How To Eliminate Fruit Flies

Want to eliminate fruit flies?

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 Eliminate Fruit Flies Orange

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.

Following Up:

Once you eliminate fruit flies, learn more fruit buying and handling tips.

For more information on what fruits and vegetables are part of a healthy diet, click here.

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