How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies

You know how it goes. You, your family, your friends are sitting and enjoying your favorite show, getting work done, really immersing yourself in that great new game. Then something breaks your focus. A little black speck cuts a lazy path across your field of view, and you’re darting your head around, trying to find where it went. You clap at the air trying to catch the little bugger, or just give up and wave your hand, hoping to discourage it. However, it always comes back. The fruit fly that’s buzzing around you – or one of its many, many siblings – keeps darting around, trying to find something sweet and rotten to eat or a soft, spongy place to lay thousands of little eggs. This has to stop, so what on earth can you do? This week, we are reviewing how to get rid of fruit flies in your home.

Clean-up Time

Really, this one should go without saying. Most of the time, you have fruit flies because they have a food source. Even if it isn’t fruit, certain smells will attract flies from outside and encourage them to start a family. It doesn’t even have to be food! Certain perfumes in dish soap are notorious attractants of fruit flies, for example. Even tidy people tend to have open trash cans or a couple of unwashed dishes here or there, a smudge of jelly on the countertop, or any number of places that fruit flies like to swarm to. Even an open drink like soda (or even wine!) will start ringing dinner bells for a fruit fly. Do you have a fruit bowl? A couple of loose bananas? What about a bag of bread?

If you do, the scents you can’t pick up will find their way to the flies’ antennae and lead them right to your home. They can wriggle through holes in your screen, cracks in your door. So you have to get rid of anything that might attract them. The reason isn’t just to cut down on flies coming into your home but cutting down on places that they lay eggs. A single female fruit fly can lay over two thousand eggs! As they lay their eggs inside and on their food sources, cutting those down will give them only a few spots to lay their eggs, allowing you to trap and control them. Don’t forget about your drains – Food and soap that lingers in the sink can and will attract fruit flies.

Trap and Control

When you’ve cleaned up and cut off food supplies, it’s time to get rid of them. Before you bust out the expensive and unpleasant chemicals, just grab yourself a water bottle. Pour a little bit of apple cider vinegar in the bottom, toss in some banana or yogurt or bread, and make a paper funnel. A small sheet of paper will do – Though you usually don’t even need a full-page – As long as you pinch the bottom of the funnel to be about the width of a single fruit fly. Tape or glue it to the opening of the bottle and set it somewhere flies are active.

Fruit flies are very simple little creatures. They don’t have a whole lot of brainpower, so when they wander into the funnel, they typically won’t be able to figure out that they can crawl back out – Unless they get lucky. Chances are they’ll walk right back in, anyway. In a couple of days, you should have captured all of your fruit flies. You can release them outside or stuff them in the freezer for a couple of hours to euthanize them or do whatever you want with them. It’s up to you, but the important thing is they are no longer buzzing around, bothering you.

If they’re still sticking around, try some 98% isopropyl alcohol spray. It kills most fruit flies on contact. Of course, both of these methods may struggle with large infestations, so don’t be afraid to call the experts. Get in touch with us today for all your fruit fly-related concerns.