How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies
It's that time of year again, when we tend to have bowls of fruit on our counter tops ready to grab for a refreshing snack...sweet, juicy peaches, plums and apples picked at their peak of freshness, bananas for quick fruit smoothies and tomatoes sun ripened to perfection on the vine. The only trouble is, we usually have some uninvited visitors ready to dine and gorge their little annoying selves on our produce!
Last year, I had hundreds floating around the kitchen...it was awful!! Even though I put all of the fruit into the fridge, washed out the bowls, wiped the cupboards and counters, changed the garbage, I still had the little buggers! Where do they come from, where do they live and what the heck do they eat when you clear everything out??! It's obvious that they have some sort of super bug power that is nothing more than swear word inducing!!
Well, they invaded the wrong fruit bowl my friends...I fixed their little red wagons and psyched them out...I head faked them with what looked like an innocent glass of wine then I flurried them to the solar plexus with a drop of dish detergent and they never saw it coming!! Two can play at this game it seems...ha!
This is a super simple, yet effective wage on our seasonal war with these pesky fruit flies!! First you will need some wine, dish soap, plastic wrap, a rubber band and a wine glass (you can use a regular glass, but I like them to feel invited to a classy gathering...then let 'em have it!)
In a wine glass, pour about a half glass of white, rose or red wine...whatever you've got hanging around, these little winos don't care! I personally like to use white then I can actually see their sorry little carcasses at the bottom of the glass! (Isabel just said "poor fruit flies...you're mean!" )
Next, add a few drops of dish soap to the wine...this breaks the surface and doesn't allow them to skim across the top like they are doing the back stroke at Club Med!
Place a piece of plastic wrap over top of glass, secure it with a rubber band...
...then poke a few tiny holes in the top of plastic wrap. This will allow the sneaky little mooches into the glass, then they can't find their way back out...drunk perhaps?...not sure but don't care!
Next, remove all of the fruit or vegetables that you may have out...this eliminates competition then place your loaded trap where the fruit bowl was. Then wait...wait for them to come out of their dingy little hiding spots looking for your delicious cocktail of doom! I like to do this before I go to bed, then the kitchen is quiet and the flies are much sneakier in the evening and early morning!
Then your fruit fly problem will go from this...
...to this!! A mass grave of fruit flies that thought they were going to outsmart us! I am noticing as I type, that I seem to have a dark side but I'm okay with it! My fruit fly problem is gone...and if they decide to show their mangy little faces again, I just whip up this simple little solution and watch them disappear! Good luck and enjoy fruit fly "poop-less" produce once again!
How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies
a wine glass
wine (red, white, rose...doesn't matter)
a few drops of dish soap
plastic wrap
a rubber band
a sharp tool to poke tiny holes in the top of plastic wrap
1. Pour wine into glass...about half full.
2. Pour a few drops of dish soap into the wine.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and secure with rubber band.
4. Poke a few tiny holes in the top of plastic wrap.
5. Remove fruit or vegetables from counter and place "trap" where fruit was...then sit back and wait for them to climb into the glass and not be able to get out!
* this trap also works with apple cider vinegar but I found it is more effective with the wine and I don't like the sour smell of the vinegar on my counter...I have a weak stomach that way! :)
* make sure you change your garbage as well...there may be flies hiding and dining on scraps of food!