Fruit flies will always find their way into a family house because people have to cook and eat. It is the food remains and poor cleaning that will attract them. Proper cleaning and tidying is the first secret that will help you eliminate fruit flies.
To keep fruit flies away, mix 1 liter of hot water with  2 cups of white vinegar, then flush it down the drains to kill fruit flies and their eggs.  Clean spilled drinks on the floor and counters. Keep the kitchen sink clean and ensure your garbage bin is covered properly.
If you have recently suffered a fruit fly infestation, always ensure that the kitchen is clean and tidy because it is the major entry point. Any decaying fruits should be removed, and dirty plates should be washed immediately.
10 tricks to keep fruit flies away
Here are some simple fruit fly hacks that can be implemented at home to keep those flies away. The secret is to keep anything that attracts them away before killing them.
1. Dispose of decaying vegetables and fruitsÂ
Any fruits and vegetables that are overripe or rotting should be properly disposed of. These tend to be a great attraction for fruit flies. When they are disposed of correctly, it eliminates their feeding and breeding grounds.
2. Cover the garbage bins
Ensure that your garbage bins are clean and well covered. If possible, keep them away from the house. If you live upstairs in apartments, place it on the balcony and keep it clean and well covered.
A loose garbage lid or cover will still attract fruit flies to your house because they can still trace the decaying contents.
3. Remove used beverage cans
Most cans contain either sweet or fermenting products. If left idle and dirty, they will be a habitat for the fruit flies.
To prevent this, get a hold of the recycling bin and remove all the cans and bottles. Clean any residuals left on them. This will ensure the bin is not turned into a breeding ground.
4. Rags, mops, and sponges
Replace old floor mops, and always ensure that your whipping rags are clean and dry. If you wipe your counters with dirty rags, fruit flies will pick the dump dirty smell very fast, and they will keep circling the counters even if they are clean.
If you have some old mops and rags, you need to replace them. Re-usable dish rags should be thoroughly cleaned to help in keeping fruit flies away from your house.
5. Clean dirty utensils
Getting rid of fruit flies as well calls for general cleanliness. Dishes should be washed immediately after they are done. Cups should also be cleaned, and if there is no time, place them in a bucket and cover them.
If this is done, there will be nothing to attract the fruit flies to your home. Any leftover food that has been spilled from the plates should also be wiped as soon as possible.
6. Fix the drains
This is one way how to get rid of fruit flies in bathrooms. Slow-moving drains result in the pipes getting covered in slime. These and any organic matter that may be trapped within the drains could serve as a breeding ground for the fruit flies.
Therefore, they have to be cleaned up to get rid of any eggs or larvae. Any broken part has to be cleaned. Pouring hot water could help unblock as well.
7. Keep the kitchen clean
The kitchen is the main attraction site for the flies and should be kept clean always. By keeping it clean, one will be eliminating their source of food as well as their breeding ground.
Check out if there are bits of food lying around, ensure the kitchen sink is clean and has no food remnants blocking it, and thoroughly clean up the working area.
Any drips on the tables, as well as the burners, should as well be wiped off. Juice and wine spills should as well be wiped off. Once all the possible comfort zones for the flies are eliminated, it is time to deal with the existing mature flies.
One should set up some fruit fly traps to catch them. This is made using available materials in the kitchen and is very cost-effective.
There are different traps suitable for different situations. The most commonly used is the vinegar fruit fly trap. It is easy to make and effective in catching flies.
There also are wine, fruits, and manufactured traps. All work to eliminate these small insects. For immediate action, fruit fly sprays could work. These kill the insects on contact but tend to be toxic and should not be used where there is food, pets, and children.
8. Wine
To keep fruit flies away, you can use anything that is fermented to catch them. Wine is one of the best options to use when trapping fruit flies.
Sacrificing some little of it will help in luring those of them. You can catch them directly with a wine bottle, or you could put some wine in different vessels.
Pour some wine in an open bowl and cover it with clear paper. Make some holes on the paper and wait for the flies to get in and drown in the wine. You can also leave some wine at the bottom of a bottle and let the flies go in and drown.
9. Honey fruit fly trap
To keep fruit flies away, mix 5 teaspoons of honey with 3 teaspoons of sugar and spread it inside a clear container. Add a little water mixed with soap to settle at the bottom. Honey and sugar attract fruit flies, and the soapy water will drown them.
Fruit flies love the sugary staff. Sugar and honey can be used to catch fruit flies very fast. When spread on a surface, honey makes the place sticky.
When the flies get on it, they are stuck and cannot fly away. This can also be used in combination with other baits to make it more appealing to insects.
To get rid of fruit flies fast, use a method that will be most attractive to them. Traps made of baits like honey will attract fruit flies at a higher rate. With their heightened sense of smell, they will swarm into the liquids within no time after the trap is set.
10. Get rid of fruit flies in the drain
For the past few months, I have been fighting a fruit fly battle, and just when I thought the battle was finally won, these pesky bugs suddenly started coming out of the kitchen drain. How can I solve this problem? Amy
Well, fruit flies often use dirty drains as breeding grounds. Your best bet is to kill them before they come out and spread to the rest of your house. Here are a few tips to control fruit flies in the drain:
- Remove the drain plug and clean the pipe thoroughly with a hard-bristled brush.
- Alternatively, you may want to use a bottle brush for the task. Finish by pouring boiling water down the cleaned pipe.
- You may also want to pour some bleach down the drain to kill bacteria since fruit flies are often attracted to areas with high bacterial levels.
- Get a commercial bacterial digester and pour it down the affected drain.
- You may also want to trap any fruit flies that come off the drain using the homemade trap described in a previous section of this article.
Control measures
To begin with, all their breeding grounds must be eliminated to get rid of their eggs, and any flies in their larvae stage. Once this is done, getting rid of the mature flies will eliminate the whole population with minimal chance of there being a comeback. While getting rid of the mature flies, one ought to consider a few things. These include:
Cost: The method used to eliminate them should be affordable. Homemade traps tend to be cheaper than manufactured traps. With homemade ones, one uses readily available materials.
Toxicity levels: Most of the homemade traps are natural. They, therefore, are non-toxic. This is as opposed to getting rid of the flies using fruit fly sprays. These are made using chemicals and are not suitable for use around food and children.
Environmental friendliness:Â Manufactured fruit flies are mostly made out of plastics. These add to the non-biodegradable elements which are not environmentally friendly.
Effectiveness: Whichever method one settles for should be effective in getting rid of the fruit flies within the shortest time possible.
Considering the above factors, some of the best ways to get rid of fruit flies include vinegar and wine fruit fly traps. You can also use essential oils to make a fruit fly spray to repel and kill those unwanted flies.
8 ways How to catch fruit flies at home
To keep fruit flies away from the house, you must learn how to catch them. This will prevent fruit flies from breeding and multiplying.
With fruit fly infestation, one has to look for ways to control them. The use of traps is one effective way how to catch fruit flies.
The best way to catch fruit flies will be determined by several factors. For people who want to do it fast with homemade traps, vinegar and wine traps are the best. There also are some ready-made traps that one can purchase from local stores.
These traps can be made at home, and the secret is to use what attracts fruit flies as bait. Below are some household items that can be used as baits to catch fruit flies:
1. Soda
Since soda is a sweetened drink, it, too, can be used to catch fruit flies. Get a soda bottle and empty it, only to leave a little at the base. Hammer a hole on the bottle top and replace it. Place it around where there are flies, and they will swarm there.
2. Dish soap
This can be used on any sweetened solution to kill them. It can be added to the liquids above. Add a few drops to make the solution poisonous and break the surface tension. Stir well to mix them all. Once they enter the mixture, they will sink and die from consuming the liquid.
3. Yeast
Yeast is, at times, used in the fermentation process. When combined with the right ingredients, it can be used to catch fruit flies.
Put some warm water in a cup and add a teaspoon of sugar. Mix well until all the sugar is dissolved. Add some dry yeast to the mixture. Cover up the cup with a clear bag that has been perforated and place it in areas where the flies congregate.
4. Fly Strips
the sticky strip attracts fruit flies to them. Once they are on them, they get stuck and cannot survive. Â These should be hung in strategic places.
Fruit flies are a nuisance. Although they have a short life cycle, they multiply very fast. One has to look for ways to control them before their breeding gets out of hand.
Taping the flies is easy. All that one has to do is get something that will lure the insects into the catch and which will not allow them to get out. Some ways on how to catch fruit flies in the house are as discussed below.
5. Fruits
Rotting fruits are a great attraction for fruit flies. This can be used against the insects and help to catch them. Get a bowl and in it put some pieces of rotting fruits.
A clear plastic bag is placed over the bowl opening like a cove. Using a toothpick, poke some holes in it. These should be big enough to let the insects in but not let them out. The scent of the fruits is what attracts them.
6. Beer bottles
This also has the fermenting aspect and works just like wine. Put some in a mason or any other type of jar. If it has a lid, perforate it using whatever tool is appropriate. If it doesn’t, cover it with a clear plastic bag and perforate it. This should then be placed around areas where the flies like to congregate. This will serve to catch a lot of flies.
In most cases, the fruit fly trap will ensure you catch the fruit flies alive. However, with time, they will die. They will drown and die because they cannot swim.
7. Erro Fruit fly catch to Keep fruit flies away
This one has been designed to attract fruit flies using a food-based liquid. They have the advantage of being non-toxic and can thus be used in areas with food, pets and even children.
These fruit flycatchers are suitable for both outdoor and indoor use. Their attractive apple design makes them fit in the kitchen.
Any fly that gets into this catch has no way of getting out. This helps to prevent them from further breeding. The catch should be placed around areas where the insects are suspected to be breeding and left undisturbed for the duration it stays there.
8. Sticky swatter for fruit flies
This is a homemade fruit fly catcher. Due to their small size, a normal insect swatter may not be appropriate for catching fruit flies.
To swat the flies effectively, make a sticky swatter using styrofoam. Get some and cover it with some cooking spray. This can then be used to swat the flies. As you do so, the tiny insects will get stuck on the plate and die with time.
Managing fruit flies infestation at home
Using homemade fruit fly traps is one of the easy ways to get rid of fruit flies. Wine, vinegar, and dish soap are the most common ingredients.
Add some wine or vinegar to a bowl, add two drops of soap, and set the trap. After that, you place them in strategic places where the flies are known to congregate. When they get onto the mixture, they will sink and die.
Irrespective of how much effort one puts in, getting rid of fruit flies may not be successful if the breeding grounds for the flies are not eliminated.
As such, anything moist, rotting, or fermenting has to be eliminated. When this is done, it deprives the insects of food and makes the place inhabitable for them. This way, they have nowhere to lay their eggs.
One can decide that they want to use professional services or get rid of the insects using fruit fly traps. However, homemade traps are very safe, especially if you have fruit flies in the kitchen. Â
Getting rid of fruit flies involves eliminating the mature flies and destroying their eggs and larvae. This will ensure that the current population is wiped out and prevents multiplication.
References:
- UC Santa Barbara, The regents of the University of California: The bitter and the sweet fruit flies interaction by Julie Cohen
- University of Nebraska Lincoln: Managing fruit flies by Barb Ogg, Extension Educator