We can handle encountering flies outside. That’s where they are supposed to be. Flies invading the home or RV are entirely different, especially when they are fruit flies.
Those tiny bugs can cause significant problems, but don’t fret.
We have tips on preventing flies, and we have five easy ways to get rid of them. They’ll bug you no more.
What Attracts Fruit Flies?
This tiny bug measures around three to four mm long and is often tan or brown with red eyes. Regardless of what they look like, you don’t want them around, even if they are cute.
What attracts them? Fruit flies feed on ripened fruit, vegetables, and sugary and fermenting products. When you see them flying around, it’s often near your fruit bowl. They could also hang around dirty wine glasses, garbage cans, and mops.
Outside you’ll often find them around compost piles and dump sites, especially those with rotten and decaying fruits and vegetables.
Preventing Fruit Flies
Preventing fruit flies does not mean that you have to stop purchasing fruits and vegetables. It would be best to eat them before they are overripe or store them properly. One of the easiest ways to prevent fruit flies is to keep a clean kitchen.
This means wiping down counters often, cleaning up spills, and emptying trash and recycle bins before they overflow. When mopping your floor, give the mop a good clean when done.
Keep your trash and recycle bins inside and outside clean and free of leftover decaying material. Fruit flies like to hang around dirty drains, so keeping those clean is another way to prevent them. Be sure to check your outdoor areas, as they are attracted to decaying fruit on the ground. If you have an apple tree or raspberry bushes that you haven’t harvested yet, get busy, or they will do the job for you.
No matter how clean your home and outdoor areas are, sometimes those fruit flies find something attractive, and they will show up. When this occurs, we have five ways to kick them out.
5 Ways to Get Rid Of Fruit Flies
Before you prepare a remedy, the first step in getting rid of these pesky creatures is to remove their food source. Throw out any overripe fruit lying around and perform a thorough cleaning of your kitchen. In the meantime, instead of waiting for them to take their leave, we have five simple tricks to help speed up the process.
1. Apple Cider Vinegar Trap
The apple cider vinegar trap is probably the most effective way to get rid of fruit flies. You’ll need a small bowl or cup, plastic wrap, and apple cider vinegar. Fill the bowl or cup with a small amount of vinegar. Cover it with plastic wrap. Poke tiny holes in the plastic, allowing the fruit flies to get in, but not out.
They can’t resist the scent of the apple cider vinegar, and once they fly in, they can’t get out. Place a few easy-to-make traps around your kitchen, or anywhere you need them.
Here’s a great apple cider vinegar option.
2. Vinegar & Dish Soap
Not every mixture works all the time. If you’re having difficulty capturing those pesky fruit flies using the apple cider vinegar trap, try adding dish soap.
Uncover the cup or bowl of apple cider vinegar. Add three drops of dish soap and leave uncovered. The flies can’t resist the vinegar scent. Except now, when they fly in, they’ll drown. How? The soap breaks the surface tension of the vinegar, making the flies sink when they land.
3. Use a Bottle Of Beer
If you don’t have vinegar on hand, do you have a beer?
Not that you should have a bottle of beer ready to give to your unwanted guests (save the good stuff for the company of those you enjoy). An opened bottle of beer is another good trick to capture fruit flies.
Leave the bottle open for a while (you want stale beer), and the fruit flies will think they’re getting an extra special treat. For good measure, add a few drops of dish soap to ensure they can never leave.
Wine works well for this trick, too. It can be a bit leftover in the bottom of the bottle for the wine and the beer. So whether you’re a wine drinker or a beer drinker, these little unwanted guests won’t be sticking around for too long if you provide them with too much to drink.
4. Buy a Commercial Trap
Commercial traps work similarly to the ideas above. They use a non-toxic food grade attractant, often vinegar-based, to attract the fruit flies. The flies get in, but they can’t get out. Many of these commercial traps last for up to 30 – 45 days and come in multiple quantities.
While these are similar to the tricks previously listed, the main pro to a commercial trap is that these are all ready to go. No mixing or home remedies are required. These average around $10 and can be purchased at most grocery stores, home goods stores, Amazon, or even through your local pest control.
5. Wait Them Out
Another simple remedy is to wait the fruit flies out. Get rid of their food source, and you will get rid of them. While this is true and will work, ideally, it is also recommended to try any of the concoctions above to rid your home of them quicker.
They will stick around for a bit, trying to find any other food source before dying off or moving on.
Why torture yourself with their peskiness and wait them out significantly when they can harm your health?
Are Fruit Flies Harmful to Your Health?
While fruit flies don’t bite and seem more obnoxious than dangerous, they can carry bacteria, causing diarrhea issues. While it is also true that house flies are more problematic when it comes to threats to your health–those creatures thrive in unsanitary conditions more than the fruit fly–they are still carriers of bacteria.
This is especially risky regarding the size of their population and the amount of food lying around. They also reproduce quickly.
So, keep your fruits and vegetables healthy, appropriately stored, and your kitchen clean, and you may never have to worry about fruit flies impacting your health again.
Fruit Flies Be Gone!
If fruit flies show up, they won’t be overstaying their welcome if you know how to handle them. Whether you’ve taken away their food or given them too much to drink, they will quickly realize you are not the hostess with the mostest.
Once they have finally left the building, your fresh fruits and vegetables should be safe again for human consumption. Just eat them before the fruit flies come back! Have you ever had to banish fruit flies before?
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