Wednesday, August 17, 2011

How to get rid of Fruit Flies...they drive me crazy!!!


Anyone who has ever left a bowl of fruit sitting out or forgotten to change their garbage, knows all too well the problem with fruit flies. It seems that once they've invaded your house, you can't get rid of them. You can scrub, clean, remove tempting fruit and spray the garbage can with disinfectants, but they always come back. You can't help but cringe just looking at them.
We have always had problems with fruit flies, with one of the main reasons being that we live in the city and by law - we must recycle. Because of where we live, we have to keep our recycling containers inside until they can be disposed of once a week. If the recyclables aren't cleaned well enough after being used, they make a perfect breeding ground for fruit flies. They love bits of rotting food remnants and seem to thrive in even the smallest amount. When fruit flies move in, they just don't want to leave and will lay eggs in and on anything they can find - fruits & vegetables left on the counter, sink drains, garbage disposals, empty bottles & cans, garbage bags, and even mops and rags.

A Few Fun Facts About Fruit Flies:
  • They can lay up to 500 eggs at a time 
  • Their entire lifecycle is complete in about a week 
  • While considered mainly a pest, they have the potential to contaminate food with dangerous bacteria

We all know that removing the food, getting rid of the garbage & cleaning up plays a big role, but we also know what it's like to move a piece of fruit and have a swarm of fruit flies fill the air only to escape your attempts at killing them. Where are they gonna go? Obviously the ones flying around can’t be easily captured or killed, so they’ll linger about until they find some other place to lay eggs and he whole cycle starts again.


1. Get a small jar you don't plan on using again (like a baby food jar or something similar) and wash it out well. Make sure it is not a jar with a funky smell such as a used pickle jar or anything that use to have strong spices. You want a clean, odourless jar.
2. Take a chunk of banana (or other fruit) and place inside the jar. This is why you want a clean, odourless jar - so that the banana smell won't be overpowered by other not-so-tempting smells. Banana seems to work the best, but you can experiment.
This simple, inexpensive & safe method works perfectly and if you don't want the jar on public display, you can always slip it behind the garbage can, in the cupboard or even under the sink (Just don't forget about it!). You will want to empty the jar every 3-4 days before any eggs have a chance to hatch. While adult fruit flies can't easily escape through the holes, their maggots can very easily, and besides that - they are disgusting to see crawling around in the jar. You don't want to see these things crawling on your counter!
Cleaning out the jar shouldn't be a problem. If you have a kind heart, you can choose to let them go outside. Personally, I spray the little buggers with bug spray, wash out the jar and start the whole process over again if I think there are still some fruit flies left to capture.
For serious fruit fly problems, you will want to use this method for a good two weeks to make sure you've captured the majority of fruit flies. You might even want to use a few jars in different places. Before long, your home will be back to normal.

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