Fruit fly solution!

[Jenise]

I've been using sweetened wine to catch fruit flies in the past, and it's worked okay even though admittedly the little bastards seem less interested in the decoy glass set out for that purpose (they KNOW!) than any glass of wine I'm trying to drink.

So all of a sudden fruit flies have exploded in every house in my neighborhood (what is it that makes them do this anyway, be dormant and then boom, everyone's got them?), including mine, so yesterday I poured a bit of a leftover Rhone in a glass and added a spoonful of sugar and a drop of dish detergent. I put that on the table that is our temporary kitchen and which explodes with fly activity every time I approach it. This morning I checked for victims--NONE! Okay, the wine was slightly oxidized, but I wouldn't have thought that would have deterred them.

Well lat night at a party I heard someone claim that straight vinegar works. So I dumped the Rhone and poured in the vinegar along with the obligatory drop of Dawn detergent to break the surface tension, and put that back. Two hours later? 15 or so dead ones!!!! And five or six more are lined up on the rim ready to take the plunge! This is, pardon the pun, THE killer method! Fast and foolproof! If you're inundated like we are, get thee a glass of vinegar out post haste!

Brava!

Note that the life-cycle of fruit flies takes 7-14 days, depending on conditions. So, remember to 'acidulate' the next generation, too.

Fruit flies in someone's house? Ewww, how can they live that way?

[Jenise]

Fruit flies in someone's house? Ewww, how can they live that way?

You like them in YOUR food and wine? Great, I'll give them directions to your house.

I wonder what is attracting them to the neighborhood? The only time I have ever had fruit flies is when I have some very ripe fruit sitting out. Once I move the fruit into the refer or dispose of it, the flies are gone. Do you suppose it could be some other type of insect? What are they after?

[Jenise]

Karen, maybe it's all the ripe wild blackberries around, I don't know. But I know that sometimes they just spring up en masse, like a few Christmases ago when it was a remarkable 57 F on Christmas Eve and suddenly everyone had fruit flies. The larvae they leave behind must be triggered by certain seasonal events, including weather. But I do know that I've never seen anything as effective as this vinegar was this morning, and for that I'm most grateful.

Similar technique - I mix a little wine with the detergent.

Fruit flies in someone's house? Ewww, how can they live that way?

You like them in YOUR food and wine? Great, I'll give them directions to your house.

Come on over. Bring fly swatters and wine or brandy.

We have them like crazy here too. I'm getting out the vinegar and giving this a try. They are driving me nuts!

I was so relieved that the subject of this was not preceded with RCP:

Seems to me that I get better results with apple cider vinegar than plain ol' white, but I've never done an actual comparison. I mix a tad of water along with the vinegar a bit of dish soap.

I wonder if this would work with Whiteflies? Those damn things have destroyed our hibiscus's this and last year. They are all but impervious to any kind of chemical spray.

Richard

We get fruit flies after bringing bananas home it seems. Who would have thought that vinegar does the trick? Isn't there a saying "You'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar"? I'm going to try the vinegar next time.

[Jenise]

Seems to me that I get better results with apple cider vinegar than plain ol' white, but I've never done an actual comparison. I mix a tad of water along with the vinegar a bit of dish soap.

Now THAT's interesting, thanks for mentioning it. I used apple cider vinegar this time because that's what I have on hand right now but that's unusual, typically I'd only have white wine vinegar. If the fruit flies persist, maybe I'll have time to try both for a side-by-side.

A little trick I learned some years ago when I stole two years on the island of Corfu in order to write a book. Hang a whole head of garlic in each window and over each door. Keeps fruit flies and scorpions out. And, in case anyone is interested, on Corfu it is also said to keep vampires out. That it works is undeniable - no-one in Corfu has been attacked by a vampire since 1868.

est
Rogov

I wonder what is attracting them to the neighborhood?

I live just up the street from Jenise and while it may be the blackberries, it is also the apples that have fallen on the ground, at least at my house. I put the fallen ones in the compost bin and the yard waste recylce bin and both are now filled with the nasty little critters, even after buring the apples in pine boughs and adding brown to the compost.

I had just put out some chardonnay with a drop of dish soap when I read the thread. So I headed to the kitchen and put out identical dishes with cider and white vinegar, both with the same dish soap. The results just hours later:

cider vinegar - 14
white vinegar - 0
chardonnay - 12

Next time it is cider vinegar instead of my Edna Valley.

Doesn't anyone in the first world use old-fashioned fly paper these days? Works wonder here in the Middle-East.

[Jenise]

Doesn't anyone in the first world use old-fashioned fly paper these days?

A friend of mine puts it on the front door for Jehovah's Witnesses.

[Jenise]

I wonder what is attracting them to the neighborhood?

I live just up the street from Jenise and while it may be the blackberries, it is also the apples that have fallen on the ground, at least at my house. I put the fallen ones in the compost bin and the yard waste recylce bin and both are now filled with the nasty little critters, even after buring the apples in pine boughs and adding brown to the compost.

I had just put out some chardonnay with a drop of dish soap when I read the thread. So I headed to the kitchen and put out identical dishes with cider and white vinegar, both with the same dish soap. The results just hours later:

cider vinegar - 14
white vinegar - 0
chardonnay - 12

Next time it is cider vinegar instead of my Edna Valley.

EXCELLENT test, girlfriend! I wonder now about white wine vs. red. Yesterday I poured myself a glass of white wine and had a swimmer in it in less than 60 seconds. Very annoying! How's your neighbor?--email me. OH AND HEY, kitchen cab installation begins today. Drop down!

I was telling a friend about this, and he said to put a piece of plastic wrap over the dish and poke some holes in it. The little buggers can get in, but the can't get back out.

[Jenise]

My experience is that they all end up in there anyway, dead, in about 48 hours, but your friend's extra touch would hasten the speed at which one were rid of the problem, wouldn't it? Must try it!