Key takeaways
- To get riding with fruit flies, first discard overripe products and clean the Recycle Bin and Drain.
- Make an apple cider vinegar trap – a jar of holes – to catch fruit flies effectively.
- Keep screens on windows and seal holes in your home to prevent fruit flies from entering.
It seems to happen overnight. One day my kitchen is just fine and the next, it buzzing with a rough attack of fruit flies. I always see the bananas on the counter and expect them to blame.
“No one likes to find a bunch of fruit flies hanging out on their transcending bananas,” says Matt Rogers, CEO and co -founder of Pestie. “Just because you find a fruit fly, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have an attack in your kitchen.”
If you see lots of small pests that swing around your fruit bowl, trash or sink, there is a good chance that there are rotten or overripe fruits or vegetables nearby. First, Rogers recommends a small bug identification. Determine if your pests are fruit flies vs. Drain flies or mushrooms gnats. The latter two pests require a different approach than for fruit flies.
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Fruit flies have large red eyes and a tan body. If you don’t want to get close enough to notice their features there is another way to tell.
“Another sign that you have a fruit fly problem is to see small Maggots crawl in or out of overriding fruit or vegetables,” says Rogers. “The mature larvae will leave the breeding site and puppies away from where they ate.”
How to get rid of fruit flies
The first step is to Throw any rotten food in your home.
“This may include cleaning your fruit bowl with any overripe fruit, looking through your pantry for any rotten food, emptying and cleaning your trash or cleaning of your sinks and waste waste,” says Rogers. He suggests to seal products in airtight containers or keep it in the fridge to prevent the flies from returning.
“The old saying,” you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, “doesn’t apply to fruit flies,” he says. They are attracted by the smell of apple cider vinegar so you can use it to make a simple and effective homemade trap.
Pour around an empty apple cider vinegar into an empty jar with a metal lid. Insert four to five holes in the lid and turn it on top of the jar. Place the jar on the countertop to catch fruit flies and replace the vinegar about once a week.
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How to keep fruit flies out of the kitchen
Because they seem to come out of nowhere, many people mistakenly seem that their fruit has already been attacked, “says Rogers.” Since fruit flies are so small and love the smell of your overripe fruit, they will find their way into your kitchen through even the smallest hole or crack. ”
To keep fruit flies away from your fruit, try not to let them get into your kitchen in the first place. Make sure doors and windows are sealed and store screens on any open windows. Check your home for even the smallest of cracks or holes, and also work to seal them.
Are fruit flies dangerous?
Fruit flies are mostly only pests, but there is a chance that they can contaminate food and surfaces with bacteria and other microbes that can cause disease.
“Since they may hang out in some tasteless places, such as your trash can or the bottom of your swallowing, they have the potential to spread bacteria wherever they land,” says Rogers. When and how often you see that fruit flies depend on the weather and the season. They are most active in the summer and autumn, when there is typically more fruit around.
“This means that they are most likely to invade your kitchen these months,” says Rogers. “There is a narrow chance that you will find fruit flies inside your kitchen during the cold months of the year unless you already have an attack.”