PLEASE help me get rid of these fruit flies!!

[virgomama]

I have, literally, a swarm of the damn things living over my kitchen sink. Every time I use the sink they fly in my face and it's driving me nuts. Anyone have natural ideas for, ahem, removal of the pests?

[Aster]

Funny you should ask...i was reading about vermiculture the other day and came across a bunch of info about dealing with fruit flies.... http://www.wormlady.com/page10.htm There's even a little fruit fly trap at the bottom of the page. I guess that's for those who prefer to catch and release.

[AmandasMom]

I've been battling them for almost 2 years. I have tried every suggestion, every natural thing and nothing, absolutely nothing seemed to work. I even got rid of all but 3 of my houseplants becaues they were taking up residence in the soil. I finally broke down and bough houseplant bug spray that was made to kill fruit flies and have drenched the soil every other day for the past few weeks. I don't have any now. I hated using chemicals, but its the only stuff that finally got rid of them.

[motionmama]

They might be drain flies

Hi! Am battling the end of this problem myself. I thought they were fruit flies & I always just put a piece of fruit in a plastic bag, waited for them to go for it & then quickly closed the bag & took them out to the garbage. 2-3 bags & they were gone.

Well, this doesn't work w/these flies we have now. They don't care about fruit and nothing I did got rid of them. Then, I remembered something that my brother (who used to be an exterminator) said about drain flies.

So that's what they are but I wasn't willing to put the nasty chemical he recomended down my drains. And, they weren't breeding in the drains at first. I found the sources - which can be any organic matter. The main source was a few potatoes that had gone bad in my pantry behind some cans. That was beyond disgusting.

We also have a trash compactor so they were going in there too. So I started freezing any "live" garbage until I could take it down to the garbage. We also had some bad fruit so I bagged all fruit, onions, potatoes. They also like wet dishcloths so anytime I saw them on one I immediately put it through a hot wash.

For the drains I've used a natural drain enzyme cleaner found in health food stores. And no, bleach doesn't work according to my brother.

They will even get desperate & try to breed in those little training potties (ugh!) Dump & clean after every use.

We had swarms & there are only a few now. I think they are still in the drains & although the enzyme stuff is cleaning the drains I think it takes some time to get it all.

Good luck!!!!!!

[galadriel]

"A Mason jar with black paint or paper to cover the top third makes a good trap. Coat the inside of the jar with a sticky liquid such as diluted honey or vegetable oil. Invert the jar over a bait such as crushed bananas. Rest the jar upside down on two blocks of wood to allow flies space enough to feed on the bait. After leaving the bait, they fly upwards to the light portion of the jar, rest on the sides and are killed or become stuck. "

I read that somewhere. Ours are seasonal, they come with summer. Keep that compost going out!

[brandoula]

I just read a reader tip in Mother Earth News magazine about getting rid of fruit flies. She said to put about an inch of cider vinegar into a small container, add two or three drops of liquid dishwashing detergent, stir it up and set it near the source of the flies. She swore it worked. Good Luck!

[virgomama]

Thank you for all your tips! I tried the cider vinegar thing a few times, to no avail (but I didn't put dishwashing liquid in it, so maybe that's the key!). I'll check out the website too!

[Megs Mom]

What worked for us was to put about an inch of fruit juice in the bottom of a plastic bottle, cover it with plastic wrap & poke several tiny holes in the top. They are attracted by the juice & go in but can't get back out. It's very gratifying to see lots of them in the bottle!

[tabitha]

here is a natural way to keep them away from your immediate area while you do dishes: buy some plain mint tea, and put in in an open jar, pur boiling h2o over it. the mint steam scares 'em away- learned that from working in the coffee industry, it works for all sorts of little flies.

put a drop of tea tree oil down your drains at night, and wipe your counters and the places you store fruits down with a dilution of tea tree oil, like a drop with some hot water. you can put this is an old spray bottle, but its best to mix it fresh with hot water each time.

i had a fly prob. recently, because i wasn't cleaning in the kitchen that much. you have to do the tea tree oil for a few days/ on a regular basis because the darn flies will hang around and wait for you to 'get sloppy' again.

good luck! tabitha