Ugh! I've got fruit flies!

I have little fruit flies flying ALL over my flat! I went on vacation and left some cherries in a strainer in my sink, since they needed to ripen a bit, and I had some fruit sitting in a basket and they both went bad when I was gone, and now I have fruit flies all over! I have thrown all the bad fruit away, but the flies are still around! It was nuts- last night they were literally swarming around the light above my sink in the kitchen. I sprayed, but I hate to spray because it's bad for the cats as well as me. Will they just go away on their own, since the fruit is gone, or are they going to keep living? I did have a problem last year with my plants getting little flying bugs, but these are different. They are typical fruit flies. Is it possible that they would get into my plants? I don't want to deal with that again, they were beasts to get rid of.

I just hate bugs in my house- it's disgusting. Someone me

http://www.squawkfox.com/2008/10/02/...homemade-trap/

The above is what I do..... It looks silly, but it works.

FF's are pesky lil buggers. They can lay over 500 eggs, they can go into your drains to pick at any food stuffs...around your garbage.... they are yucky.

I find once they arrive, you need to get rid of em all.... (as in they don't go away on their own even if you remove the food).

Try the trap, so easy, and free.

I had a fly problem in my old place...I got this stuff at Abell pest control that was safe for me and Trout and it just hangs somewhere in the house and all the bugs die, and then you just sweep them up.

It's called Vapona and it works wonders!

Originally Posted by Trouts mom

It's called Vapona and it works wonders!

Click to expand...

Don't use it if you have fish or reptiles.....

Vapona works, but it's risks are far too great for me.

Here's the MSDS ( material safety data sheet) on it:

http://www.bimsds.us/BIMSDS/msds/Vap...nsect_msds.pdf

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

http://www.squawkfox.com/2008/10/02/...homemade-trap/

The above is what I do..... It looks silly, but it works.

FF's are pesky lil buggers. They can lay over 500 eggs, they can go into your drains to pick at any food stuffs...around your garbage.... they are yucky.

I find once they arrive, you need to get rid of em all.... (as in they don't go away on their own even if you remove the food).

Try the trap, so easy, and free.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I just made two of them with water bottles (it's all I had lying around) Hopefully this works! I'm so sick of these guys! Ugh, one's flying at my computer screen. It's messed up man!

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

Don't use it if you have fish or reptiles.....

Vapona works, but it's risks are far too great for me.

Here's the MSDS ( material safety data sheet) on it:

http://www.bimsds.us/BIMSDS/msds/Vap...nsect_msds.pdf

Click to expand...

I have a fish tank, so I'm not gonna use that. I like the "free" solutions

The traps that I make involve a glass bottle and some fruit juice or alcohol - fruit flies are attracted to vinegar, which is the result of fermentation i.e. rotten fruit juice or alchohol left too long.

I found that plastic bottles just don't work that well - the flies tended to climb right out of them. For whatever reason, they don't climb so well on glass.

We used to use traps like that when I was TAing the genetics class - we had a section on fruit fly genetics, and students being students, we had a lot of escapees.

I once had fruit flies. I ended up having a party and went to bed with about 3 wineglasses out with some red wine in them. Needles to say when I woke up there were no more fruit flies flying around, they were all dead in the glasses… and itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s not a bad way to die lol they probably were loaded, partying it up before they knew they were dead lol.

Originally Posted by BaloneysMom

I once had fruit flies. I ended up having a party and went to bed with about 3 wineglasses out with some red wine in them. Needles to say when I woke up there were no more fruit flies flying around, they were all dead in the glasses… and itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s not a bad way to die lol they probably were loaded, partying it up before they knew they were dead lol.

Click to expand...

Haha! If I had wine around, I'd use that. But seeing as I'm only 20, that's not possible .

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

http://www.squawkfox.com/2008/10/02/...homemade-trap/

The above is what I do..... It looks silly, but it works.

FF's are pesky lil buggers. They can lay over 500 eggs, they can go into your drains to pick at any food stuffs...around your garbage.... they are yucky.

I find once they arrive, you need to get rid of em all.... (as in they don't go away on their own even if you remove the food).

Try the trap, so easy, and free.

Click to expand...

Goodness that is a lot of work!

All I do is take a small jam jar. Wash it out well. Then

1. 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2. 1 Tablespoon of regular white sugar
3. 2 drops of dish washing liquid.

Mix the vinegar and sugar together, gently with a spoon. Add 2 drops of dish washing liquid. Stir very gently to mix. You don't want a bunch of suds.

The purpose of the soap is to break the water tension at the top so that when the fly lands, it gets stuck and can't get out.

Place the jar in areas such as your kitchen or bathroom where you tend to see fruit flies.

If you don't have a small jam jar, use a cup or a small juice glass.

I've been using this method for years and my fruit fly problem is usually gone within a couple of days of setting out the traps.

Here is a video with a similar recipe. Only he uses 1/2 water and no sugar, where I use all apple cider vinegar and no water.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/treehugger-tip-eco-friendly-way-to-kill-fruit-flies.php

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Goodness that is a lot of work!

All I do is take a small jam jar. Wash it out well. Then

1. 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2. 1 Tablespoon of regular white sugar
3. 2 drops of dish washing liquid.

Mix the vinegar and sugar together, gently with a spoon. Add 2 drops of dish washing liquid. Stir very gently to mix. You don't want a bunch of suds.

The purpose of the soap is to break the water tension at the top so that when the fly lands, it gets stuck and can't get out.

Place the jar in areas such as your kitchen or bathroom where you tend to see fruit flies.

If you don't have a small jam jar, use a cup or a small juice glass.

I've been using this method for years and my fruit fly problem is usually gone within a couple of days of setting out the traps.

Here is a video with a similar recipe. Only he uses 1/2 water and no sugar, where I use all apple cider vinegar and no water.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/treehugger-tip-eco-friendly-way-to-kill-fruit-flies.php

Click to expand...

I use that without sugar and I put plastic wrap on the top of the container. Punch holes big enough for it to fit through. Works wonders.

You only need to put some vinegar in a small dish, cover with plastic wrap, poke a couple holes in the wrap with a toothpick and leave it out.

I've used the funnel as well as the dish soup/apple cider vinegar methods and both worked well. The little buggers like to hang out in my kitchen drain, so I also bought some "Disposal Care" packets and ran one of those through. It was gross the amount of dead flies that bubbled up. Just keep in mind that with the two natural methods you will have little squirmy buddies, so you might to use a disposable cup.. they grossed me out to much to wash!