The Observation Deck

Howdy!
We were unlucky a couple of weeks ago when a batch of fruit from Marcs (we assume, as it coincided with fruit pick up) brought with it some extra friends. Tiny little fruit fly thingies. This has happened before but usually are gone as fast as the fruit.

NOT this time, though. We cannot get rid of the little buggers. We now keep all of our food in the fridge (which is not so good for some fruit and vegetables, sadly) including bread (they covered the last outside loaf like, well, gnats). We keep the sink clear of dirty dishes, either cleaning them immediately or sticking them in the washer. We put a bit of bleach down the sink to clear out the trap (per some online recommendation) and have a couple bottles with soap and beer and one with soap and fruit juice. This theoretically works as a trap and we do find little dudes caught in it but it never is enough. The next day, they are hovering again all around the sink area!

It is driving us nuts! Any other home remedies? Is this something even a bug exterminator works on? Will they just go away as it gets colder? Do they have a nest we are missing? Gah!!

Buggy,

Phil

Phil,

This worked for us, and we had those little nasties all over and finally I came upon this, and it worked:

Take a container, similar in size to a peanut butter jar, or mayo, any jar really and in it, put a piece of banana. (We tried other fruit but bananas seem to work best). Take a piece of saran wrap and stretch it across the top, and rubber band it tight around near the top. Poke about 3 or 4 holes, not to big, with a knife point or a pen. The fruit flies will fly in, but they can't find their way out.

I would put out 4 or 5 of these here and there, and in about 3 days, they'll be full, then you need to throw those out and make new ones.
After awhile, no fruit flies.

I've suggested this to quite a few people, and so far everyone has said it worked for them.

Btw, we bought a big stack of clear plastic cups to use instead of jars, since we don't go through jars fast enough. The clear plastic drink cups work great.

Good luck, hope your fruit fly annoyance ends soon.

Mark C.

I manage a wine bar, and we also use the plastic wrap over a glass technique. It works well. We put red wine vinegar in them. Remember, though it will trap and kill the fruit flies, it naturally does so by attracting them, so put them in out of the way places.

Lots of bleach down the drain.

Thanks to you both. We ended up experimenting with stuff and found some jam with a bit of water (smooth it out a bit) with the plastic wrap did well, too. Bleach down the drain was also a must. We are a week into bug-free. I half wonder if the weather changing suddenly had anything to do with it, too, but who knows.

Thanks for advice!!

Phil