Fruit flies driving me nuts!

[shireen]

I moved into a new house, rancher with a basement, this past summer. Since the weather got cooler in Baltimore, i've been plagued by fruit flies in my kitchen, and sometimes in the living room and bathroom. I've put out simple DIY traps that have worked, but more keep showing up and i have no idea where they're coming from!

There was no sign of eggs and larvae in the garbage disposal. Since I could not see the drain, I poured some bleach and hot water down it. The cabinet under the sink is dry. The entire kitchen is dry!

They must be breeding somewhere. Does anyone have suggestions on where i should look?

[hollysmom]

1. I got infested with moths this year - food moths, not clothes moths

I cleaned out every cabinet and kept the vacuum in the kitchen to catch them mid air. i think the eggs were onthe window sills, but I threw out all open pasta and rice and any open container of anything. If it was not sealed or in the fridge, it was gone.
Having been infested with fruit flies once, I just covered all produce, kept the potatoes and onions on the porch and after a day they died out. You can't even leave bananas out, move your plants to another room, they can be a food source. i put mine in the bathroom for a few days and kept the door shut.

good luck.

Oh and vinegar gets rid of bugs that can survive bleach, don't know why, but I use vinegar to get rid of termites that laughed at boiling water and bleach.

[Kali]

2. google drain flies, that is probably what you actually have

you will find some home remedies too

[shireen]

6. it's definitely fruit flies

I've got drain flies as well, but at tolerable levels.

[LiberalEsto]

3. Take a clean empty soda bottle

and pour in a little vinegar, say a half inch. red wine vinegar seems to be preferred.

Now take some plain paper, a pair of scissors and some tape, and make a pointy cone that fits in the bottle hole, point down, and extends up about an inch.

Cut a very small hole in the tip of the cone - a hole just about the size of a fruit fly.

Put the cone in the bottle opening, point down, and leave it on the kitchen counter,

I got rid of a huge fruit fly infestation this way last month. The little bastards fly in, but they can't get out. Eventually they drown.

[shireen]

7. i've been using a similar trap

It catches a lot of bugs. I'm also able to kill some by hitting them on the window and feeding them to my carnivorous plants.

I've had fruit fly infestations in my apartment and was alway able to deal with it the same way you did.

But they ones in the house just keep showing up. It's so odd.

[ginnyinWI]

10. I tried this, and it is working, slowly...

After 24 hours there are a few in there, but today I tried a new remedy and I already have a lot of them caught:

Take an open jar and put some apple cider vinegar in, along with a drop or two of dishwashing liquid. The vinegar attracts them, and when they land, the detergent makes them lose their ability to land on top of it, and they sink and drown.

Meanwhile they seem to be multiplying! Hope this takes care of them.

[silverweb]

11. Also...

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]I smeared a drop of honey on the inside of the jar and added a little sugar to the vinegar mix. It got them all in no time, and I'm ready for the next run of the little buggers.

[Curmudgeoness]

4. These buggers can be anywhere....

any food not refrigerated, not just fruit, the damp soil of houseplants, drains.

I had a problem with them in the drains, and what I did not think about until I watch a fly go in---the overflow holes in the bathroom sink and tub. I was putting hydrogen peroxide in the drains, but I ignored the overflows....and that is where they were. When I saw this, I got a small funnel, poured hydrogen peroxide into the holes, and the flies were gone.

So what I am saying is to be watchful and notice where they are. Watch where they go instead of just killing them when you see them. Where do you see the most of them, because that is where you will have to look....and think outside the box.

[shireen]

8. thanks ...

I dont keep food out because of them.

Interesting about the overflow holes. I have seen one or two fruit flies in other parts of the house, even the basement, but most of the fruit flies are in the kitchen so the point of entry must be in there. Somewhere! I'll keep looking. Thanks!

[Lisa0825]

5. We had a problem with tiny flies, and it turns out they had infested the soil of a houseplant

in the office. We couldn't SEE anything in the plant, but as soon as we removed it, the flies disappeared.

[shireen]

9. sounds like fungus gnats

I've had bad infestations and tried all sorts of remedies. The best one was using a piece of yellow sticky paper. As the insects got caught, the reproducing population dwindled, and within a couple of months, they were all gone.