I think it’s safe to say that there is an unsaid rule as to which bugs are good and which bugs are bad. Butterflies? Good. Mosquitos? Bad. Ladybugs? Good. Fruit flies? BAD. It’s one thing to have a couple spiders in your house, as they don’t usually bring all of their friends along for a little ‘get-together’. But fruit flies? You’re lucky to find less than ten at a time! With four girls in an apartment and not a whole lot of time to ensure that the kitchen is in tip-top shape, fruit flies are hard to avoid.
Here’s a few things that I tried to get rid of these pesky buggers:
I had read that red wine attracted fruit flies, but dare we waste it? I was able to experiment with a bottle and see if the fruit flies were as attracted to it as I was. I put roughly two and half tablespoons of red wine in a small Tupperware container. I then covered it with tinfoil and poked holes in the top. This method proved to be failure. I only caught one fruit fly after leaving it out for several days. Though unsuccessful, I wasn’t ready to give up yet. I tried a different technique with the tinfoil. I shaped it into a cone with a hole at the bottom, making it harder for the flies to get out once they are in. I left this out for three days and luckily was able to catch a few more fruit flies. However, this method proved to be the least successful, so my advice is to drink your wine and don’t bother sharing any with the fruit flies!
Next, I moved to food. I happened to have a few cherry tomatoes and wondered if they might do the trick. I cut one in half and put it in the same small container that I had used with the wine. I resorted to tinfoil again, as I have yet to find anything better in my apartment. I left this out on the counter for approximately two days. The tomato definitely seemed to be a hit with the fruit flies, racking up a few more than the wine. However, there were still so many in my kitchen and the tomato wouldn’t suffice to capture them all.
I then tried a whole peach and a single grape. I started with an empty plastic cupcake liner container (I would recommend using this!). I was able to poke holes in the top which made it really hard for the flies to get out because of the plastic bending inward at each hole. I then put a grape in the container. This worked about as much as the tomato did. A couple days later, I was fed up and decided to throw a whole peach in the mix. THIS SOLVED EVERYTHING! I had almost all of the fruit flies in the container! Just be aware that this can only last as long as the fruit does… leave it out for too long and you’ll start to grow more unwanted creatures.
All in all, the bigger the fruit, the better. The riper it is also affects how many fruit flies you will attract. Find a small container and put it in a place where the little buggers tend to gather. Wait a couple of days and voila! Your kitchen will be (almost) fruit fly free!