Fruit fly fury

[etasman2000 15994]

1. Pet frog
   
2. Dust devil
   

[Reddog2402 2221]

I use a bowl trap:

 

Pour some red wine or balsamic vinegar in a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and poke a bunch of small holes in the plastic (a toothpick or something equally small). The flies can get in, but can't get out.

 

Happy hunting!

[Emma Alexandra 123366]

I use a bowl trap:

 

Pour some red wine or balsamic vinegar in a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and poke a bunch of small holes in the plastic (a toothpick or something equally small). The flies can get in, but can't get out.

 

Happy hunting!

 

this works pretty well

[drlove 37204]

I use a bowl trap:

 

Pour some red wine or balsamic vinegar in a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and poke a bunch of small holes in the plastic (a toothpick or something equally small). The flies can get in, but can't get out.

 

Happy hunting!

 

Yep... this one works like a charm. Don't know why, but it does!

[antlerman 17064]

http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page.aspx?p=44735&cat=2,40733,40734

 

these are avilable to order in........

you can find similar ones...but these are the best I have ever found.

 

they do not spill.....do not look bad.....last a long time...and store for years.......

 

little if any detectable smell to them........

 

you can even throw them in the plastic recycle system

[Cara Silver 32412]

It's kind of frightening how these tiny little insects have outsmarted me for so long. I am now waiting for them to enter the Plastic Container of Doom. We shall see :?

[antlerman 17064]

I love them......keep one open all summer........

 

Also please pull out your fridge and clean around and under......also look for the water evaportaion tray often found under fridges.......these hold water and evaportate slowly......clean them out....spary a little bleach......really helps.

 

Also there are drain lines from the bottom back of the fridge that go to the pans....run a solution of water and bleach down it.......just a bit......

 

Additional Comments:

I love them......keep one open all summer........

 

Also please pull out your fridge and clean around and under......also look for the water evaportaion tray often found under fridges.......these hold water and evaportate slowly......clean them out....spary a little bleach......really helps.

 

Also there are drain lines from the bottom back of the fridge that go to the pans....run a solution of water and bleach down it.......just a bit......

[Carrie Moon 68826]

Just leaving a bit of wine in an open wine bottle works as well. They get in and get drunk I imagine cause even a wine glass works. But I'm going to Lee Valley.. I love their gadgets.

[Annessa 22743]

I find the wine works better than balsamic, I'm was having a fruit-fly invasion too and after I removed any fruit or dirty dishes they only gathered in clusters by my shelves.....this was when I read an article saying that using hairspray on the live ones pretty much killed grounded them instantly. it worked! I just sprayed it on the ones that were clouding by my sink and boom! the hairspray would stick to their wings making them unable to fly and they'd fall...then you just take a disposable wipe and wipe them up and put them in the garbage. I find its less yucky if you use a hairspray that smells really good like Herbal Essence ;-)

 

I also find that the wine-bottle trick works well too coz they have a hard time getting out after even having *some* wine.........drunk flies, lol

 

good luck!

[Carrie Moon 68826]

I recall reading another idea about putting something they are drawn too.. say rotten fruit.. on a pan in the oven. Leave the oven door open over night.. they go in.. and then in the morning close the door... put the oven on and voila.. cooked flies.

[Cara Silver 32412]

Here are the results of my fruit fly experiment:

 

Finding no balsamic vinegar, I mixed some old fruit with sugar and white vinegar in a tupperware. Why I added the vinegar is beyond me. I was convinced vinegar was the key to the fruit flies' demise. But they're fruit flies, no vinegar flies, and the message I should have taken away from all the advice on this thread is that the flies appreciate fermentation (and not the vinegar I use to clean the floor.) Plus I didn't have any saran wrap so I shoved a ziploc over the whole thing but it doesn't fit. As of right now I have a tupperware container filled with rotting fruit that smells like ajax covered in a billowing plastic baggie with tiny holes in it.

 

I accept defeat. Thank you all for your great advice but I am a doofus. My next step is to become the Karate Kid and wipe out the fruit flies with a well-timed kick to their jugulars.

 

xoxo Amelia

[Boomer 33202]

Don't dispair, since you've done a thorough cleaning, they might just disappear in a bit of time, now that there is nothing to attract them.

 

Must say I had a chuckle at Carrie's suggestion, not terribly political correct, but off to the ovens.

 

Amelia, love your Blog

[jg24 3708]

Well must be something we have no fruit in the house and yesterday we started having fruit flies this morning I go to have a shower and wow fruit flies in the bathroom pesty little things

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[etasman2000 15994]

I recall reading another idea about putting something they are drawn too.. say rotten fruit.. on a pan in the oven. Leave the oven door open over night.. they go in.. and then in the morning close the door... put the oven on and voila.. cooked flies.

 

Next housecleaning request: How to clean a fly encrusted oven

[drlove 37204]

Seriously though, regular vinegar DOES work! Just take an ordinary soup bowl (not the plastic ones) and fill it with vinegar. Next tightly seal the top with saran wrap. Next, poke tiny holes in the top. Set it aside in an out of the way area and wait. By the next morning, you should have some captives.

[Alger 1898]

Another thought is that they might not be fruit flies, but a close cousin called fungus gnats. These bred in potted plant soil. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungus_gnat. If you do see them in your plant boxes, an easy cure is to put about a 1/2 inch layer of sand on top of your plant soil.

[Carrie Moon 68826]

Well must be something we have no fruit in the house and yesterday we started having fruit flies this morning I go to have a shower and wow fruit flies in the bathroom pesty little things

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I know! I've seen them in my bathroom before too and I have absolutely no food there. I think they must like the smell of my soap? they seem very vain.. because they like my mirrors a lot!

[Old Dog 179138]

The best solution???

 

Move.

 

Fruit flies don't drive and are pretty stupid. It will take them years to get to your new address.

[Andee 220524]

I recall reading another idea about putting something they are drawn too.. say rotten fruit.. on a pan in the oven. Leave the oven door open over night.. they go in.. and then in the morning close the door... put the oven on and voila.. cooked flies.

 

Interesting visual, Carrie.

[drlove 37204]

Interesting visual, Carrie.

 

Yes, but not very appetizing! :shock:

[NotchJohnson 214119]

At work the employees put the rest of there fruits in the garbage and what do you know fruit flies are all over the place when you swing the top of the garbage. I bought this thing called VAPONA and just hang it in the top of the garbage can, it kills the little fukkers. Be ready to pay around $15 for one of those at Canadian Tire or Home Hardware, I'm sure you can get them somewhere else also.

[Mikeyboy 27131]

The bowl of wine trap with the plastic wrap and some holes seems to work the best. The more aromatic the wine the better. Fruit flies don't actually eat fruit, but yeast cells. They are attracted to the smell of wine or beer as fermentation is a sure sign of yeast growth. It also seems more humain to me. I'd rather die in a vat of wine than in an oven :wink:

I'm not cetrain that pure undiluted white vinagar would work as well. Yeast can not grow in a medium with that low a pH. Not sure if the buggers can detect this or not.

 

The spray bottle of kitchen cleaner (lysol kitchen spray, etc,) works well at knocking them down when you have a big cluster of them flying around in front of you. Then you can wipe them up.

 

Keep the area clean, and get rid of the dirty dish cloths. This attrcts them like crazy.

 

Hope this helps

[Cara Silver 32412]

There is one dead fly in my fruit fly trap this morning. Success!

[etasman2000 15994]

There is one dead fly in my fruit fly trap this morning. Success!

 

Leave it in there. Others will come for the funeral.

[Cara Silver 32412]

Leave it in there. Others will come for the funeral.

 

Sexcellent.