Have you found yourself swatting your hand at tiny little bugs floating around in your kitchen? If so, you may have a fruit fly problem. While they don’t tend to be harmful, per se, they still aren’t anything you want flying around and getting into your food. So what can you do to get rid of them?
Clean Your Kitchen Thoroughly
Fruit flies like to lay their eggs on ripe or rotten food. Such things are the perfect food source for larvae, so get rid of anything like that that you might have out in the open. It might seem like a waste, but you don’t want to risk eating anything they’ve burrowed into. That’s just gross. Take the garbage out more frequently, wipe down your counters regularly, and flush your garbage disposal. That will help you get rid of any eggs that have been laid and prevent further egg laying.
Trap Them with Apple Cider Vinegar
It’s not just the eggs and larvae you’ll need to deal with though. You’ll want to target the mature fruit flies as well. Make a fruit fly trap using supplies you may already have on hand. Put some apple cider vinegar in a small bowl and mix it with a few drops of dish soap. Microwave it for about 20 minutes to enhance the vinegar’s smell, which will attract the flies. They’ll get stuck and drown once they try to land on it since the soap decreases the vinegar’s surface tension. Replace the mixture when it starts to get full of dead flies.
Catch Them in a Bottle
If you have a bottle of juice, wine, or beer that only has the dregs left, you have a ready-made fruit fly trap, or at least most of one. All you have to do is cover the top with some plastic wrap, secure it with a rubber band, and poke a few small holes in the wrap. The smell of the leftover liquid will attract the flies. They’ll climb in, get stuck, and die in the bottle.
Fruit flies can be quite a nuisance. Knowing how to deal with them is valuable knowledge for any homeowner. You never know when you’ll find yourself facing them. Take action sooner rather than later so you can get rid of your fruit fly problem before it gets worse. Remember, if your efforts aren’t enough, you can always call Proterra Pest Control for help.
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