Fruit flies, the tiny nasty creatures, which turn your kitchen into an open garden. Under the refrigerator, on the sink, inside the dust bin, on top of fruits and vegetables or in used bottles, name it and fruit flies will find settlement there. Well, you are not alone. The rest of the world is suffering the same as well.
The power of these fruit flies is that they multiply at a rapid speed. Within 8-10 days of birth, these annoying creatures, reach their adulthood and get ready to reproduce. They survive and lay hundreds of eggs generally in moist, damp places and rotten food materials.
The fruit flies are the most common during the summer. They could enter the houses directly by the air or gain access through fruits and vegetables from the market. Once inside the house, it becomes a war to get rid yet they sustain for a long time. If you are tired of the fruit fly invasions and wish to gain your sweet home back from them, then follow these simple tips to make the battle easier. They can get extremely difficult to get rid of, but persistence and composed mind play a great role.
So to start up, following the famous saying, “Prevention is better than cure,” in order to completely get rid of the fruit flies, you must prevent their growth. Along with the mentioned prevention methods, you may also try some steps given below to set trap for the fruit flies to kill them immediately. Here they go –
10. Replace sponges and mobs.
Sponges, mobs or any other cleaning material should be replaced with new ones frequently. If you use disposable ones, then don’t keep them inside your house for long. Fruit flies have the tendency to breed on such spots.
9. Keep a check on food storage.
If you keep storage of large amount of onions, potatoes or any other vegetable, then make sure to check on them once in a while. Even one rotten item could help in increasing the population of fruit flies immensely. Plus, if you feel the growth of fruit flies are getting out of control, then it’s better to look at these storage spots as they are the most probable origin.
8. Empty the garbage bins.
The fruit flies have the tendency to settle on anything that is open; hence dust bins are their favorite habitat. They find their perfect habitat in the empty cans, the thrown food materials, and rotten items present there. Therefore, it is important to keep the garbage bins clean. Don’t keep the garbage inside the house for long hours.
Also, keep the drains clean. If the drains are chocked or keep plumbing, then pour some hot water, so the flow remains at ease. It’s important because drains act as a great reservoir for these flies.
7. Rinse the dishes immediately.
Again, leftover foods attract the flies immensely. So, don’t wait until the end of the day to do the dishes. At least, rinse the dishes to take off the remaining bits of food on them. This way the fruit flies won’t find their settlement.
6. Dispose rotten food items.
Any food items that is rotten, cut or broken which have fruit flies around them should be immediately thrown out. Don’t just throw it in your house dustbin, as the nasty creatures will start building up there and then later lay eggs to spread in the entire house. It’s better to bag it up and dispose it outside the house.
5. Apple Cider Vinegar.
Fruit flies cannot resist the smell of fermentation, and since apple cider vinegar is the fermented version of apple and cider, they dive right into them. In order to set the trap, take a bottle; fill it up with apple cider vinegar. Then cover the opening with plastic and make a tiny hole with a toothpick or needle on the plastic. Wrap a rubber band around the neck to keep the plastic in place.
This way, the fruit flies will enter the bottle but will not be able to exit, hence will die inside the bottle. Set such traps around places of the house where their population is high. By heating the apple cider vinegar a little before filling up the bottles, works even better. The scent gets stronger this way.
4. Soap and vinegar.
The essence of vinegar is the biggest love of fruit flies. So take a bowl of vinegar and add a little amount of soap to it. The vinegar will attract the flies towards the bowl, and once they come and sit on the mixture, the lowered surface tension due to soap will cause them to drown, and thus the flies die.
3. Red Wine.
Just like vinegar, the fruits fly are deeply attracted to the smell of red wine. Hence, just by leaving a bottle red wine in the open can make a great trap. Once these fruit flies enter into, the narrow neck of the bottle does not let them come out of it. If you wish, you could also tie a plastic with a hole at the opening of the bottle to set the trap.
2. Rotten fruit and paper cone.
Rotten fruits and vegetables are usually available in the house, making this task a very easy. Take a jar or bottle and put some of the unwanted fruits or vegetables inside. Then make a paper cone, with a tiny opening in the bottom and fit it in the neck of the jar. The fruit flies will be attracted to the essence and enter the jar, but due to an inability of finding the way out, they will die inside over the period of time.
1. The old remedy: Milk, Sugar and Pepper.
This smart and effective remedy has been running efficiently since 1850. Combine milk, raw sugar and ground pepper in saucepan and let it shimmer for about 10 minutes. After that pour the mixture into a shallow container and place it around the house. The fruit flies are attracted towards the mixture, and after landing they suffocate and die. In case the flies seem to fly off after landing, then add few drops of soap to the prepared mixture, this will make them drown.
Moreover, there are also commercial medications available in the market to get rid of fruit flies. However, with these drugs there always remain risks to the health of the family member. So it’s better to follow the home made remedies that work efficiently. Hence, next time the fruit flies make their way into your house, keep calm and follow these steps to kick them out and gain your awesome lifestyle back.