Fruit Flies Are Taking over Our Home!

I'm so glad you asked this question because I've had the "hotel" out and not catching them very well. I'm missing the dish soap. Once it was mentioned I remembered that's how we did it last year. We have used the plastic bottle and the cup with plastic wrap and holes. Both work well. The important thing to remember is cover it in some way so the flies can't get back out. We use this in combo with a fly strip hung over the sink and one over the garbage can. Good luck.

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Get a small bowl of wine (some juices work well too)and set it out near where they are most active. They will drown in it. Sounds mean but those suckers reproduce like crazy!!

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Oddly enough, I have a suggestion for you that worked for us 2 weeks ago when we had the same problem. We actually had a "swarm" of them hovering over the sparkling clean sink one morning. My husband couldn't stand it anymore and made the following "trap":
In a small, shallow dish (or a wine glass!) pour some red wine or juice. You could probably use a small piece of fruit instead if that's what you have on hand.
Cover it with clear plastic wrap and poke severl small holes in it, the diameter of a ball-point pen or smaller. He used toothpicks I think and stretched the the whole just big enough that the annoying little flies could get in.
Once they're in, they get caught-up in the wine and can't get back out.
We used this trick for an entire week, changing out the wine every day or so. It didn't smell and it really worked!

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One poster mentioned Ciscoe's piece on Pesky Pests. There is a difference between fruit flies and the flies that are in potting soil. Fruit flies attack fruit and the flies in the potting soil are called fungus gnats. They attack the organic material of potting soil. They are two totally different insects.

If they are fruit flies, do like you did and clean very well and put out an apple cider vinegar trap. Apple cider vinegar in a glass with plastic wrap over the top and poke a few holes in the wrap.

If they are fungus gnats then odds are your houseplants are overwatered. Allow them to dry out between waterings.

Considering the time of year they are likely fruit flies. We are dealing with them too since it takes me a while to process through the pounds of tomatoes sitting around the house.

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I make a homemade trap that works wonders:

Remove the lid and label from a clean, empty plastic 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 (I use cider vinegar and a drop of dishsoap) 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 tape. Fruit flies find their way into the bottle, but they can't get back out.

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You don't have to use bug spray or bleach, both of which are, or course, harmful for the environment and for your family.

We create a little Fruit Fly Hotel in a small glass with an inch of a sweet, fruity liquor. Mix in a couple of drops of detergent so they'll get pulled in easily when they sample it. (Two hotels within a couple of feet of each other are even more attractive.) Cream sherry is effective for us, but you can probably use any cheap stuff. A bottle will last you for years. (I don't have nearly as much success with cider vinegar.)

UPDATE: There is a similar pest called a fungus gnat. (These gnats are skinny, while fruit flies are plump.) These live on fungusy surfaces (obviously, from the name) and in moist drains. Over-watered potting soil supports their lifestyle. Mist or splash your drains late at night or early in the morning with a little rubbing alcohol. Avoid inhaling the vapor - it's irritating.

I've had good luck with apple cider vinegar and a couple of drops of dish soap added in. (Or plain vinegar plus a tablespoon of sugar, and a few drops of dish soap). I leave it on the counter in a small bowl for a couple of days, and they climb in and drown. Good luck!

Oh, S.- I feel your pain - when they once decide a place is good - they are so tough to totaly eliminate.
Two ideas--- in your kitchen- are there any containers of water? ( they LOVE standing water-- like a jar with rootings - or a lovely flower - or - even water for the pets)

Two - -though they are ugly- you might consider an old-fashioned '''fly strip''' -- ( buy them at pet stores) --

Blessings --- sorry-- sometimes llife is messier than we'd like.

J.- aka- Old Mom

I use traps made by little wine vinegar and dish soap in a little container and keep changing it until they are gone. We have them almost all year around as we have cat nip. Good luck!

We fill a wine bottle 1/3 full of red wine and leave it out several days, that works very nicely. Some people think the wine bottle is best because they might suffocate in the bottle while the wine ferments.

For extra credit, if you don't mind the unsightliness, hang several strips of fly paper above the wine, so if they just get attracted to the scent but don't go in, you'll get 'em anyway. After a few days you can take the strips down.

I've had this issue before and tried some advice from a family member. Before bedtime, pour bleach down your sink drains and put the stoppers in immediately and as tight as possible, by morning they are gone! I did it and it worked! For some reason they hide in there at night. Let me know if that works for you. GOOD LUCK!!

I would suggest you get a pitcher and fill it just a little with fruit juice and leave it out over night. ( ok I know this sounds wrong, but bear with me) Then in the morning they will all be down in the pitcher swarming, cover the top,walk them outside and pour the whole mess in the garbage. Wash the pitcher out well. Repeat if needed until they are all gone. Also check around to see if there is something else getting their attention and if so discard it.

Hope this helps...works for me.

The suggestion for apple cider vinegar and dish soap is the best. I've done that for years!

put a small amount of balsamic vinegar in a bottle with a small opening. the flies will go to that and hopefully leave you alone. They are hard to get rid of until the weather gets cooler. also, bananas are the worst for attracting them.

I haven't read through all your responses, so I'm sorry if anyone else has mentioned this, but they can live in the drain of your sink, so try pouring some bleach down your sink drain and see if that helps the problem. Just turn on hot water and run it while you pour a cup or so of bleach down each drain.

Good Luck! Whenever I have a fruit fly problem this really tends to rememdy it!

I am going to read all your responses because we have the same problem and I HATE them!!!!! And just when we think they are gone they show back up. My favorite way to get rid of them is to hook the hose to the vaccum and suck them up! It is very satisfying for some reason too! and that way you can get them in flight. I am sure I look funny chasing them around with the vaccum hose but I don't care! Good luck!

foolproof way to deal with them. I have been using this trap for four years now and I do not have a problem with fruit flies anymore.

http://www.ca.uky.edu/ENTOMOLOGY/entfacts/ef621.asp

I have never had this fail with apple cider vinegar and I have never released any of the flies outdoors, they all drown.

My husband uses the vacuum cleaner hose and sucks them up that way, almost daily until they are gone. We also cover our fruit with a cloth napkin which helps. Tis the season for fruit flies and I can't wait until it's over!

fruit flies will die off of there is no food around - she double check that you didn't miss some piece of food stuck in a crack, or in a cupboard, or something.

Otherwise, i've had some luck with 'traps' made by putting some cider vinegar and a squirt of dish soap in a cup and leaving it where the flies live.

I have the same problem and so I recently put a small bowl of 2 parts apple cider vinegar and 1 part dish soap (mix it up) out and caught majority of the fruit flies. There were about 20 fruit flies in the bowl it really worked amazingly well.

Put out a glass of red wine. They are attracted to it and will drown.

i am an organic food eater and household cleaner. i use no chemicals. fruitflies; take a jar with a small top and make a few small holes. Place sugar water or brown sugar and water in the bottom. The fruitflies can go in but won't find their way out.

Clean your drains (sink and dispsol if separate) Lots of times the find the moist drains with food bits in them a great place to nest.

HTH
E.

I had the same problem. I had to cover everything in my kichen and use fly spray and they never came back.

Yep, it's that time of year again! Get yourself one of those sticky fly strips and a fly swatter and start swatting... they'll be gone in no time.

I have done the fruit fly hotel for many years, with great success. This summer was different, there were so many of them. So I poured boiling water down my sink. No success. I googled more remedies. What worked AMAZINGLY: putting a fan in the kitchen! The fruit flies do not like the draft that a small fan provides. I am using a box fan(on low speed) on the floor in the hall that leads to the kitchen. It does not matter if the fan blows towards or away from the kitchen, as I change it all the time. I leave fruit in my fruit basket again:) I have experimented and have turned off the fan for a day and they do come back. I turn the fan back on and they are all gone in a few minutes! I told my friend about this and she has a ceiling fan in her kitchen and as gotten the same results:)

Apple cider vinegar. Put a small dish or several in your home at night after all fruit has been out away, the flies are drawn to it and should go away soon.

I was just listening to a Gardening with Cisco podcast on Pesky Pests (nats were part of it). He says they lay eggs in dirt. Do you have any houseplants? He recommends putting an 1/8" layer of sand on top of the dirt of all your houseplants. He says the nats won't lay their eggs there so the problem should be taken care of soon.

Hope that helps.

M.

It's funny you posted this because we found a solution just this morning. We have some and have tried everything. My daughter just started a job at a hotel and learned this trick. Rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle. We tried it and it killed them on contact.

Sometimes fruit flies can live in moist places like sponges or dish rags. The also like sink drains (bathrooms too) and plant that are continuously moist.

My solution was to go to a hardware ware store and get some fly paper. I got the kind that was a flat fold piece that was about 3x1 1/2. I put it in my window and it is hardly noticeable. Except for me. No more fruit flies.

Good luck.

I am having the same problem! First off, if you do any composting, make sure your yard waste containers are placed as far away from your home as possible and stay clear of any windows/doors. Obviously, store ANY fruit in the refrigerator and keep countertops clean. Sounds like you did that.
You can leave a glass of red wine out and it will catch some the flies and they will drown. Or, you can take it a step further by using this method: Fill a cup of with water, a squirt of dishwashing liquid and some cider vinegar. Cover with plastic wrap secured by a rubber band and then poke a few holes. The fruit flies will fly in, become trapped and drown. Ick, but hopefully it will cure the problem. I'm going to do this in my own kitchen.
*I didn't see the other responses before I posted, but sounds like this method works!*

Hello:)
I had that problem before and I looked online and what i found was to take a water bottle, cut the top off, about 1/4 way down, to make a cone out of the top, fill with apple cider vinegar and then put in about 1/3 dish soap... flip the top of water bottle over, (drinking side down) and set it on your sink next to the faucet.. change every couple of days. works great!
Good luck

Give your faucet and drains a good cleaning and feed a couple of those garbage disposal disinfectant beads into it. They like the moisture and the food/garbage particles that hide there.

(I was previously a long time bartender. Fruit flies are the bane of every bar because they love the beer taps. We were always on the war path with them!!)