Getting rid of fruit flies:

[speeder]

I seem to have a fruit fly infestation in my kitchen, not sure what originally drew them to my place but maybe fruit?

They don't seem to pose any health threat that I know of, (do they?), and I sure don't want to spray Raid or some other toxic bug killer in my kitchen. Short of burning the place down, any bright ideas?

TIA as always.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

cup of water & apple cider vinegar (1:3) with a drop or two of Dawn in it.

[Tobra]

wine also works

[berettafan]

the vinegar thing.

[GH85Carrera]

Fog the house with Malathion. Isn't that want the cities do for fruit flies?

We get fruit flies on occasion. They have a short life, so we usually just keep all fruit in the fridge and bananas in a closed cabinet. They just vanish after a short time.

[KFC911]

Mebbe you could eat the fruit?

[Deschodt]

more fun with a salt rifle ;-)

[john walker's workshop]

Saran wrap with holes punched in it, rubber banded over a cup of vinegar water. You can check in anytime you want but you can never leave.

[Nordwest]

Dry Vermouth on fly strip. Works like a champ.

[speeder]

Thanks. So is the idea behind the vinegar that they are attracted to it and kamikaze into the cup and drown? What am I missing here? There are a lot of them.

[Tobra]

Vinegar or wine they are attracted to the smell. Drop or two of soap makes the solution more toxic to them. Saran wrap on top with small holes keeps them from flying out. With wine I think they just get drunk and can't swim or fly away. Works with moths too

[LWJ]

Take a bottle of wine.

Drink it.

Leave some residual in bottom - say 1/4 inch.

Put bottle near where old fruit was.

Done.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by speeder

Thanks. So is the idea behind the vinegar that they are attracted to it and kamikaze into the cup and drown? What am I missing here? There are a lot of them.

The vinegar mixed with the water forms bubbles that fly away from the cup. The flies see them and think, what great fun it would be to ride a bubble into the greater unknown. They jump onto the bubbles which slowly drift away into another room. At some point the bubble lands and they are in a strange new place and decide to stay there, give it a go and pick up a new, better hobby than flying around fruit. I've seen crochet a lot. Ships in a bottle too.

That or they go down and try to drink the soapy vinegar solution and stick to it and end up dying a horrible drowning death as their brains slowly dissolve in acid. Or something close to this.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

What's amazing is you can see maybe 10 of them flying around. Next morning there are 50+ corpses in the cup. Where did they all come from? Where were they?

[Bob Kontak]

Pour a solid squirt of dish-washing soap, e.g., Palmolive, down your two drains to kill those about to hatch.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

The vinegar mixed with the water forms bubbles that fly away from the cup. The flies see them and think, what great fun it would be to ride a bubble into the greater unknown. They jump onto the bubbles which slowly drift away into another room. At some point the bubble lands and they are in a strange new place and decide to stay there, give it a go and pick up a new, better hobby than flying around fruit. I've seen crochet a lot. Ships in a bottle too.

That or they go down and try to drink the soapy vinegar solution and stick to it and end up dying a horrible drowning death as their brains slowly dissolve in acid. Or something close to this.

This reminds me of a solution for crabs I once heard.

[J-Mac]

Apple cider vinegar in dish, squirt of dish soap, Saran Wrap cover with big holes (pencil size). Works every time for me.

[Mark Howard]

Had this problem recently. They survive by getting water from you kitchen drain in the P trap. Pest control guy told me to put a half cup of bleach in the kitchen drain at night and let it sit. Worked well.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Mark Howard

Had this problem recently. They survive by getting water from you kitchen drain in the P trap. Pest control guy told me to put a half cup of bleach in the kitchen drain at night and let it sit. Worked well.

I wonder if it would work during the day when I'm not home?

That really sounds easiest, I'll give it a try. Then the other ideas. I actually had them a few weeks ago, (this must be the second wave), I googled the antidote before using the superior search engine of Pelican. Tried the slices of lemon and small amount of water in a plastic jar and they did not seem to go for it. These must be smart fruit flies, maybe they made it here from China somehow.

[sugarwood]