Fruit fly fighting are a real challenge for many of us. It is enough to put a fruit dish on the counter, a glass of juice leftover in the sink, or an open jar of jam, it’s definitely happened that an annoying buzz appears in the kitchen. Moreover, these “unwanted companions” are reproducing right away. As soon as people see any small pests in the kitchen interior, they should quickly find a way to solve this problem. So, we decided to answer the question of how to get rid of fruit flies. Our advice will certainly be useful to every housewife. Let’s take a closer look at this.

What Harm can Insects Do in Your Home?

Fruit flies are not like other house insects. Such pests are much smaller, only 2-3 mm long. Unfortunately, these insects do not reproduce as slowly as we would like. For each fly, the daily clutch is at least 20 eggs, of which a new generation of flies will grow in 10 days. Consequently, even a few insects can colonize an entire kitchen in just a few days. The presence of such parasites is fraught with the following problems:

  1. From the waste bucket, people constantly get stink that is grown by pests. Even if you empty it regularly, drips or food debris remains on it. Colonies of pests are unlikely to fly because their receptors are very sensitive.
  2. The space under cabinets, tables, and other furniture will become a place where colonies of insects will settle. Considering that these are places difficult to clean, it is hardly possible to solve such a problem in 1 day. One way or another, you will have to use special household chemical products, which are often unsafe for people.
  3. The sink drain stinks and gets clogged all the time. Mosquitoes will appear from there again and again. A damp and hard-to-clean environment is considered the best breeding ground for such insects.

Fruit flies usually enter the kitchen through an open window, due to the smell of ripe or rotten fruits and vegetables. Any term of fruit vinegar is an insect’s natural food and a place for laying eggs. If people ignore such a problem, they have unsanitary conditions in their homes. Kitchen flies land on food, infecting it and spreading harmful germs.

Kitchen Gnats — How to Prevent Unsanitary Conditions

To understand how to get rid of midges in the kitchen, people should find out why such insects come and what is the classification of pests by species. In winter and autumn, the larvae can be in vegetables, fruits, cereals, home plants, or soil for them that you bought. Entomologists classify such pests as fruit and flower species. The first in the common people are called fruit flies. Such insects often have a yellow-red or brown color. The second is mushroom gnats, usually distinguished by their black wings and body.

If people want to get rid of gnats in the kitchen, they don’t have to use insecticides right away. Start by eliminating the possible breeding ground for fruit flies. If you have seedlings of house plants in your house, take a closer look at the flowerpots. Most likely, the breeding environment for flies is too humid and warm. In the presence of debris or rotten food, pests can move to the kitchen.

Homemade Fruit Fly Trap & Tricks

Before dealing with pests in the kitchen, start with simple things. Firstly, put all fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator or containers. Pre-sort, throw-out the spoiled ones. You should wash the fruit with hot water or boiling water. Also close the jar with honey, jam, and various sweets tightly with a lid. Throw away used sponges at the sink — you should do this regularly. Wash flower pot trays and window sills. Look at the onion crates. The husk is another pest habitat. Only after such preliminary preparation is it worth setting up an insect trap. Otherwise, your idea will be ineffective. Now let’s talk about pest control methods.

Dishwashing Liquid — Is It So Effective?

An effective method for fruit flies is a mixture of apple cider vinegar (or other fruit vinegar/juice) and dishwashing liquid. Both ingredients are poured into a jar or glass without stirring and left on the windowsill or kitchen counter. After a few hours, the solution will be filled with insects. It is best to pour the solution and midges down the toilet and refill the liquid.

Any housewife can also boil the milk by adding 4 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of pepper, then pour into a flat bowl. Flies will drown in this sticky stuff. The added ingredients are of course used for bait. An alternative trap for fruit flies is juice with liquid soap. If you add a chemical to the sweet juice, the flies will feed on it. Such a poison kills annoying insects.

It may sound strange, but the yeast mixture is good for killing fruit flies! Fill a glass halfway with warm water, add yeast powder, and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Stir this consistency, then cover the glass with plastic wrap. Make about 10 holes with a toothpick to get the flies into the glass, make sure the holes are small enough so that pests can’t get out!

Using an Air Blower

People can kill insects in the kitchen with a vacuum cleaner and a hairdryer. Keep in mind, however, that this method is not always effective. In this case, insects are sucked in by the narrow suction cup of the vacuum cleaner. Due to the fact that pests fly quite quickly, it may not be possible to catch all of them. The fight against fruit flies begins with prevention and cleanliness. So, in order not to run around the kitchen with a vacuum cleaner, remember the following rules:

  • Never leave fermentable food leftovers (overripe vegetables, fruits)
  • Close containers with food (juices, sauces, jams, wine, vinegar)
  • Use special mosquito nets inserted into windows that is additional protection against fruit flies
  • Keep your kitchen sink tidy, wash dishes

How to Make Traps from Improvised Containers

Go hunting for flies. To catch pests, you can make traps with your own hands. It’s very simple, just use properly emptied containers. If you have an unwashed wine or beer bottle, open it and leave for an hour or two. When the fruit flies flock into it, close the cap and throw this trap into the trash can. This simple idea is ideal for containers with narrow necks. If people have a larger one, they can make such a trap in a slightly different way.

Place chopped pieces of fruit or just a peel in a bowl or jar. Cover the container with foil, stretching so that there is no gap. Next, you should pierce the foil in several places, creating small holes. In such cases, flies will fly in and take inside, but will not get out of the trap.

Keeping a Specific Smell in the Kitchen

To reduce the number of flies, leave scented candles lit in the kitchen. Most insects do not tolerate certain odors. People can drive flies out of the kitchen interior with the scent of menthol. Camphor is considered to be no less effective. Grind such a substance and heat in a pan. When smell and steam appear, walk around the room with such a product.

Some housewives prefer garlic and vanilla. They leave the first ingredient chopped in the kitchen, from the second they prepare a decoction and spray liquid in the room. It’s a bit of a hassle though. The same goes for gardeners who disinfect the soil with boiling water before planting flowers in flower pots. They can also use citrus peels as a repellent.

Another very good way to prevent fruit flies is a lavender essential oil which has a lot of properties. This is an uncomplicated way of pest control. But, housewives should use lavender all summer long to be almost 100% sure that no fruit fly will enter their home through the window. Spraying with salicylic alcohol is also effective. Just fill a spray bottle with the special liquid to try to get the flies wet. This strong alcohol kills fruit flies instantly.

In Summary

Summer, in addition to the sun, brings with it fruit flies which sometimes turn into real annoying pests, disrupting the daily life of the household! Especially if people have a habit of putting fresh fruit bowls in the kitchen. Although this is probably not so sad, since this problem is solvable. In order to kill domestic insects, people can use a wide range of remedies.

Although all of us can find ready-made traps for fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) in stores, there are many effective home remedies to get rid of insects. Which of the above methods to choose for your kitchen depends on the circumstances. But in any case, you have to keep it clean. Otherwise, pests will take over your kitchen again.