Help Managing FRUIT FLIES (Ugh!)

Here is an easy trick that gets them. Fill a glass with apple cidar vinegar. Add a squirt or so of dish soap. They are attracted to the vinegar, but the soap gets them stuck in the glass.

Make a paper funnel, put it on top of a bottle, remember to put some fruit on the bottom of the bottle. The fruit flies will get into the bottle through the funnel, since there is a big opening for them to get into the bottle through the funnel and taste the fruit. BUT, the flies will never find a way out of the bottle, since it is so hard for them to find the small opening on the funnel. It will take you just one night to get over the problem. This method works perfect for me. Hopefully, it helps you.

What we do is put apple cider vinegar in a wide-mouth glass with a little liquid dish soap. You cover the top of the glass with plastic wrap and poke some holes in it. The flies crawl in and they can't get out. I put two around the kitchen and that seemed to take care of our fruit fly problem. I change out the solution every few days.

Good luck!

I am battling the same problem right now! I googled "How to get rid of fruit flies?" and found an extrememly helpful website. Basically you need to get rid of all of the fresh fruit in the house until they are gone. Then, make sure you do all of the dishes and keep the sink and garbage disposal clean and free from any food. Then, you can set traps for the ones that are left. I have been using an almost empty bottle of wine left out on the counter. The wine attracts them and the bottleneck is too narrow for them to fly back out, so they drown. I am also using a small dish of apple cider vinegar with a few drops of dish detergent in it. Both traps are working well. Good luck to us both!

Ripening babanas are what draw fruit flies the most. Keep all fruit in a cool spot out of the sun. I seperate the bananas and only buy 3-4 at a time so they are eaten before the flies develope. Fruit ripens in just a couple of days. Once ripe, refrigerate. When company comes over you can take it and display angain until they leave. In the mean time, the kids can eat the chilled fruit and enjoy the consistancy more (in nectarines, peaches, etc).

They do multiply whether any of us like it or not. I had this problem a couple of years ago. Beer gets rid of them. The longer it sits the more they disappear. There is this contraption that you are supposed to make with a plastic bag in a jar (that did not work) but what I did was pour half the beer out of cans, placed them where the bugs bothered me the most, in about two weeks they were gone, never to come back! good luck

We had this problem last year due to a ficus tree we had bought and apparently the soil had eggs in it and we had so many fruit flies everywhere... I did a couple of things. Same as others as said about putting saran wrap poked with holes over a bowl of fruit.. I used wine. Just make sure the holes are big enough for them to go down in. I also hung some packing tape where they were really bad and they would fly onto the tape and stick. That probably worked the best and the quickest. You could just lay some tape down on your counter by the fruti bowl. If you can't get rid of them, they have probably layed some eggs somewhere and keep hatching..

I just read this and can't wait to try it myself. We have had fruit lflies all summer long! Set out 1/2 glass of apple cider vinegar mixed with 2 drops of dishwashing liquid. They are supposed to find this irresistible!

Hi,
we have had issues with that with Bananas. It seems rinsing off your fruit should help. They only live like 1 or 2 days, so I just seem to find they go away quickly if I get rid of all food that can be out. Good luck!

Leave out a shallow dish with wine in it. They will fly in and not fly out.

Hi A.,

I just read to put a few slices of fruit in a bowl, cover it with saran wrap, cut a little hole into it for the fruit flies to get into and then cover the hole when they are trapped in there. Hope it works..am going to try it today...they are annoying aren't they!?

S.

Since so many people suggested the cider vinegar/dish soap mix, I decided to try it myself, because our fruit fry problem was driving me batty! I didn't have any cider vinegar, so in the meantime until I bought some, I tried balsamic vinegar. It worked too! The cider vinegar works better, but the balsamic works in a pinch! My husband said it attracts all the food-snob fruit flies! :)

Try A few drops of lemongrass oil in a spray bottle with hot water. It worked for us pretty well.

Don't put fruit out when it is warm out. Try using the green bags. They do work and extend the life of your fruit and veggies. But the only way to get rid of fruit flies is to not keep your fruit out in a bowl. Fruit flies only last a short time and die but if they have nothing to land on they will just die off.

Ditto. The apple cider vinegar and dish soap works.

J.

Take 1/2 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar, place 2 drops of dishwashing detergent in there as well. place by the fruit. It is magic. The Fruit flies will be attractied to the cup and will drown. It works like a charm each time. Good Luck. Maria

Hi A.,

Once fruit is ripe, I would recommend putting it in the fridge. Also, it's a good idea to leave it away from open windows. I'm sure others have better suggestions for actually getting rid of them...

Best,
R.

A.,
I have a great suggestion for you-essential oils! They are non-toxic, natural and smell wonderful. There is a company here in the U.S. called Young Living Essential Oils. These are 100% pure theraputic grade, organic oils. You can only purchase them on-line or through a distributor, which I am. They make a fantastic oil blend called "Thieves". You can create a hydrosol (spray) of about 20-25 drops of this oil mixed with 6oz of water. Simply spray this into your sink where fruit flies can live and grow, into the air, and directly into the little swarms that develop when these buggers multiply. It is a good idea to wash fruit especially bananas and lemons (these really attract flies)before you put them out. Washing them may not stop them all together from showing up but it will slow them down. The washing of your fruit and the Thieves essential oil spray together will do the trick. Please read more about this essential oils and others on my web site and feel free to ask questions.

M. Ritchie
youngliving.org/micheleritchie

Also check this web site for testimonials...http://www.re-nee.com/

I'll echo some of your other responses: apple cider vinegar with a drop of dishsoap in a small open dish. You'll have lots of little bodies in a matter of minutes. I've found that changing out the solution several times works best. Good luck!

Check out this picture-
http://www.allthingsorganic.com/How_To/images/fruitFlyTra...

I love to have fruit easily accessible for my girls.
This trap really works

You can use many different size containers.

I usually use a glass vase (maybe 6 in tall maybe 3" in diameter)
a put a bit of fruit or peels in the bottom -make sure it is sweet smelling
-like melon that has already gone bad)

Then I get a piece of paper and roll it into a cone
When you stick the cone into the vase the cone should
stick down into the container no more than maybe halfway
(if the cone is too close to the fruit in the bottom of the jar - it increases
the likelihood that the trapped flies will escape)

the smaller the hole in the funnel the better -as long as the flies can get in
(the small size of the hole will increase they likelihood that they will stay trapped)

tape the cone together- slip into container
I usually cut and tape the edge of the cone so that
it is flush with the top of the container-tape the edge well
(remember to have the bait in the bottom before
you tape it)

You will be amazed how well and how fast it works
(like minutes to maybe a couple of hours)

The reason why it works:
Fruit flies are dumb
they will not go down in order to get out-
You will see them trying to get out where
the cone meets the top of the container (the highest point)

Don't leave the trap for more than a couple/few days
(they will start breeding- unless you want to
watch the fruit flies life cycle)
You can release outside

Oh, put fruit in the fridge for a couple of hours and wash before
putting out again.

Enjoy your summer
and your fruit
Good luck

We have an indoor bug zapper. I seriously don't understand how these are not more popular. It has a UV light that attracts indoor pests, and there is flypaper behind the bulb. You can replace the flypaper as needed. It does make an eerie blue glow at night (it looks funny from outside to see our living room with a pale blue glow!) but this thing works phenomenally. My husband picked it up at a Restaurant supply store, but Amazon has the same model:
http://www.amazon.com/Gardner-FlyWeb-Fly-Trap-FW-9/dp/B00...