wifey

Tue, Jul 27 2010, 8:48 am

I just killed my fruit fly invasion by doing this: You take a bowl/small storage container and fill it with apple cider vinegar, add some dish soap (to break the surface tension) and put saran wrap tightly over the top. Poke a few small holes in it large enough for the flies to get through but not so big that they can get out. Leave it for a few days and its gross because you have lots of dead flies but no live ones...I did it Thursday night and by the time Shabbos was starting had over 50 dead.

wwmom

Tue, Jul 27 2010, 1:26 pm

Had this problem too. The first 2 exterminators just sprayed and it didn't help. We finally found someone who put out these citrus traps (all over the kithchen) - similar to what is described above, and after about a month the prob. was solved, but it was a really bad infestation.

mindyme

Tue, Jul 27 2010, 1:31 pm

skcomputer wrote:

FF's fave food is Challah dough! drives them wild! I put in a piece as you described, and it worked great. It was a little gross, since it overrose and got very yeasty smelling, but it worked great, and then I just threw the whole thing out.

BennysMommy

Tue, Jul 27 2010, 1:39 pm

wifey wrote:

You don't have to use saran wrap. The density of the soap prevents them from getting out. I've done it many times. You can also use balsamic vinegar...actually I think any besides plain ol white vinegar.

Chippies

Tue, Jul 27 2010, 9:03 pm

BennysMommy wrote:

wifey wrote:

That's right. I use apple cider vinegar (way cheaper than balsamic) in baby food jars with a drop of dish soap and just leave it open. Within a day or two, I see tens of fruit flies at the bottom of the jar. It's really gross. After 2-3 days, rinse it out and do it again. If you keep bringing in more fruit and leaving them on the counter, then you'll likely have to keep the jar/bowl of apple cider and soap out all summer long.

skcomputer

Tue, Jul 27 2010, 9:36 pm

regarding the hole size for the funnel method - it should be around 2 millimeters. I'm looking around the room for something of that size to describe - if you have a spiral notebook, look at the hole size in the paper where the metal spiral goes through - that's the size. They don't seem to be able to fly out - or maybe they don't want to!

Purplehair

Wed, Jul 28 2010, 9:44 pm

I have a bad infestation of something that looks like fruit flies, except that they are NOT interested in any fruit. They also aren't the least bit attracted to bowls of apple cider vinegar (though they seem to LOVE my sponges). They hang out in the kitchen, the dining room, the living room, the closets, the hall upstairs, the bathrooms (very little there, though). HELP!!

skcomputer

Thu, Jul 29 2010, 8:23 am

Purplehair wrote:

Do you have any potted plants indoors? It may be aphids. Don't know how to treat it, but I think you have to treat the plant first - google aphids and see if that's it.

gp2.0

Fri, Jul 30 2010, 3:45 pm

Chippies wrote:

BennysMommy wrote:

wifey wrote:

I used beer with a little soap mixed in, in a plastic cup. I used saran wrap, poked a few holes with a toothpick. The saran wrap was helpful because they can get in AND OUT of the holes, but the wrap makes it harder as they have to look for the holes. And eventually they all try the beer and drown.

But you MUST get rid of the source first. No fruit out. Clean your drains. Cover garbage can. Etc.