Fruit Flies

[RamFan]

I’m ready to throw in the towel. We moved into our new house back in January. Almost immediately we starting seeing the occasional fruit fly (never have had them in the past in any house). Learned the apple cider vinegar and soap trick, worked like a charm. No more fruit flies after a couple days. About a month ago, they came back with a vengeance! Did the trick again, and literally 5+ a day have been getting trapped. Put out two vinegar/soap containers two days ago and between the two we’ve trapped 25 of them. Literally two days!

I can’t find a source anywhere. We’re clean people - dishes done daily, counters cleaned as we cook and a complete cleaning every 2-3 days, trash is sealed, no food left on counters, disposal cleaned with ice cubes, etc.

Anyone have a cure for this?

 

[97prizm]

I had the same issue however putting a cup of bleach in the sink drain and letting it set made them vanish overnight.

 

[fsdork]

There has to be a food source somewhere. Is there a bottle of balsamic vinegar with a bit of goo around the cap or something? Not criticizing your level of cleanliness - life happens, and those little flies don't need a large volume of food.

 

[vavavroom]

Maybe a grape or something similar rolled under a piece of furniture where you can't see it.

 

[Pablo]

Just like the dude and the roaches. It's your neighbors.

 

[The Critic]

There has to be a source somewhere. Maybe use an enzyme cleaner and clean the drains?

But short-term: PT Alpine Fly Bait.

Just like the dude and the roaches. It's your neighbors.

Nah, I think these are interior.

 

[Pablo]

There has to be a source somewhere. Maybe use an enzyme cleaner and clean the drains?

But short-term: PT Alpine Fly Bait.


Nah, I think these are interior.

Yes, but they come inside from outside, just like roaches leave your neighbor's place and raid yours.

Fruit flies from some fallen fruit or similar under a tree.

 

[Rand]

put plastic wrap over the drains at night see if you stop catching them... they usually live in there.
also give everything a huge clean.. pull out appliances. check dates in all the cupboards while looking etc.

Had some odd bugs once.. like little gnats... they were from a long forgotten dog bone tin.. the "milkbones" were petrified with bug holes.

 

[Vercingetorix]

Sundew(Drosera)

 

[oldcodger]

Last time we had the same trouble a very small potato in a sack had gone bad. We hunted the source for a week. Keep looking the source is in there somewhere.

 

[zrxkawboy]

another vote for your drains being the source

 

[loneryder]

There has to be a food source somewhere. Is there a bottle of balsamic vinegar with a bit of goo around the cap or something? Not criticizing your level of cleanliness - life happens, and those little flies don't need a large volume of food.

Everytime I bring bananas or peaches into the house I have FFs.Apple cider vinegar works well by itself and so does bourbon.

 

[Passport1]

Something like this worked for me. Apples and a bit of cider vinegar. Make the funnel a bit tight.

 

[Fla]

I’m ready to throw in the towel. We moved into our new house back in January. Almost immediately we starting seeing the occasional fruit fly (never have had them in the past in any house). Learned the apple cider vinegar and soap trick, worked like a charm. No more fruit flies after a couple days. About a month ago, they came back with a vengeance! Did the trick again, and literally 5+ a day have been getting trapped. Put out two vinegar/soap containers two days ago and between the two we’ve trapped 25 of them. Literally two days!

I can’t find a source anywhere. We’re clean people - dishes done daily, counters cleaned as we cook and a complete cleaning every 2-3 days, trash is sealed, no food left on counters, disposal cleaned with ice cubes, etc.

Anyone have a cure for this?

I always seem to get them after I buy bananas at Publix. But I don't get them with bananas from Walmart. Figure that one out. I can put freshly bought bananas in the closed up microwave and leave for one or two days and there will be bugs in the microwave but not in the rest of the kitchen. That seems conclusive to me.

I put about an inch of water in a tall bottle that has a narrow top, add some apple cider vinegar and a few drops of dish soap and mix. That catches them all but it might take a few days. Ordinary clean 1/2 gallon plastic milk jugs work fine for this.

When you live in Florida, you learn how to deal with all kinds of insects!

 

[The_Eric]

Not necessarily for fruit flies, but certain potting soils can carry lots of flying bugs - battled those little buggers for a while too after my wife repotted a plant in some new soil she bought

 

[RamFan]

Going to put some bleach in the drain and see if that does the trick. Can’t find food anywhere (searched the dog food/treats great thought @Rand ) or another source. The majority seem to be found on the island (where the sink is) so hopefully that does the truck.

@Pablo , funny enough, the past couple days I’ve seen some fruit flies on the outside window of our porch hanging out. They started putting up three houses right behind ours about 6-weeks ago, I wonder if moving all that soil stirred them up a bit.

 

[ChrisMU]

My in-laws had that problem and the source ended up being the houseplants.

 

[andrewg]

Where do fruit flies come from? I swear, I can peel a banana and lay the peel on the counter.....and within 30 minutes they appear out of nowhere. Same thing happens at work. Weird. It's like these things have a sixth sense.

 

[RDY4WAR]

We had the same problem for weeks. The vinegar and hot water trick worked well for a couple days, and then they'd come back. Some investigating turned up a bunch of grapes stuck and rotting in the p-trap. It was horrid. Evidently, our autistic daughter shoved a bunch of them down the sink.

If you have a septic tank, I advise against using bleach down the drain. Use vinegar.