If you're on a healthy raw food diet you may have several hundred
pounds of fruit in your house, and managing to get rid of fruit flies
in the warm weather can be a challenge. If you're proactive, though,
it's easy.
Why Fruit Flies Arrive
Fruit flies will not show up unless there's rotting, overripe, or open
food in your house for them to eat. They're not interested in fresh
fruits and vegetables.
Does the tomato you have sitting on the counter have a small bruise?
That part of it has gone bad, and it can
attract fruit flies.
I once had to dig through an entire bushel basket of pears to find one
that was slightly bruised way at the bottom. It was a small black spot,
but it brought in a lot of fruit flies. It only takes a little bit of
rotting fruit to attract a swarm.
Once they've come, though, you have to take concerted steps to get rid
of them.
How to Eliminate Fruit
Flies Step #1
So you've got an infestation of fruit flies? Is your whole kitchen
swarming?
This technique will eliminate the fruit flies quickly.
Step one is to take away the reason they came. That means doing the
following:
Throw out all bruised, overripe, or spoiled fruit and
vegetables. If it has a very small bruise and you're going to use it
soon, stick it in the fridge.
Scrub down your sinks, including the tops of the
drains. These areas can be grubbed up with food waste that will attract
fruit flies.
Completely scrub out all appliances that handle food
such as blenders, food processors, and juicers. Sometimes fruit flies
will swarm around my seemingly clean blender. On closer examination,
I'll find some small bit of fruit stuck towards the bottom that I need
to clean up before they'll go away.
Wash all counter tops and floors that may have been
squirted with fruit juice, etc.
Take out the trash and scrub out all garbage cans.
By following this step alone and maintaining the cleanliness of the
kitchen, you can completely eliminate the fruit flies. After a few days
with nothing for them to eat, they'll be completely gone.
How to Eliminate Fruit
Flies Step #2
So you've completed step one but
you need the fruit flies gone immediately?
Now that you've taken all of their food sources away, the trick is to
put out something that will attract them. This mixture will kill them
and collect them for easy disposal, sometimes in a matter of hours. If
you've failed to eliminate the other food sources for them, though,
this will only be partially effective because they may ignore this trap
and go for the other food.
Some people suggest beer for killing fruit flies, but beer smells
horrible when left out. This mixture has no smell, and can be left out
for weeks without going bad or getting gross. Place it out a counter
near where the fruit flies are swarming.
Fruit
Fly Collecting Mixture:
Add the following to a large bowl and mix to eliminate fruit flies.
1 and 1/2 quarts water
2 Tablespoons Sugar
2 Tablespoons White Vinegar
2 Drops Dish Detergent
Put this out and they'll be floating on the surface before long. I find
the larger the bowl and the more surface area of the mixture exposed to
the air, the more effective the mixture is.
When you've gotten all the flies, throw out the mix. If you keep your
home free of fruit fly food sources, they shouldn't come back. If they
do, just scrub everything down and then put out the mixture.