fruit flies

[Frozen_Signal]

hey hey all....
recently we have had an invasion of fruit fiies here....just had a few fruits and veggies out on the kitchen table as a snack or whatever and it wasnt long after we put the fruit out(bananas,apples..etc) and now these little boogers are everywhere...theyre too small really for the fly swatter and we dont want to use sprays especially on the fruit....
does anyone have any suggestions on getting rid of these little guys?
i tried fly paper and sure i got a few but not many.... so im stumped...

thanks for any ideas or suggestions!!

[debrac69]

Same thing happened here a few weeks ago. I went online and did a little research and here's what I did.

First, I put away all the fruit and wiped down the area with vinegar. Then I put some mashed apple into a ziploc bag closing it almost all the way but leaving room for the buggers to get in. Then walk away from the area for awhile. This gave the buggers some time to settle down. I would check the bag every so often and smush the bugs inside.

Other suggestions from the net were to keep a vacuum ready to go in the general area and suck them out of the air whenever you saw any. This would never work for me since Joey would constantly be playing with the vacuum. Another suggestion was to use a hairdryer set to high/hot to suck them in and fry 'em on the way out. The idea of dead, fried bugs being shot around my kitchen was just too gross for me.

The net also said that if you keep their food sources put away the infestation wouldn't last for more than 2 weeks. I used the ziploc bag for 2 days which caught quite a few, then I just lived them out until they croaked.

Good luck getting rid of them. Once I saw an upclose and personal pic of one online I knew I had to get them out of my house!!

[petal*pusher]

Your fruit-fly challenge reminds me of a story from long ago!

My sister (probably 8th grade or so) brought home a BAT that one of the boys had brought to school for show and tell. Mom sure wasn't happy...especially since that little bugger had left a tiny bite on my sister's finger!

After making a couple calls, Mom realized she had to keep that little fella ALIVE for at least 11 days to see if it had rabies. I still remember seeing that little cage hanging in the garage with lots of fruit piled under it! Those fruit flies must have kept him alive...Mom was happy when she was able to release him.........and so was that BAT !! >-<.........p

[NEIndiana]

I think everyone has a story or two about bats. I've got one, but will share that another time.
As for your fruit fly situation....clean up the area as Deb suggested and clean with vinegar. I use a concoction that seems to work well and it's very inexpensive.

1 small bowl
Fill bowl with 1/2" of warm water
Add 3 - 4 drops of dish soap
1 teaspoon of honey.
Mix well until disolved. Set the bowl out and watch it attract the bugs! All those little knats that fly around as well as fruit flies can not resist the sweet smell. This mixture will attract them, make them stick around, and drowns them. All at once.

[Pburgh]

Buy one bottle of sweet wine - Reisling works well. Drink the wine but leave about 1 inch of wine in the bottle. Add 2 drops of liquid detergent to the bottle. Leave where the flies are most abundant. The flies go into the bottle to get the sweet wine and can't get out. Kinda of a waste of wine I think but more fun than the method below.

You could get a bottle of peppermint extract. Make a wick out of a paper towel. Put the wick in the bottle and let it get saturated by the peppermint extract and place where the flies are. Flies are repelled by this.

[Bird Lover]

Karan, I'm surprised at you. That qualifies as alcohol abuse, for petesake!

You could get a pet frog,

Or......my remedy works well & it's inexpensive too..
Use a shallow saucer or similar vessel, and pour in about 1/2 inch of apple cider vinegar. Add a few drops of dish detergent. The knats & fruit flies can't resist the sweet smell of the cider, & when they land in it, the detergent breaks the tension on the surface of the liquid, so they drown quickly & painlessly.

[Dog Mom]

After being invaded by the little buggers last year, I keep a small jar of apple cider vinegar with dish soap in it on the counter -- so far, no more fruit flies here. It works!

[greenasagourd]

House flies have abounded in this area this year. They zoom inside almost every time we open a door. However, the problem is outside. They drive us nuts when sitting on the patio. They swarm & bite. Any suggestions to shoo house flies away?

[Danaus29]

DUCKS!!!! Bwahahahahaha!!!!!

The only flies those guys don't eat are the stupid fruit flies.
Other than that, no clue. Sorry.
Grandma used to set out watermelon rind with some sort of blue colored fly killing stuff on the rind. It did a great job, as long as you kept the bait at least 50 feet from the house and out of reach of everything else.

[Bird Lover]

I suppose the old-fashioned goey flypaper is still available. I noticed some products in the Tractor Supply Co. last time I was in there, that is meant for barns actually, but it's supposed to keep the flies away from the livestock. I hate those big black biting horseflies! Luckily, they don't hang around here, but they're really nasty at the Jersey shore on hot humid days.