Topic: Fruit Flies
auburngirl's photo
Fri 07/10/09 08:52 PM

Fruit flies hate honey. mix a bottle of honey with half a pint of vinegar and pour all around the base of house, car, lawn,etc. within seconds, all fruit flies within the premises will leave immediately, and be gone.bigsmile





Yes, I am STILL dealing with them! laugh Just when I think I haven't seen any...there they are. ick! Kristi, you just KNOW I'll get right on that! :wink: I cleaned off and on all day in my kitchen so hopefully that will help. That, and whatever white vinegar is suppose to do.

krupa's photo
Fri 07/10/09 08:53 PM
Show them naked pictures of me....that should scare them off....seems to work on everyone else!

TxsGal3333's photo
Fri 07/10/09 08:59 PM
I did read that when you see them the best thing to kill them with believe it or not Windex makes them curl up and die. Also read make a trap for them take a jar put some fruit in it cover the top with plastic wrap make a few small holes in the plastic they will find their way in but can't find their way out.noway bigsmile

auburngirl's photo
Fri 07/10/09 09:01 PM

I did read that when you see them the best thing to kill them with believe it or not Windex makes them curl up and die. Also read make a trap for them take a jar put some fruit in it cover the top with plastic wrap make a few small holes in the plastic they will find their way in but can't find their way out.noway bigsmile


Yes, Keith suggested I get a 2 liter bottle and put a banana in it and leave it on the counter over night. Then next morning you can just trap them in it. Only I didn't have a banana because they were all bad and I'd thrown them out which is likely how I got in this mess in the first place! rofl

hereformore's photo
Fri 07/10/09 09:05 PM
Edited by hereformore on Fri 07/10/09 09:05 PM
I have also used a glass of wine (or beer) and covered with Saran Wrap with a small hole, they get trapped.

Or a naked picture of me!laugh

auburngirl's photo
Fri 07/10/09 09:06 PM

I have also used a glass of wine (or beer) and covered with Saran Wrap with a small hole, they get trapped.



Ah really. Okay I can get some wine tomorrow I guess. Thanks!

TxsGal3333's photo
Fri 07/10/09 09:06 PM
Well it will work just as well with any kind of fruit juices as well or any kind of fruit or wine. Heck bet it would work with sugar water it is the sweet they are after.

hereformore's photo
Fri 07/10/09 09:08 PM

Well it will work just as well with any kind of fruit juices as well or any kind of fruit or wine. Heck bet it would work with sugar water it is the sweet they are after.

Yes that is correct...I guess I assume everyone has wine in their house just because I do...sorry:wink:

auburngirl's photo
Fri 07/10/09 09:08 PM

Well it will work just as well with any kind of fruit juices as well or any kind of fruit or wine. Heck bet it would work with sugar water it is the sweet they are after.


I'll pick some of these up tomorrow for sure. Thanks Kristi

krupa's photo
Fri 07/10/09 09:24 PM
When you figure out the fruit fly thing...do me a favor and help me figure out how to get rid of the bee hive towards the back of my house

Sure the bees are cool and only sting when you step on one or roll over on the random one that makes its way onto the bed.


TxsGal3333's photo
Fri 07/10/09 09:27 PM

When you figure out the fruit fly thing...do me a favor and help me figure out how to get rid of the bee hive towards the back of my house

Sure the bees are cool and only sting when you step on one or roll over on the random one that makes its way onto the bed.



Hummm call a bee keeper most the time they will actually come out and relocate them for free at times. Once they go in and get the nest out and the queen the others will leave.

krupa's photo
Fri 07/10/09 09:45 PM


When you figure out the fruit fly thing...do me a favor and help me figure out how to get rid of the bee hive towards the back of my house

Sure the bees are cool and only sting when you step on one or roll over on the random one that makes its way onto the bed.



Hummm call a bee keeper most the time they will actually come out and relocate them for free at times. Once they go in and get the nest out and the queen the others will leave.


Ok honey...but if I gotta pay money for this...I want snipers and an undercover informant!

Mr_Music's photo
Sat 07/11/09 01:04 AM
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. :laughing:

(Hey, somebody was gonna say it!)

no photo
Sat 07/11/09 01:17 AM
Remove the food source and breeding areas. Fruit flies have a life-cycle of 10 days, giving them plenty of time to punish you for leaving moist, fermenting, organic material in which they may lay eggs. Most fly trap ideas only serve to illustrate the flies' progress in taking over your home, and some will themselves provide a breeding ground. Sanitation is the only effective resolution. Address these frequent problem spots:
Wash all dishes. Clear the drains.
Launder the dishrags, or at least wash them thoroughly with soap, rinse them well and wring them dry before hanging them up (don't leave them in the sink).
Store trash in a covered bin.
Get rid of flowers in the area. All they really need is sugar, and nectar can provide a source.
Do not toss food garbage into waste-paper baskets.
Cover your fruit bowl or store fruit you wish to keep in the refrigerator. Also, raisins, dates and prunes are favorite attractants.
Discard all overripe fruit.
Clean opened containers of fruit juice, fermented or vinegar products, for example ketchup, siracha or cooking wine. Seal them well. Keep these in the refrigerator if possible.
Wipe up crumbs and spills from your cabinets, counter and floor.
Take out all trash
They love rotten bananas, so get rid of those.
Do your laundry.
Clean the seals of your refrigerator door, the top and under the fridge, especially clean the evaporation pan if it has one.
Clean under and around your dishwasher and stove.
Dump mop water, clean the pail, launder the mop rag.
Remove damp lint from the laundry room.
Take out your compost and keep your collection bin covered and food additions to your pile buried beneath yard waste.
Do not use manure, beer or rank water for fertilizer near the house.
Use screens for your doors and windows.
Make a bowl trap:


Put a piece of old skinless fruit and some wine, or some balsamic in a bowl (think like the flies: what do you want for dinner?).
Cover the bowl tightly (no wrinkles) with plastic wrap.
Poke many small holes in the plastic with a fork. The fruit flies go in and can't get out (if the holes are too big they will fly back out).
Make a plastic zip lock bag trap:


Place a few slices of an apple inside a zip lock bag
Leave an inch open to allow pests to enter. The little pests will soon be on and surrounding the apple.
Zip the bag closed and crush each one with your fingertips.
Make a funnel trap:


Make a cone out of the sheet of paper (like a funnel). Tape the outside of the cone so that it stays in place.
Check that the cone fits snugly into a glass or cup.
Cut off the tip of the cone so that you now have a funnel.
Pour a small amount of cider vinegar into the glass or cup. (Rum mixed with orange juice also works very well - additionally, a half teaspoon of baker's yeast in water can also suffice)
Insert the funnel into the glass or cup, but don't let the bottom of the funnel touch the liquid. Tape the funnel in two or three places from the outside so that there is no gap between the glass and the cone.
Place your newly created trap on a flat surface. The flies will be attracted by the smell of the fruity vinegar and fly into the cone. The flies will slip down the cone and will either land in the vinegar and drown or will be trapped and not able to get back out. If you leave the trap overnight, the trapped fruit flies will eventually fall into the vinegar and drown.
Make a soda bottle trap:


Remove the lid and label from a clean, empty plastic two-liter soda bottle.
Carefully remove the upper third of the bottle by cutting along its circumference at approximately where the top of the label used to be.
Put an attractive liquid such as orange juice or cider vinegar in the cup-shaped part of the now-severed bottle.
Turn the cone upside-down and insert it into the cup-shaped bottom part of the bottle. Seal the seam at the top of the bottle with duct tape.
Fruit flies find their way into the bottle, but they can't get back out. After most flies are trapped inside, simply seal the bottle in a plastic shopping bag and throw out.
Make an oven trap:


Remove all available food from kitchen. Clean the dishes, place open items in ziplock bags or the fridge.
Open the door of your oven and place a piece of fruit (banana or kiwi peels) in there overnight.
Wake up early the next morning and quietly close the oven door.
Turn on the oven to 400ºF/200ºC for about 10-15 minutes and majority of your fruit flies will be gone.
Clean the oven thoroughly.
Make a glass trap:


Put a piece of fruit in a glass.
Cover the glass tightly with plastic wrap and secure to the glass.
Put a small hole in the plastic. The fruit flies go in and can't get out.
Make a wine trap:


Put a small amount of sweet wine in a little bowl.
Take your finger tip and put a very tiny amount of dish soap on it, preferably diluted
Barely touch the surface of the wine at the center with your finger tip.
This breaks the surface tension of the wine. The fruit flies will be attracted by the scent of the wine and drown in it. Normally the surface tension of the wine would have protected them from drowning, but with it gone, as they touch the edge of the wine to drink, they will stick to it, fall in and drown.
Catch and release method
Drop a piece of fruit (preferably rotten) into a large, clean jar such as a Mason jar.
Place the jar near the greatest concentration of flies (i.e., if they're hanging around the fruit bowl, put the jar in the fruit bowl). It will take the flies a while to find the jar, but once they do, they'll hang around in there having a little rotten-fruit orgy.
Once you see a bunch of flies in there... WHAM! slam a plate down on the top of the jar. You have to be quick or they'll all fly out.
Escort the flies outside and release them--make sure they all fly out of the jar.
Repeat this process until you're finding only one or two flies in the jar at a time (release them too). The idea is that along with getting rid of the food where they were breeding, you get rid of the breeding generation. Important: This process may take several days. You must replace the piece of fruit every day because the flies will have laid eggs on it and if you let them hatch you're back where you started.
Hair dryer method
locate the general area of the fruit flies and the nearest plug. Get a hair dryer.
Plug in the hair dryer, turn it on (preferably to full heat) and put the back end of the dryer near a hovering fly. It will be sucked in and fried by the hair dryer. This is fun and highly effective! Trying to blow at them with the hot air doesn't work well, but sucking them in like this does.
Vacuum
Use the funnel trap to collect them in one area. However sometimes with the trap they will just sit on top of the funnel and not go down inside. So take a vacuum cleaner and suck them all of the top of the funnel and out of the air when they try to fly away.
Windex
Windex works great for those stray flies that are still lingering after using the traps. Just point and spray, preferably when they are landed on a surface. Give 3 or 4 good up-close sprays. Eventually they will curl up and die.
and make sure you throw out all fruits that they have touched
Fruit flies hate honey. mix a bottle of honey with half a pint of vinegar and pour all around the base of house, car, lawn,etc. within seconds, all fruit flies within the premises will leave immediately, and be gone.





http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Fruit-Flies

Katzenschnauzer's photo
Sat 07/11/09 03:32 AM
HA! Sounds easier to eat with your arms waving in the air! Ha Ha!

Jtevans's photo
Sat 07/11/09 03:38 AM

Good GOSH! I am being over taken by them! I hurt my back two weeks ago and could not get my garbage out in a timely manner. That has now been done btw. But they are still here. I have sprayed, I have opened doors. But I just sat down to have a salad and they came from, I don't know where and were literally all around me, in my face, near my food. It was GROSS. ANY idea how to get rid of these things???



peel a banana and throw it outside,that'll distract them




hey they're Fruit Flies right?

no photo
Sat 07/11/09 04:50 AM
Oh, I feel for you. I had a pack of those suckers last year I thought I was never going to get rid of. Every time you would sit down to eat, there they were. Cleaning did nothing to make them go away. Can't remember exactly how they went away or why, but I was sure glad to see them go.

That refrigerator post made me remember I need to do that as well...laugh

Good Luck Connie..flowerforyou

catseyes1's photo
Sat 07/11/09 05:36 AM
Those little buggers are hard to get rid of. You may need to call a professional for the real strong spray or just call and ask advice.

auburngirl's photo
Sat 07/11/09 05:41 AM

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. :laughing:

(Hey, somebody was gonna say it!)



Babe, I told Krisit you mentioned that banana in the bottle thing. Good gosh that sounds like a dirty joke! laugh


Well, I woke up this morning to check on my TWO bowls of white vinegar. And sure enough there were the fruit flies, all lined up along the sides! I tried to carefully pick it up to dump it into the sink, all of 6 inches away, and I got some of them down the drain but not all. UGGGG!

auburngirl's photo
Sat 07/11/09 05:42 AM

Oh, I feel for you. I had a pack of those suckers last year I thought I was never going to get rid of. Every time you would sit down to eat, there they were. Cleaning did nothing to make them go away. Can't remember exactly how they went away or why, but I was sure glad to see them go.

That refrigerator post made me remember I need to do that as well...laugh

Good Luck Connie..flowerforyou


Thanks Heather! flowerforyou That is EXACTLY what happened yesterday when I sat down to eat a salad. It was like I rang the dinner bell. laugh