While there are many reasons to enjoy the warm spring air in Austin, the return of fruit flies is definitely not one of them. I recently combated an infestation, and since I know there are many other residents of the area who encounter the problem, I’m going to share my experience and solution.
The problem began gradually, with a couple of fruit flies making the occasional appearance in my kitchen. But in about two weeks, I’d come home to find dozens all over the counter, and they were even following me upstairs at night, where they seemed to enjoy camping out on my bathroom mirror. A few nights ago, I was watching TV with Shannon, who kept shooing the flies away with her hands. It was time for action.
The first step in resolving the fruit fly problem is to eliminate the food source that’s attracting them. They usually arrive due to one of two reasons: (1) there’s decomposing waste in your trash, or (2) you have ripe fruit sitting out. I’m a big-time banana eater, so that might have been the culprit here, along with some apple cores and orange peels sitting in my trash for a couple of days. According to my internet research, you should cover or refrigerate the bananas. However, I find that both solutions speed up the ripening process (and soft, browning bananas gross me out). So, I just choose to buy green bananas – they only attract fruit flies as they begin to brown, and I try to eat them right as they turn yellow. I also read that leaving open packages of raisins in the pantry can attract the pests, and although I didn’t see any evidence of fruit flies in my raisins, I went ahead and zip-locked them up.
One final step is to take an all-purpose cleaner and scrub down any surfaces that might have food stains, including the sides and bottom of the refrigerator. Also, fruit flies often lay eggs in the drain of the kitchen sink, and there are several solutions to this problem, assuming you have a working garbage disposal that can eliminate decomposing waste: (1) pour bleach down it, (2) run scalding hot water down it, or (3) leave ice in the drain overnight.
Now that the source of the problem is gone, you’ll still need to eradicate the ones that are already living at your house, as fruit flies have ten-day life cycles and you don’t want to let them lay a new batch of eggs. My initial attempts at killing fruit flies involved clapping my hands at hovering flies. This works about 1 in 3 times, and while a .333 batting average leads to a lucrative career in baseball, it’s not going to make a dent on the ever-growing fruit fly population.
Shannon suggested that I use sticky fly rolls, which worked at her house when they had an infestation last September. However, the substance on these rolls is poison, so it’s not recommended for people with children. Although I have yet to pass my genes onto another generation, I own two curious cats, who immediately decided that the fly traps were dangling toys. The only place I could hang a trap without them reaching it was at the top of my pantry; despite catching a few fruit flies this way, the trap was too far from their home base, so they continued to infest my apartment.
I used a small nail to hammer four equidistant holes into the jars
I ended up finding the solution on the internet: apple-cider vinegar traps. All you need is apple cider vinegar, pint or half-pint mason jars, a hammer, and small nails. Hammer four holes into the lid of the mason jars (I used four jars, but you can adjust this based on the size of your problem). Then, pour about an inch of apple-cider vinegar into each of them. Next, reattach the lids, and scatter the jars around the infested areas. The fruit flies are attracted to the fruitiness from the apple-cider vinegar (regular vinegar won’t work), and they climb into the jars through the holes that you made. For some reason, they can’t get back out and end up drowning in the vinegar. Yesterday, I set three traps in the kitchen and one in the upstairs bathroom. I’ve already noticed the problem decrease dramatically, and there’s hard evidence of fruit fly death in all of my jars.
The fruit fly problem was really annoying me the last several days, but a few simple steps were all it took to get rid of the pests. Feel free to share your fruit fly experiences and alternative solutions.
Ahh, the sweet taste of vinegar!
Get that to the House, stat!
I almost forgot about the incessant fruit fly problems there! As their unofficial legal advisor, I’ll add this to my list of things to talk about next time I go up there.
I’d also like to add that the apple cider vinegar thing is better than clapping them do death. This way, you are not a murderer, but instead just assisting their suicide.
I’ve also heard that apple cider vinegar is good for hangovers. Just a capfull in a glass of water. Although, you may want to remove the fruit flies first. Admittedly, I have tried this remedy. It was so pungent it made me gag and spit for ten minutes–however I forgot all about my headache. I recommend it.
Thanks, Tony! Now that I have plenty of apple cider vinegar around, I’ll have to try that the next time I’m feeling the effects of a hangover. I may even just take a swig of what’s in my jars — the fruit flies add a little protein, right?
Thanks for the tips! Everything but the cider vinegar worked for me. But I figured that’s because I didn’t have mason jars and tried to MacGyver a fix with plastic cups and plastic wrap. I think there’s some chemical in the plastic Press N Seal that repels them. Booo!
But the bleach solution down the drains and everything else worked like a charm. Just waiting for the remaining survivors to finally keel over.
Glad you got rid of your problem — thanks for reading and sharing!
Last year, I had what I thought was a Fruit Fly problem. A plumber told me to pour 1 cup of Bleech into each of my basement floor drains. Presto! They were gone. That was last year. Now I have the same problem, but that remedy is not working. I suspect these are a different Fly, but they look the same. Has anyone else experienced that? Why doesn’t it work this year?
That might not be working because the fruit flies are living somewhere besides the drain. Use the apple cider vinegar trap to kill them. Also, search through your pantry to make sure there’s not some old food container that they’re living in.
I will try the apple cider trap. But what I failed to mention in the previous reply is that these only appear to be fruit flys when they are in flight…which is usually around the overhead table light. When they fall on the table, they appear to be small beetles (that can fly), or, even flea looking. Last year they congregated on my tv screen. But not this year. That is why I wondered if it is a different species. Any ideas?
I agree — you don’t appear to have a fruit fly problem if they look like small beetles. There’s something called flour beetles, and they get into open containers of flour, cereal, cake mix, rice, pastas, etc. The way to get rid of them is to throw all of that old stuff out, and when you do buy more of it, put them in closed containers (like tupperware). Check around your pantry; if I’m right, you should find an infestation. Otherwise, I’m at a loss on what to do.
Thank you again. I’ll try that too.
i think they cant get out because their wings are soaked