They've been driving me crazy for a few days now...Anyone have a tried and true method of getting rid of them?
Thanks! I happen to have cider vinegar, so I will put that out wish some dish soap tonight. I'll give it a couple of days, and if it's not enough I'll check out the hardware store.
Put a small amount of red wine or grape juice in a wine glass then take a piece of paper and make it into a cone. Put the paper inside the wine glass. They fruit flies will fly into the paper cone and die in the wine. They will be all gone in a day or two.
Wine.
We tried honey and vinager as a science experiment (as in which way do you catch more flies)... But you get ALL of them with a glass of wine left on the counter overnight.
Ours like redwine better.
SIMILARLY ... For outdoor pest control... Pit a pack of cigarettes in a 5 gallon bucket half full of water. Nicotine is a natural insecticide. Mosquitos, gnats, etc. LOVE the smell, and will take cigarette water over any other stagnant water in hundreds of yards. They lay their eggs, nicotine kills the eggs. No bugs. Add a new pack every few weeks. Our whole area is SUPER buggy right now... Except my and my neighbors. Stumbled on this trick last summer, and all my nonsmoking neighbors are now buying cigarettes. Seriously. Bug. Free. Swath. Surrounding our houses... And we have a bog/drainage pond right behind our houses.
Have you tried apple cider vinegar in a Tupperware lid with some dish soap? They love to go to the smell of the vinegar, but the dish soap kills them. That's what works for me.
I noticed the fruit flies liked the last couple of drops of wine I left on the counter one night. Sooo, I cleaned all the fruit off with water, and put it in the fridge. I cleaned the rest of the kitchen to make sure there was nothing else for them to be attracted to, and emptied the garbage and recycling.
Low and behold the next morning, all the fruit flies were in my glass of wine (with just a bit at the bottom). I gently placed a piece of paper over the top and walked them outside.
Problem solved, they were all at the party and set free :)
I was going to suggest a fruit fly trap. But we had such a bad outbreak once -- I stood there with the vacuum hose and sucked them up midair. Effective and really, really satisfying!
I'm in TX. We had them last year very bad. Like others, I had a small glass bowl with apple cider vinegar and a drop of dish soap. Worked fantasticly!
As a proactive measure, I keep a bowl close to the garbage can, sink and fruit. No issues at all this year.
I also ran Clorox through my garbage disposal to try to keep them out of the drains.
Also clean out your sink drains with a little bleach. I had fruit flies in an upstairs bathroom -no fruit stored there! they disappeared after I cleaned the little drainage holes at the top of the bathroom sink.
I have used a glass of half water half vinegar and a squirt or two of dish soap. Leave out over night and it will collect them!
I have the same problem recently. It is such a bad year for them. Thanks for posting!!
I got a little thing like Jane K mentioned only a bit different and it came with the liquid in it. It didn't cost much and really got rid of those annoying flies quickly. You just throw it away then and buy a new one next time. I guess if the vinegar works that's great too but this is so non messy and out of the way just sitting out looking like a fruit decoration. I just found this link that has some similar but not exactly like the one I had. Also found a search with many ideas to do at home.
http://www.gardeners.com/Kitchen-Pest-Controls/IndoorPest...
http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0oG7kFndgdQ5wMAoF4QR...
I agree with the cider vinegar...
about 1/4 c of cider vinegar in a shallow bowl, with a couple drops of dish soap. The cider vinegar attracts them, but the dish soap breaks the surface tension and they fall in and drown...
Works wonderfully! Cheap, too!
All the suggestions you have are good ones, but don't forget to search for that fruit or vegetable that they are coming from. Maybe an apple that fell behind where your trash can is or something. We had a terrible problem with them several years ago, so bad that I called an exterminator. All he did was use his flashlight to look under and behind things to see if he could find the rotting apple or whatever.
M
Are they inside the house? Turn down the AC. They will die.
Hi Sherri, I was at the hardware store the other day, and saw a little product to get rid of them. I have tried to google it and tell you the name, but I can't find it, so I will just explain it. It was a little plastic apple, and the top popped off, and it was hollow. You filled it with some sort of liquid. Then you put the lid back on, and I think the top had some little holes in it. Anyway, you can just sit it in the kitchen for decoration and it is supposed to attract them and they go inside the apple and can't get out. Sorry I can't find the name of it, but it was at the local small mom and pop hardware store, so not sure if Lowes or Home Depot may have it. Anyway hope this helps.
I have also had success putting ripe or old fruit or a similarly sweet liquid in a bowl, placing plastic wrap over the bowl, wrapping it tight and then puncturing small holes in the plastic wrap. The flies are attracted to the smell and can get in through the holes, but can't get out. This year I have been keeping a dish towel over my fruit that sits on the counter and that seems to have cut down on the flies so far. Good luck!
