How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies

During the summer is when my family eats the most fresh fruit and vegetables. Since it is not good to keep fruit in the fridge, we have one of those 2 tiered hanging baskets where we keep the fruit.  It usually gets eaten pretty quick though.

It has always baffled me how we could bring fruit home from the store and then the very next day I find a fruit fly flying around all the fruit. The fruit was completely clean when we brought it home.  Our home is clean… so where they heck did this little annoying bug come from?

I did some research online, because as most of you know – I am a sucker for information, and I found some great sites that go into depth about the origin of the fruit fly.  I found this bit of info on www.straightdope.com:

“Fruit flies – at least those most familiar to us (Drosophila) – wait to lay their eggs, seeking out fruit that has begun to ferment. The fruit fly’s whole sensory apparatus is devoted to sniffing out the distinctive odors of fermentation – that’s why you frequently find fruit flies hanging around beer bottles. They generally don’t lay their eggs on fresh fruit, though. The larvae feed mostly on yeast, and until a fruit has started to go beyond ripe, there just isn’t enough yeast there. The eggs hatch quickly and the larvae develop quickly to make the most of the little time available; a rotting fruit doesn’t last very long. If a fruit has started to ferment while in transit or in the market, then it might possibly arrive in your home with eggs or larvae already in it. But if it ripens in your home and then the fruit flies appear, they’re new arrivals.”

I guess there must’ve been a piece of fruit that had started to ferment and I didn’t realize it so then the fruit fly was born – ugh! Now, I am wondering if they are multiplying somewhere and going to take over my house!  BIG UGH!

I did read some more and found some info on how to prevent from getting fruit flies.  There is a whole list of things, but I will only list a few so you can at least get an idea.  Check out the site to read more – www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Fruit-Flies

• Wash all dishes. Clear the drains
• Launder the dishrags / sponges (or at least wash them thoroughly with soap, rinse them well and wring them dry before hanging them up – don’t leave them in the sink)
• Store trash in a covered bin
• Get rid of flowers in the area. All they really need is sugar, and nectar can provide a source
• Do not toss food garbage into waste-paper baskets
• Cover your fruit bowl or store fruit you wish to keep in the refrigerator. Also, raisins, dates and prunes are favorite attractants
• Discard all overripe fruit
• Clean opened containers of fruit juice, fermented or vinegar products, for example ketchup, siracha or cooking wine. Seal them well. Keep these in the refrigerator if possible
• Wipe up crumbs and spills from your cabinets, counter and floor
• Take out all trash
• They love rotten bananas – get rid of those

Now for the really cool part!  How do you get rid of fruit flies?  Well, here is a really cool video with a great tip on how to easily get rid of fruit flies before they take over!  If you are reading this post from Facebook or are an email subscriber, you will need to click on the title of this post to go to my website and the video will be there to watch.

So, what did you think?  Pretty cool right?  I am soooo doing this tonight!

Do any of you battle with the occasional fruit fly?  How do you handle it?  Do you want to join me and take the GET RID OF FRUIT FLIES ONCE AND FOR ALL CHALLENGE?