Remedy For Fruit Flies

Once an infestation occurs, finding a remedy for fruit flies inside your home can quickly become a top priority.

Although they don't cause any serious health or safety concerns, fruit flies can be very annoying especially during the warm summer months when they seem to be everywhere around your kitchen.  

Plus having flies in your kitchen and on your food is pretty gross.

Since fruit flies can go from an egg to an adult in only 8-10 days, it doesn't take long for a couple of flies to become a very big problem.

So where do they come from and how do they seem to just appear out of nowhere?

Fruit flies are small invertebrate insects that feed on and live in decomposing fruits.  

For example, as a banana breaks down and begins to ferment, the sugars within the banana rise which attracts the fruit flies.

A single female can lay up to 400 eggs on a piece of rotting fruit.  

After about 12 to 15 hours these eggs will hatch into larvae that live and feed on the fruit sugars and fungus for approximately 4 days.  

Then they go through a process called metamorphosis (kind of like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly) for another 4 days at which time they emerge into a fruit fly.

The worst part is this whole process is taking place right on your kitchen countertop within those bananas that needed to be thrown away last week.

So what can you do to prevent this infestation from occurring?  

Well, the good news is fruit flies are pretty easy to control if you follow these few simple steps outlined below.

Remedy For Fruit Flies - Remove The Food

Since fruit flies feed on and lay eggs on decomposing fruits, the first step is removing the food source.

Decomposing fruit on your kitchen countertop, old food in the garbage, or even the decomposing fruit in your sink drains are all great places for fruit flies to live and reproduce.  

Removing the food source is the most important remedy for fruit flies.  

If you simply try to trap them, they will keep reproducing faster than you can get rid of them and before you know it, a few flies will turn into thousands.

Here are a few tips to control fruit flies inside your kitchen or restaurant:

• Store fruits and vegetables inside a sealed container or place them inside your refrigerator.

• Take out your garbage on a regular basis to prevent flies from laying eggs and reproducing on old food inside the garbage can.

• Clean out your sink drains then flush the drains with boiling water or a bleach solution to kill any eggs inside the drain.

• Throw out any old sponges since fruit flies will also lay eggs on old sponges that contain tiny amounts of food particles.

• Wipe down your countertops with a household cleaner to remove any old fungus or rotten food.  

Once you have all of the food sources and breeding areas eliminated, it's time to trap the flies that are living inside your home.

Remedy For Fruit Flies - Homemade Trap

Making a homemade fruit fly trap is really easy and it's a great DIY remedy for fruit flies.  

Plus, since you've removed all of the decomposing food from your home and drains, the fruit flies will flock towards your homemade trap since it's an easy and available food source.

To make a fruit fly trap, you'll need the following supplies:

• Apple cider vinegar
• Dish soap
• Plastic wrap
• Plastic cup

Start by filling the plastic cup approximately 1/3 full of apple cider vinegar.  

Apple cider vinegar is pretty cheap, so if you use a little more it's not a big deal.

Next add a few drops of liquid dish soap to the apple cider vinegar.  

The dish soap prevents the fruit flies from flying away after they land inside the vinegar.

Next, take some plastic wrap and stretch it over the top of the cup.  

I like to use a rubber band around the cup, or a hair tie to hold the plastic wrap in place.

You can also use tape if you don't have a rubber band or hair tie.

Once the plastic wrap is in place, take a tooth pick or knife and pop several holes into the top of the plastic wrap.  

Try not to make the holes to large, you only need a small opening for the fruit flies to enter the trap.

Make about 20 holes in the top of the plastic wrap and your homemade fruit fly trap is complete!  

Simply place the trap in your kitchen and the trap will do the rest.

The fruit flies are very attracted to the apple cider vinegar.  

They will crawl through the holes in the plastic wrap, enter the vinegar and drown because the liquid dish soap prevents them from flying away.  

You can trap hundreds of fruit flies in a very short time using one of these homemade traps.

Remedy For Fruit Flies - Overall

The first step in controlling a fruit fly infestation is getting rid of any decomposing fruits inside your home or restaurant. 

Once you've eliminated the food source and breeding areas for the flies, make a couple homemade fruit fly traps and stick them around various places in your home.  

After a few days your fruit flies will be eliminated.