How to control fruit flies?

Hi Julie, this article will give you more information to help you get rid of those pesky fruit flies https://modernfarmer.com/2021/08/how-to-get-rid-of-fruit-flies/

Fruit flies usually enter your house on fresh produce that is carried in. They are in the form of eggs that is on the skin and promptly hatch when conditions are right. To get rid of them by prevention, wash all your produce and store it in the refrigerator, with the exception of bananas.

Also they lay eggs in your sink drain, so, you'd want to clean that out too. To do that pour in 1/2 cup baking soda and follow that with 1/2 cup white vinegar, when the fizzing stops, rinse well with hot water. From there you should keep your drain stoppered up.

For the ones that are flying around, take a cardboard sticky trap and lay it flat with the plastic protective layer removed. Place a small piece of decaying sweet fruit in the center of it. The fruit flies will be drawn to it and get stuck.

You can make a trap to get rid of them. Here's a link:

https://www.thespruce.com/get-rid-of-fruit-flies-1388144

You can make a fruit fly trap. Cut a plastic bottle about 2/3 of the way up. Remove the screw top lid. Squirt a little dish soap in the bottom, add 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 cup warm water (dissolve the sugar). Place the top inverted into the bottom. They will fly into the neck to get at the solution but won't be able to escape.

How to Prevent Fruit Fly Invasions

They're tiny, they're a nuisance and they seemingly come out of nowhere. They are fruit flies, and while they’ll be gone when the crisp weather of early fall comes rolling in, during the summer months they are in prime season and can be a big nuisance.

Fruit flies are tiny enough (1/8") that they can sneak into your home through the tiniest space around windows or doors, or even fly right through your window screen. You may even be bringing them right into your home yourself.

How’s that? Fruit flies can, unbeknownst to you, enter your home on fruits or vegetables you bring in from the grocery store, farmer’s market or your own garden. When fruit is overripe or starts to go bad it begins to ferment, producing alcohol, which attracts fruit flies. As they gobble up the fermenting fruit, they can lay hundreds of eggs which hatch into larvae in mere hours. Additionally, fruit flies have a notoriously short life cycle, going from egg to adult in about a week, ensuring an almost- constant breeding cycle.

Here are few things you can do to prevent a fruit fly invasion in your home:

Slow down the ripening of fruit and vegetables by keeping them refrigerated

Fruit stored on countertops should be washed well and covered

Empty kitchen trash cans often, especially if they contain food items

Keep your garbage disposal and sinks clean

Use a fruit fly trap to contain a small fly invasion.

Use a bowl of apple cider vinegar to lure and attract flies. Placed near prime breeding areas, apple cider vinegar attracts the adult fruit flies, they drown, and ends the breeding cycle.

You can also buy fruit fly traps.

https://www.amazon.com/Stingmon-Pack-Sticky-Fruit-Fungus/dp/B07XLM4FWL?&linkCode=ll1&tag=rsamzhstingmonfruitflytraplgray0821-20&linkId=9b8e6ad56b5b14a6f7c6d6d18596a2a1&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

For starters WASH all fruit that comes into the house. I fill a large bowl full of warm water and a few drops of dish soap and wash the fruit. RINSE very well and put in a strainer to drip dry. There are tons of things people 'CLAIM' will work but the course of the fruit fly will die off and never had great luck with any of the homemade entries. You catch a few of them in a bowl but not all of them. Washing immediately when you get fruit home helps before they multiply.

I have purchased these fruit fly traps on Amazon and they work really well: https://rstyle.me/+rs5GppH6VtxqPzRzl_Ivxg

Hi Julie, hope this helps you out,

https://www.countryliving.com/home-maintenance/cleaning/a27284947/how-to-get-rid-of-fruit-flies/

1. Clean up your kitchen.

Fruit flies are attracted to any organic materials. This can be a spilled food or liquid source. This can also be bacteria that can grow on regular cleaning items. I would suggest doing a monthly deep clean and then brief cleanings throughout the week, depending on how much you use your kitchen.

Cleaning up your kitchen is a great way to prevent fruit flies.

2. Dry out cleaning materials.

Often when you’re done using your sponges or washcloths they don’t get to fully dry out. This can happen with mops as well. Whenever these cleaning supplies don’t get dried out well enough, bacteria and organic material will grow. Fruit flies are attracted to this bacteria and organic material. We can usually tell when the bacteria grows because the sponges and washcloths start to smell.

Drying out cleaning materials is essential to prevent fruit flies.

3. Run the garbage disposal with water for longer.

Bacteria and organic material will often grow in drains near garbage disposal entrances and in garbage disposals. When you do run the garbage disposal, make sure to run it with water for a bit longer than normal with running water.

Running the garbage disposal with water for longer than you normally would can help prevent fruit flies.

4. Grind up orange peels in your garbage disposal.

Citrus fruits don’t just smell good, they help eliminate growing bacteria and prevent fruit flies. Once or twice a month, try putting your orange peels in the garbage disposal after your orange snack! Your kitchen will smell good for hours too!

Grinding up orange peels in your garbage disposal regularly is essential to prevent fruit flies.

5. If you do get fruit flies, try the apple cider vinegar trick.

Fruit flies are attracted to the pungent aroma of apple cider vinegar, but it often will kill them once they get stuck in the liquid. You can simply put the apple cider vinegar in a little dish, a glass, or an empty water bottle. This method isn’t guaranteed to get all of the fruit flies, but it can alleviate your kitchen.

Using this apple cider vinegar trick can help eliminate and prevent fruit flies from infesting your home.

Fruit flies are a pain and can take awhile to get rid of. Don't leave any food out, empty your garbage often and pour some soda/vinegar down your sink drains with hot water running.

The tips here will work for fruit flies as well as house flies

https://countrylivinginacariboovalley.com/natural-ways-to-get-rid-of-house-flies

3 teaspoons of apple cider vinager,2 squirts of dish soap in the center . That will catch them .You will need to put all fruit in fridge or they will come back

Here's a tutorial I wrote that might help you - https://chascrazycreations.com/diy-bug-repellents-traps/

Here's a post that might help https://chascrazycreations.com/irish-spring-soap-and-flies/