How do you get rid of fruit flies in your kitchen??

[thunderbug84]

Is there any trick that will rid my kitchen of fruit flies?? There are sooo many and I don't know why they are here! All of the food that is out is fresh and I keep our kitchen clean. We even have a lid for our garbage. They are driving me crazy! Please help!

[smartie]

put your fruit away in the refridgerator. I hate to do it too but.........

[RGC1982]

This happens to us because our parrot eats fresh fruit.

First, no fruit on the counter. Refrigerate it or don't keep it.

Second, put out a bait. I noticed that a glass left on the counter with red wine (it was a Rioja) attracted about two dozen in half an hour. They apparently drowned.

Third, and this works a little with some bugs, but not all -- we plug in our old bug zapper in a darkened room. Some moths and bugs are still pulled into the light, but I think fruit flies may not be the right species.

[maurocarlo]

well this is not just the ultimatum destroyer of fruit flyes or other type off flyes but also a fun to do method, I use a vacuum cleaner, enjoy your battle, Maurocarlo/Canada

[Cathy]

There is a source. Once you find it, you'll know.

[hannaone]

Use a fly trap. Bait it with fruit or sugar water.
You can buy one in just about any garden supply store or make your own similar to this link.

http://insected.arizona.edu/flyrear.htm

[Panini Guy]

Rid them... tough. But a way to keep them in check that's dirt cheap: cups filled about 1/4 way up with a squirt of dishwashing liquid, a little water to make it bubble up and a splash of some red wine vinegar or cider vinegar. Put some plastic wrap on top, secure with a rubber band and then poke a few very tiny holes (use tip of a fork tine) in the plastic. They fly in and can't figure out how to escape. Put the cups where the infestations are. You'll be surprised how many you'll catch (but the uncaught ones continue multiplying...)

An alternative to the reefer crisper would be to put them in a sealed container on the counter (as long as it's not too hot), although that only works if you're planning to use those veggies/fruit in a day or two.

[lupaglupa]

I've done this with pure cider viegar and it works well. They fly in and can't get out. It has pretty much eliminated my (mild) fruit fly problem.

[BigBelt]

I have a book called "1001 Uses for Vinegar" which suggests this method. I've tried it and it does work.

[mumtaz]

Some reason vinegar isn't working they just walk around on the edges of the jar and don't drown in the vinegar as i thought they would.. Have any suggestions anyone? Their all over my bathroom and kitchen. They even sit on my dirty dishes (YUCKK) i cant even brush my teeth with out them scattering all over the top of my sink I'm just disgusted i need help!!!

[yfunk3]

I used balsamic with good results, as long as I didn't cover the container I kept the vinegar-water mix in. I think because balsamic is sweeter than regular white vinegar?

Fermenting/rotting fruit in a slightly soapy water solution works better, though.

[eworj]

Just came upon this. I'm sure you have solved the problem by now, but for others, it sounds like drain flies. They are just like fruit flies, but live in the drains. I had them a couple of years ago and tried everything. It was disgusting! I finally called my plumber and he told me to fill the sink with ice (lots) and then pour a lot of dishwasher detergent (the liquid) and a bit of water. Turn on the disposal and let it grind the ice mixed with the detergent. It creates a gross, black sludge and will come back up into the sink but it will go down. Just add it little water if it gets stuck. This did the trick for me. I do it now a few times a year to clean out the disposal and haven't had a problem since. If the flies are circling around the sinks they are not regular fruit flies.

[oedsel]

Thank you SO MUCH for this post! We tried everything and even spent money to buy traps and couldn't figure out why they weren't working. Because they are DRAIN FLIES! Thanks for taking the time to post this!

[pulguksa]

The pest control guy I used for my restaurant told me to just put some household bleach (which I had for sanitizing dishes anyway) down the drains about once a week. I had no problems with them after I started on that program. One way to check if the drains are your problem is to watch the top while you or someone else bangs on the trap, if they are in there, they will fly out.

[lupaglupa]

Pouring boiling water in on a regular basis helps too

[Clarkafella]

help me.....

[silkenpaw]

It has to be apple cider vinegar. A piece of fermenting fruit will also do it. The other day there were a couple of them sitting on my rising bread - they are attracted to products of fermentation.

[tubman]

We were infested after I forgot about a bag of potatoes I left under the sink. We took a similar approach, but found it worked very effectively using fruit as bait. There is something to the old adage about attracting more flies with sugar than vinegar.

I took an empty pickle jar and put a piece of ripe banana and cantaloupe in it. Then I made a funnel cone out of a piece of paper (didn't have a real funnel, but that would have worked too) and put it into the jar so that the wide part of the cone sealed the top, and let it sit.

I don't think it's a question of the flies not being able to figure out how to escape, I can't imagine they would have wanted to as the fruit got more and more overripe over the next few days and none seemed to want to go back up the fairly large hole at the bottom of the funnel.

I find it difficult to kill anything, so I simply took the trap outside and emptied it, gave the birds a snack.

[DGresh]

our source also was some forgotten potatoes (yuk). We had residual flies for awhile, and I took a one liter bottle, put some wine or juice in the bottom, put a coffee filter rolled into a cone in the top, and moistened the coffee filter with a bit of juice to "draw them in". It worked very well; they drowned in the juice and/or couldn't get out. When it was disgusting enough, I'd throw it out and start a new one.

[PollyG]

We're also using the paper cone in a jar method with good results. We free our captives outside twice a day. We're using a bit of mango now, but if you don't have ripe/rotting fruit as bait, cider vinegar works too.

[Amuse Bouches]

I had some nonalcoholic champagne (yuck, and don't ask why) and I found that to be the BEST fruit fly bait I've ever tried.

[ginateach7]

I just tried this an hour ago and already trapped about 30. It really works! Thanks

[AmyH]

Panini Guy's method is the best! I've never had another problem with fruit flies since I started catching them this way.

[glendora]

I know this is 2 years after this post, but THANK YOU, Panini Guy!! My fruit fly infestation is almost completely gone -- and I set out the first cups only 2 hours ago! I didn't have any vinegar, so I just used some apple cores I had in the fridge (saved for the compost heap) and they worked like magic.

One change I made though was to omit the sudsy water, simply b/c I am really uncomfortable w/ killing anything, even bugs, (lame, I know) and the flies were drowning in the water. This is probably the whole point of the water, but I had naively not realized that was its purpose and was horrified and guilt-stricken when I saw the little floating fly bodies in the suds and discovered I was a fly-murderer. :( So just a heads-up to fellow catch-and-releasers -- don't use liquid! A piece of overly ripe fruit works just fine on its own.

[jinglekitty62]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH for this info I tried with the plastic but they couldn't find the holes so I took it off and within 2 hours there were about two hundred at the bottom of the glass and my kitchen was pretty much fly free!!

[LAcupcake]

if you've already done a thorough sweep of the counter area, i would head into the pantry and cupboards... you never know what may have been inadvertantly left in there (i once had a not so bright roommate who didnt know she should refridgerate her strawberries and left a basket in the pantry for a week). i would also put your produce in the fridge until the problem clears up.

[LindaWhit]

Also your garbage disposal. Bits of food that remain in there is a breeding ground.

[sivyaleah]

Absolutely! We had them take up residence in ours after we got rid of them everywhere else. Boy they were tough to get rid of there too. Took weeks of constant cleaning/purging and being absolutely spotless before they eventually died off.

[LindaWhit]

I enjoy grinding up the little buggers. <vbg> However, I'm one that just cannot -- CANNOT -- put my hand down there to get any bits of food that just won't clear. Too freaked out by horror movies. :-)

But I have a little white plastic tool that has a plunger on one end - press on that, and four/five wires come out the other end, spreading out to a clawlike grabber. I use that to get the stuff that just won't grind up and go down the drain. Think I got it at Kitchen Etc. (no longer in business) or BB&B for less than $2.00. Also useful for pulling out any hair from the bathroom drain that makes it past the trap.

[MeffaBabe]

Being the daughter of a plumber has taught me many invaluable lessons- one is about the disposal... Once a week put the stopper in your kitchen sink and fill it almost to the top. Once done remove the stopper and turn on the disposal and the water faucet at the same time- this great rush of water will clear anything and everything out of your disposal including any fruit flies that have set up shop. I also love to toss a lemon/lime/orange or two down there for good measure and smell. If you do this faithfully you will never have to call your plumber for clogged disposal/drain.

[LindaWhit]

Just reading this now, MeffaBabe (thanks to CH making old posts "rise to the top of MyChow" when someone posts to it years later). I like the idea of stopping up the sink and then "flushing" it in one big swoop. Will have to remember that.

And lemon, lime and orange rinds are always tossed into the disposal. Makes a racket when I first turn on the grinder, but the citrus smell is an added bonus.

[EWSflash]

I add a healthy glug or two of bleach and some LOC or dish soap before releasing the stopper.

[Non Cognomina]

I've found a great way to clean the garbage disposal gunk is to pack as many ice cubes as possible into the chamber above the disposal, give a good squirt of dishwashing soap in there, then turn on cold water and run the disposal until all of the ice is crushed. Works every time.

[pengcast]

I pour as much baking soda as I can down the disposal and follow that with vinegar. It works a like a charm.

[pine time]

Careful, though, on just how much ice you use--I once froze up some plumbing something with beaucoup ice. Was fine once I ran some warm water to dislodge the icejam!

[julietg]

Check your flour. That's where they hatch larvae. You are looking for shed larvae skins. They are light brown and translucent. It's really, really gross.

When this happens in our house, we do the following:

**clean out the pantry- take everything out and clean the shelves. sometimes there are skins underneath items or in the corners.
**check all the flour, including the stuff in containers on the counters - they may keep light out, but not the bugs, I have found. check your pastas, too.
**throw out everything that has been infected
**pour a little bleach down the sink. they sometimes colonize in there.

They will hang around forever, regardless of how many adults you capture, until you find where they have been hatching and throw it out.

[hotoynoodle]

fruit flies don't have anything to do with flour.

excellent advice about bleaching your drains and storing all produce in fridge. wipe down all counters and exposed shelves in case something sticky went unnoticed. another trick is to point fans where they tend to congregate. they don't like moving air.

[julietg]

OK, then. What were the worms in the flour, that, when we got rid of them, the flies disappeared, too?

[Candy]

Those are millers and they will hatch out of almost any grain produce if the place where they are stored gets warm enough. I've had them coome out of dog kibble, dried chili powderm pasta, flour, cereals etc. An exterminator told me that they eggs are just there and cannot be removed by milling. If you have millers you have a big project on your hands. Your whole kitchen is going to have to be thoroughly cleaned. That means taking everything off the shelves and examining them for the little nests, pull out the shelves scrub them down. My cupboard shelves are adjustable and there are holes drilled at intervals to allow me to reposition them. They laid eggs in those holes. I had to dig them out. If you can store a lot of that stuff in your fridge or freezer you can keep them at bay. You can also put the stuff in tightly closed jars.

[cheesemonger]

yep, those are moths.

throw away everything- cereal, flour, grits, nuts- everything you've been keeping on the shelf. EVERYTHING.

Do what Candy said about the cleaning- I made a bleach spray and took all the shelves out and sprayed everything. Then all the new stuff I bought I stored in the fridge or freezer.

[RGC1982]

I threw away suspicious grain products. Then I tightly sealed everything else and used something called the Pantry Pest, which is a lure that works very well. Just put it in the closet and in a few days, you have worms, moths etc. all stuck to the lure.

[EWSflash]

I've used those too, and they work well.

[pine time]

Last summer, did battle with ants. They began in the kitchen, and we tossed SO much food and did the Pantry Pest thing. Little buggers migratated from room to room, including even the bathrooms and into the guest bed (guess they thought we ran a B & B just for them). Thanks heavens, no infestations (so far) this year. I can't stand ants in the house!

[falconress]

Ugh, been there, was skeeved out, solved it by ruthlessly purging and sanitizing constantly for weeks. Friends gave me many tips, some of which I still do, 15 years later.
1) When you bring fresh flour, grains, and such into the house, zap it in the microwave for one minute. Let it cool off before you put it away. This kills any yucky stuff that might be thinking of growing in there.
2) Another method for flour and other grains, put them in the freezer for a few days. Same principle, it will kill anything that's planning to sprout in there.

Most of all, I store flour and many grains in the fridge or freezer rather than in cabinets. Also invested in enough airtight jars so everything - pasta, rice, everything - comes out of the grocery bag and goes into an airtight jar. Then, before using it, I peer at it very intently in the jar. You can see telltale signs of larvae *shiver", it's hard to explain what to look for, but when you see it, you'll know it. It's like something's not right about the surface layer of the food. I've only discovered suspicious patterns once or twice, but on those occasions, I didn't think twice before chucking the jar, still tightly closed, into the trash, immediately.

I also stopped shopping at a certain store that I really liked, because the nuts they sold in bulk always, always, always had moths that were gestating in there. I talked to the owner about it, he just shrugged. I thik he thought I was nuts, or maybe he just didn't care. Obviously the only solution was to stop shopping there.

Good luck.

[pine time]

I don't like canisters & jars sitting out on the counter, so I put all bags of flour, sugar, etc into zip top bags, and I squeeze out as much air as possible.

[ladygeek]

These are weevils. I got them from a bag of rice I bought at the grocery store. They were in my flour and all my pasta boxes. I live alone so I don't go through alot of stuff all the time. I was really infested. I threw everything out of the cupboards, bought some sealable storage containers and have been using those ever since. I've not seen any more weevils since.

Also, I've tried the cider vinegar with a drop of dishwashing liquid for the fruit flies. They simply just appear in my apartment in June - same time last year. I didn't have that many so it didn't take long to get rid of them but I leave a dish with that in it over the summer in a corner. Also, I keep everything sealed even in the refrigerator so there's nothing left out in the open.

[KTBearW]

As someone else mentioned, keep looking for the source. I had a similar problem once until I found banana peels stashed under the sofa by a teen too lazy to take them to the trash. Grrr!

[Candy]

i put a little dish of sweet sherry out and they happily drown themselves. Scotch works too. Another possible source can be your garbage disposer. Run some boiling water down that drain and then clean it thoroughly with disposer cleaner.

[soupkitten]

the fruitflies reproduce in standing water, and they don't need much! the usual culprit is your drain-- pour boiling water or bleach followed by water down all drain holes of all sinks & floor drains, clean out the little dish under the water spigot on the fridge if you have one like that. make sure there isn't any standing water you're forgetting about, including a coffee cup just soaking, or a vase with some pretty flowers in it. as others have mentioned put all food away until they are gone. if you notice the #'s of fruit flies decreasing once you clean the drains, keep it up daily until they die off (couple of days). if you notice more the next day, you haven't found where they are originating.

[shaogo]

Bingo!

Standing water is a big culprit in our restaurant. I now flush the drain elbows in the bar sinks at least twice a day with scalding hot water.

The other biggie is fastidious cleanliness. To *totally* do away with fruit flies in the restaurant, we had to start cleaning *everything* ferociously -- with plenty of bleach and hot water.

I started my career in New York City, where cockroaches are the worst. Again, cleaning, cleaning, and cleaning some more is better than all the poisons/traps/lights combined!

Now, in Connecticut, I'm *relieved* that fruit flies are the worst problem I have.

[Sooeygun]

I was listening to a show on the radio and the advice there was a pour vinegar or bleach in your drains as that was the biggest breeding place.

[pine time]

Also, run some plain cheap white vinegar through your dishwasher once a month--there's standing water that can build up there, too. Plus, a repairman told me the vinegar will also break down residue in the DW and I'd need a repairman a whole lot less frequently. Cheap insurance (I buy a giant bottle of white vinegar at CostCo and use it monthly in the coffeemaker too, to clean out the gunky residue).

[RicRios]

http://www.pestproducts.com/ultraviol...

I bought two products from them, and both worked wonderfully:

1) Luralite Professional
2) Flytrap Professional 30 Watts

[beccaboo]

agree with all about putting everything fresh in 'fridge. also, don't forget that they thrive on decaying matter, so if you have fresh herbs growing inside, that can be a source, since they love the base of fresh herbs.

[thunderbug84]

I think you may have discovered the source, beccaboo! Our kitchen leads into our back patio which is where our potted garden is (herbs, tomatos, etc). I think that they might be breading out there and flying in through our screen door. We don't have AC, so we always leave it open. Now it might be time for some traps!

[Christnp]

Believe it or not, they like onions. If you have any that aren't currently in your fridge, consider discarding them and replacing with new ones that go straight into the fridge.

Of course, make sure you either refrigerate or discard any fruits and veggies until this blows over. Put vegetable garbage out of the house ASAP.

[DishDelish]

Oh my! I just bought a huge Costco bag of onions and I have a recent fruit fly problem since about 2 weeks ago. Ugh! I will definitely be finding a place in the fridge for them.

[ricepad]

My (slightly insane) brother says to eat a few of them...just suck 'em right out of the air. That scares the rest of them and they leave. (My brother has different ideas about a lot of things.)

[Ros]

lol He sounds like my kinda guy. :-)
I've been invaded by them just the past week or so. They are way to small to shoot so I put out a jar, we'll see what happens.. :-)

[soupkitten]

if you are in a godzilla mood you can fill a spray bottle with water and mist at them. they will get waterlogged and too heavy to fly-- fall on the countertop or floor and you can squish 'em.

[Louise]

That's how I kill regular house flies. Impossible to catch unless you slow them down a little. I want to unleash the evil scientist laughter every time I get one. Bwa ha ha ha ha!

[LindaWhit]

Hairspray does it as well. Freezes them in their tracks, if you can catch them on a screen or wall.

[sivyaleah]

I used to use that on roaches in my NYC apartment. Didn't stop them in their tracks, but at least it made them vamoose!

[DishDelish]

lol. I used to do this as a teen with mosquitos in the house, and my Mom said I was letting them die a slow cruel death, and to just squish them. I remember feeling so guilty! I don't think i care anymore though. Good idea with the flies, they are so hard to catch! These flies are grossing me out so much!

[Nyleve]

I just put out my first Fruit Fly Trap of the season two days ago and cleared my kitchen in about 24 hours. One single semi-rotten apricot (tomatoes, peaches, plums, grapes - they all work just as well) in a mason jar. Cover the top tightly with plastic and screw on the band. Poke a single hole in the plastic with a toothpick. Watch the fun! I usually release them outside once or twice a day. After a few days the fruit in the trap gets too rotten and you have to replace it with a new one. I swear this works. I've seen fruit fly traps for sale in uppity gardening catalogues for as much as $12 each. Nonsense.

[cayjohan]

A good ol' fashioned hardware store will have fly strips - y'know, the sticky tapes rolled into a cardboard tube, which you pull out to full length and hang. It's disgusting, yes, to see how many of the pests you catch, but it's really effective and nontoxic.

This time of the year we get many of the super-small flies (screens can't keep them out) and the sticky fly strips are the only thing that does it (yep, we do the kitchen drain, we empty and change vase water, store fruit/veg in the fridge etc...). Getting at the source is a great idea, but sometimes you can't control the source, i.e., the great outdoors. In that case, the sticky strip really works.

Just be prepared to think of it as some odd art piece while it's doing the job!

[Clarkafella]

I was in a small town in MS about a year ago and noticed that several restaurants had a baggie filled with water hanging by a string near their doors and open windows. I asked someone about it and she told me that for some reason flies couldn't stand to see their own reflection in the things and would stay away from the area with the baggie. I asked several other people about this, and they all swore that it was true- just hang a baggie full of water near the door, and flies will avoid it like the plague!

Since that time, I've seen this being done in other places- the most surprising being near the door of a restaurant in New Orleans. Does it work? I have no idea, but it wouldn't cost very much to find out...

[ricepad]

That sounds like the common misconception that gallon jugs filled halfway with water and spread out on your lawn will keep dogs away. I'm not sure that a fly would 'see' anything in a baggie reflection...I doubt their eyes work that way.

[Clarkafella]

I don't have a clue as to how or if it works, but a quick google search came up with this:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1690310/posts?page=121

and this:

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_diseases_pests_insects/article/0,1785,HGTV_3580_1381705,00.html

and

http://pamscreativemind.blogspot.com/...

[sivyaleah]

I was watching something on the Travel Channel, I think it was Rick Steves, and he was somewhere in Italy I believe, walking around in some backstreets and noticed bags of water hanging over all the doorways. He stopped to ask about them, and the old women in the doorway told him it was to repel the flies. She couldn't explain how, but told him it has been done basically, since "forever" and that it did work.

But, that's for flies - not fruit flies.

[irishnyc]

Yep. We've seen that all over the FL Keys and finally asked someone and they said it was to keep flies and bees away. A friend had a wooden swingset in her yard that bees kept setting up shop on, and she used the bag of water and it worked. They haven't been back.

Cheap enough to try for fruit flies too.

[junescook]

We use those in our alpaca barn to repel yellow jacket wasps. The teory is that these wasps are territorial, and they think that these bags are other wasps nests. D'nno, seem to work for us alpaca folks. Now if we could figure out a way of getting rid of the house sparrows that are invading all the nesting places on our property and chasing off the wrens and bluebirds....

[swsidejim]

Are fruit flies that common of a problem? I have never seen any in any of the places I live.

Are the more prevelent in certain climates?, houses vs apartments?, older dwellings vs new construction?, or is it simply a cleanliness/sanitation issue?

[Nyleve]

It's not about cleanliness. You may not be in the habit of leaving fruit/vegetables out in the kitchen - which is how the whole mess starts. All you need is a small squishy spot on a plum or tomato or whatever, a couple of microscopic fruit fly egg and you've got an infestation. We prefer our fruit at room temperature so they don't go into the fridge unless they're cut or going mushy. I won't have a fruit fly all winter, but as soon as the mid-summer fruits and veggies arrive so does the annual infestation. I really don't believe it's a sanitation issue - just annoying and a bit gross.

[swsidejim]

I was not asking my question to insinuate anything, I apologize if my question came off that way. I am just curious since I have never seen any where I have lived. Thats is why I listed a few other variables that I thought could account for the flies, not just sanitation/cleanliness.

I do not eat fruit, but my wife does, and it is typically stored in the fridge, excet banannas, which do not typically stay around long enough to go bad.

[Nyleve]

Not to worry - no offense taken. They are an annual scourge at our house. It typically begins now and will continue - more or less drastically - until October-ish. I have coping strategies, but nothing except having no fruit sitting on the counter works perfectly.

[sivyaleah]

I had never seen them either in any place I'd live in my whole life (I'm 48), until last summer when we forgot about a couple of bananas sitting in a bowl. They went WAY past ripe. This is in a nicely air conditioned house in NJ. I can only assume that fruit flies are around all the time and gravitate to the food source when they find it and reproduce wildly once the time is right.

[Nyleve]

Yes, partly that. And also I believe that most fruit harbours at least a couple of fruit fly eggs that you can't see. If you wash the fruit very well before leaving it around, you'll reduce your fruit fly population. But even so, all you need is one fly to lay a clutch of eggs and the rest is history.

[sivyaleah]

Yes, true. I was going to put that in my post too but got distracted. Thanks for pointing that out :-)

[EWSflash]

Oh, there's a high school science experiment that has you put a banana peel in a bag and seal it- you'll likely get bugs flying in the jar very soon. The eggs were laid in the peel.

[NaNatheSnook]

Where you get your fruit can matter also. A couple of years ago I was talking with a friend and we realized that if we bought fruit (esp bananas) at a certain store in town we were going to have fruit flies. We could purchase at the other stores and have none but buy bananas at Store XYZ and you would have fruit flies within a day or two. Our storage, eating cleaning habits didn't change just where we got the fruit.

[Stephanie87120]

I have never seen fruit flys before the home I am currently living in. They are weird little bugs. I am fed up! I have lived in Colorado three different cities, Kansas, Texas, Arizona now Albuquerque.

[McClintock1313]

....Latest research shows warmth and fruit to be tantamount to their survival. I read somewhere, fruit flies live only long enough to reproduce; alas I grow skeptical, as I've spotted a few with little walkers and one even had a power wheelchair. Also some insect retirement home literature has found it's way into my mailbox.

[EWSflash]

Raise their rent.

[crowmuncher]

you mean you can charge them? in that case, welcome fruit flies...

[mschow]

Great thread. I have the dasterdly bugs in my house now as well. Driving me nuts!
I have an empty mason jar and am going to try one of the methods posted tonight.

[Amuse Bouches]

Fruit flies -- I know why they're there and how to catch them (or ignore them) but does anyone have any advice for dealing with regular old houseflies in the kitchen? We have them bad this summer - probably because none of our windows have screens.

[Texchef]

Fly swatter :)o On another note, thanks for this thread. I will use some of the ideas the next time the fruit flies come for a visit.

[Louise]

#1--no brainer, make sure the trash goes out regularly.

#2--I slow them down by spritzing them with whatever's in the nearest spray bottle to hand. Windex, 409, anything like that, and they will fall like a rock to the floor or sink or counter (ick!) and crawl around frantically. Then I pick them up using several napkins and they go to their watery resting place via the toilet.

[MakingSense]

Ceiling fans. They can't fly through the downdraft.

[MakingSense]

I have very lightweight linen cloths for covering fruit that is left out at room temperature. No way am I going to put tomatoes and peaches in the fridge!
Ordinarily, I don't cover stuff but at the first sight of fruit flies, there's usually a piece of "fruit gone bad," and out it goes. Then everything gets covered up and it seems to solve the problem. Apparently, the flies have to lay their eggs in decay so the larvae can feast on that. They can't do that if the fruit is covered. Sometimes, I'll see a few stray flies on the cloth but they just go away. No place to breed.
The first linen cover I bought was in Italy. Round with fruit embroidered on it. Seemed like such a simple idea, I couldn't believe it wasn't used everywhere! Works great for me.

[NaNatheSnook]

I think I remember my Grandmother doing that. I always thought she just missed putting a napkin away or thought it made her table "prettier" Great idea!!

[evans]

time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.
- Marx

[cayjohan]

Gads, evans, I'll have to tell my kids that someone else likes that quip.

I love the covering tips, as I love room temp tomatoes and melon, but I can't emphasize the drain vigilance enough. Well, that and living with a fly strip for a month or so.

Our influx just began and after a couple of days of the discreetly hung strip, we're already less harried.

[Candy]

I just had a bunch of tomatoes become ripe. I did not want to refrigerate those beauties. I put them in a zip type bag and loosely closed. I am not having a fruit fly problem.

[sivyaleah]

That's because they aren't rotting yet. It only happens with rotting veggies or fruit, and not necessarily all the time.

[Candy]

N I have found they will attack any soft skinned fruit or veg they can get to. Leave an orange out and no prob. The skin is too tough

[cmkdvs]

Fruit flies are an old standby organism in genetics labs. The larvae actually feed on yeast, so the adults are attracted both to the esters of ripe fruit and to alcohol. I've had them swarm around a glass of wine to where you can't get to it.

Originally they were raised in the lab on chunks of banana, but other media have replaced that because they're less messy. I use a banana skin in an old sprouting jar as a trap, and when I don't want to refrigerate fruits and vegetables I use one of those mesh tent deals sometimes sold as picnic accessories.

[Candy]

My big gorgeous muskmelon is in one of those oversized Hefty Zip type bags but not tightly closed. The flies have disappeared. I also keep the garbage disposer very clean. The bag treatment seems to have really helped. I wish who ever made the fruit and vegetable bags that were perforated hadn't dropped them. The holes were too small for the bugs but the produce wasn't asphyxiated.

[5 and Dime Eater]

CHOW just posted a video CHOW Tip on how to trap and get rid of the suckers.
http://www.chow.com/stories/10751

[weezycom]

If you've covered up, thrown out, cleaned the disposal, etc., and are still having problems, check to make sure that your houseplants aren't harboring the pests, especially plants that sit on a pebble/water tray.

[geminigirl]

as I can be heavy handed with the watering can that's usually the culprit in my house if it's not the bananas....

[sbk613]

Thanks to everyone who posted. I had my first fruit fly infestation - ever. Discovered the source was my teenagers waste basket - she won't sleep in her room till they are gone. Made lots of traps with cups and fruit. They work really well. Only thing is, watch the size of the holes. I watched a few be smart enough to get out again - ugh!

Thought I would add that Glad Press and Seal and a plastic cup work great. It seals automatically along the edges, and you can make it taut. Also, you can reseal the top after you get rid of the pests.

I hope to have my home back in a day or two.

[joyces0]

I enjoyed reading the posts. I had help emptying cupboards to paint the kitchen, and two months later, I still have kitchen things stored in boxes in the basement. Suddenly, I noticed fruit flies everywhere there was water. Kitchen, bathrooms, guinea pig cages. I finally found the source - one of the boxes had some sort of fruit or potatoes or something in it - it was the most revolting sight and smell you could imagine, just a horrible liquid goo that gagged me the whole time I was cleaning it out. I felt so sorry for the garbage man, and am planning to make him cookies because the gargabe can smelled so bad after I put that in there.....But I still have the problem around the guinea pig cages because their water bottles drip and the bedding gets soggy right under them. I have been vacuuming them and that's been working. Anybody know a way to keep the water bottles from dripping? I'm going to try the kitchen drain thing, too. Maybe that's it.

[Erinmck]

I had this problem,and so began to wash and clean my fruit RIGHT after every trip from the grocery, and have not had a problem since. It bugs the heck out of me, too!

[im_nomad]

I hate these little buggers. I have houseguests over the summer and even though i had told them not to, they had left a bag with i don't know what, in a bin that i no longer use (i had to stop using it because my brainy little dog figured out how to nose open the top of the bin or drag it by the bag across the kitchen, but the bin is still in my kitchen, albeit empty). Of course, after they'd left, i never thought to check, never using it myself, and there were no foul smells. A week or more later however, something possessed me to step on the foot peddle to check for cleaning or something, and a massive swarm of these things came out at me, and for a couple of weeks after, i was finding these everywhere.
The first day was the worst, I tried to spray as many as i could, and i had put out a bowl of sugar water topped with pin-holed saran, but these were still stuck to the walls and following me around, or trying to fly up my nose all evening. While swatting them away from my glass of red wine and having to cover my glass, i noticed that they were more interested in the wine than the bowl of nearby sugar water. Sooo...instead of the sugar water, i put out bowls of red wine (it was cheap stuff), and this is finally what got rid of them. Although it still took a while.

[cupcakery]

Leave a little dribble of red wine in a glass. They fly in and they die happy.

[pengcast]

Another simple way is to lower the room temperature. So if there is a cold night forecast, open all the windows. Fruit flies are very non-resistant to cold. I guess you could also crank the air conditioning to frigid too.

[rabaja]

We set up the wine/fruit juice trap too, but, truthfully, I like to use my blowtorch. They die quickly.

[kellyanner]

I have found the easiest and most efficient way to get rid of annoying fruit flies. First it’s important to clean the counters well, put food away and clean the sink (allowing soap to run into the drain or disposal. Then, when you are ready to run a load of dishes (sorry, this only works if you have a dishwasher) load the dishwasher, put the soap in and pour about a 1/4 cup of cider vinegar in the bottom of the machine. Leave the door open for an hour or so, then quietly close it. Run your load as usual. The flies are killed immediately and are down the drain in the first run off. As long as you keep the kitchen clean, they won’t be back - or at least not for a long time!

[rabaja]

That is awesome. I cannot wait until we have a dishwasher...until then, I'm torching them.

[poem]

We started to have a problem when the city we live in changed the trash collection. We now have a trash bin, a large recycle bin and a compostables bin. We started using it outside, putting in banana peels, strawberry leaves, rotting food as well as leaves and any organic manner. They collect the compostables every two weeks. It only took a couple of days for the flies to begin. By two weeks we were inundated and the flies had also moved inside.
We have bought a small stainless steel can with a charcoal filter (I guess it contains the smell), use a bio bag liner and then close the bag when we put it out. So far so good. We can now be eco friendly without the bugs.
I'm going to follow the other ideas to rid my kitchen of the flies that got in and started multiplying. Too bad my kids are grown -- great science experiment!

[Blush]

Wow, I could have used this thread about a year ago. I'd never had a problem with fruit flies and all of a sudden they were everywhere. I tried the vinegar/soap/plastic wrapped bowl w/holes poked, but that was too slow for me. I had an old hairdryer lying around, and I held it backwards, sucking them into the motor. It was evil, but incredibly satisfying.

The culprit, in my case, was a few empty bottles of Corona with the limes left inside. Once I got those outside the problem disappeared for good.

[KristineA]

Fruit flies are driving me crazy as we speak! All because of one overripe banana I left sitting on the counter for too long. The banana & the rest of the garbage has been gone for a week, I cleaned the garbage can & all the countertops, put away all food and I STILL have fruit flies. So, I'm not sure yet if the "trap" I'm using will get rid of them for good, but thought I'd share anyway because this method is so simple. I'm just using apple cider vinegar in a bowl with a few drops of dishwashing liquid added (like someone said, makes it so the fruit flies can't get back out). No need to make a funnel or cover with plastic wrap...just an open bowl...I'm catching tons this way! 12 overnight last night, 22 more while I was at work today. I just changed the bowl & got another 3 within 10 minutes.

[Stephanie87120]

I am trying your (modified) suggestion immediately!

[NaNatheSnook]

Just put some cider vinegar in a glass and sat it on the stove. I have caught nearly 20 and I'm not even finished reading this. :)

[k80k]

I just set out a bit of rose in a glass and a bit of cider vinegar and I didn't get anything. Then I added some dish soap to each one and the cider still had none and the glass of rose collected several and is still collecting more. They're almost gone! Yay!

[Jetgirly]

Where should I keep my bananas?

[Smileelisa]

actually it is ok for your bananas to be in the fridge according to a dr donahue that writes for our local newspaper. He said they stay fresher longer that way too.

[k80k]

Hm, I put banana in the fridge and they turned brown really fast. I haven't quite masteres banana storage. To ripen put in a paper bag, I keep mine on top of the fridge and they seem to ripen in a few days (I guess it depends on how you like your bananas... you can always rip the bunch in half so you don't get too many, unless you like banana bread! Then any left over bananas that get brown you can put in the fridge (they will get more brown but will have the perfect texture for banana bread or a smoothie.

[BamiaWruz]

I use fly traps actually, and though they're baited I bait them myself with those chewy natural fruit rollup things, just little bits and then it attracts the flies. I put this trap near the patio door so it's away from cooking stations..etc.

[Jashlyn]

OK I have read every post on here and, im trying to figure out why I have so many fruit flies. I do not have any fruit in my house, nor potatoes or anything else that I can think of. I dont have house plants or anything. DO you know why I would be having them? I am trying the glass with seran wrap as we speak so I am hoping that this will work. I have also poured bleach down my drains and disposal. I have had this problem for a few weeks now.

[rabaja]

It may not be you, but your neighbors...are you in an apartment building?

[snowbloom]

I did everything that was suggested, and the problem was mostly licked for a while, but I kept finding a few here and there - I think I have it under control now. Gross-out story of the week - I was making my rare treat of fried rice, and poured out some soy sauce from the restaurant-style container that I keep on my counter - that my husband uses daily. When I poured out some sauce I found a LOT of tiny little lumps in it. I thought at first that the soy sauce had begun to crystallize but I fished some out of the rice to look...and EW they were fruit flies!! I poured out the rest of the bottle (It was about half full) and there were HUNDREDS - and of course I got rid of the rice that I'd been making. The gross-out? My husband, like I said, puts soy sauce on his food DAILY. There isn't any telling how many fruit flies he ate. Needless to say we do not use restaurant-style soy sauce bottles anymore!! (And I use soysauce in the traps now. The benefit of that is that the dark of the soysauce keeps you from seeing the ugly drowned buggers!!!)

[mandycat]

I ran across your question this morning about half an hour after tracking down the buggy problem in my own kitchen. It wasn't fruit but a houseplant that was harboring the little rascals. I've had this ivy plant on a kitchen window for more than three years so why they suddenly moved in is a mystery.

If you have houseplants in any room and start seeing flying critters, you can check for infestation by watching what escapes when each plant is watered. The only way to get rid of them is with a "systemic insecticide." I've used this type of insecticide in the past and my theory is that there's nothing fatal about the formula; it just smells so horrible that the insects pack up their larvae and move on in disgust.

Bye bye, ivy. Your time has come.

[chantellemax]

We had a problem with fruit flies in our Kitchen and bathroom. We tried different vinagers, fruit, and bug sprays but nothing really seemed to work. They would be gone in the morning, then in the afternoon, there were tons again. We dont leave food out and our kitchen and bathroom are kept clean. So...sound kinda gross but we vaccummed the little buggers up, and emptied it outside, then poured bleach down the drains. I read sometimes they come up through the drains. So far, so good.

[emperorscrumbs]

boiling water in the drains. get rid of the food source... i had a cafe with fruit teas... they loved us... customers not so much :(

[asuttell]

ok... I am so tired of these little boogers. I thought I got rid of them once by leaving a trap of cantelope, cleaning my entire fridge (including seals and evaporating slide), sweeping, mopping, and clearing any suspicious lint etc. from the laundry room. Trying the dish soap with cider vinegar, soap with red wine vinegar, plain soda, and plain cider vinegar. . . . fingers are crossed

[skyeig]

Simple. I went to the supermarket today and asked the produce guy...how do you keep fruit flies away from all this fruit? Peppermint oil he says. A few drops on a paper towel near your fruit or prep area. So I bought some...came home and did just that. I was fed up with so many flies around I had gone to buy the flypaper but came back with peppermint oil. Well, within 3 minutes they were out of sight. I sprinkled a few drops in the trash too. They were gone in a minute. I then prepared my meal...a salad with fruits and veggies and not a single fly lingered. Its been 2 hours now and there isn't a single fruit fly in the kitchen. I don't know where they have gone. Produce guy says they will eventually run off to college. So, I am going to scrub this place down and use peppermint water to rinse the cabinets, floors etc. for maintenance . Hmm, I seem to recall peppermint kitchen spray somewhere. I'll write back.

[cheesemonger]

repelling them is not the same thing as getting rid (aka killing) them. You're just moving them to the bathroom, or other part of the house.

[skyeig]

Very True. In-the-meantime it is nice to not have them flying around in the kithcen, It's been several more hours and the flies haven't come back to the kitchen. And I even left the plate on the counter for a while to tempt them...LOL. Enough experimentation though.. It's still a great solution to enjoying a pest-free meal.

[ac2enator]

You could try a homemade spray....Its really easy, cost effective and it really works plus you can use it anywhere and it is safe to use.

Get some lemon grass oil 2 drops per 10 ounces of hot water, then spray round infected areas and all round your house if you wish.

This will kill all small insects

[crowmuncher]

I heard putting a dish out with vinegar works. They drown in it.

[sappho1206]

Thank you so much Panini Guy-- years later, thanks to google, I came across this. Have set out six of those traps and have caught 19 nasty flies so far-- almost gone!! Thanks!!

[sparklebarbie]

I promise you...this is the BEST solution EVER. I've tried everything suggested. The method I'm going to describe has caught easily 300 flies in the past day (GROSS!!!!!!)

I make protein shakes every day. I add banana to my protein shake after blending it in my magic bullet. Well, as you know, you can't get every ounce of food out of the container. I put the remains of the blended banana in the magic bullet container in a big gallon size ziploc bag along with the peel of an eaten banana. You'd think every fly was getting paid $1000 to land there cause it's IMMEDIATE and they all swarm there. Using the ziploc bag is the BEST option. It's easy for the bugs to go in...and it's easy to zip QUICKLY so they don't get away. (The flies were crawling out of any other "funnel" that I used). I've done this about 5 times since yesterday, and I think I'm finally starting to near the end of the problem! I had no idea how many there were in my house. Also, one last bit of advice...you need to empty it several times a day so you can start over again and again. It's the only way to catch them all. (and you have to do it often since they reproduce so quickly).

Another option is using old banana (after having been blended in a blender there were remains

[ellovebe]

Yeah that works! I did put wine, water and little bit dish soap into bowl. The fruit flies are already dead. Do not leave dirty dish until you finish the dishwasher. You must do to put the dishes away. It is taken over night then, When you woke up in the morning that work good greatest. Then you have to throw away. Do it again and again there is no more fruit files. You have to watch the fruit flies will come back again. Do it again same things. Thank you