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melissastar

these D*&M fruit flies!

melissastar
11 years ago

I've scrubbed counters, floor, refrigerator, sinks, garbage disposals. I've poured bleach down the disposals. I've removed all fruit and all food items from countertops. I'm following my slobby son around with a dishcloth and 409 to wipe up any spills and quickly shuttle dirty dishes and glasses to the dishwasher. I've set out half a dozen traps of cider vinegar/water/dishsoap, causing a fruitfly holocaust.

But the blasted things are still here and I swear multiply every night. EAch trap snares dozens of flies, but they seem to lose effectiveness within 12 to 18 hours. Do the smarter flies know the traps are luring them to their death? Do they see their fallen comrades and veer away? Can I hear them LAUGHING at me? Every night I wash away the battle casualties and rebait the traps. Every morning I find them filled with dead flies and yet there's still more flying around!

Tell me please, that even if I can't get rid of them now, that the cold weather will kill them off soon. At this point, I'm just grateful that there's no invasion of sugar ants this year. My inside and outside baiting last year seems to have done the trick on them...but perhaps I speak too soon and still face months of bugs flying around my face AND underfoot.

Ack!

Comments (10)

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    11 years ago

    At least they're not dangerous....

    Maybe your baits are attracting them?

    I know that whenever I get fruit flies, I just get rid of what's attracting and they seem to go away... I never know where they go to, but then again, I never know where they come from either.....

  • paulflyboy
    11 years ago

    We had them really bad a few weeks ago. Pour some Ammonia down all your drains at night before bed. Make sure you get toilets, sinks, tubs/showers.

    I heard that they lay eggs in the P-trap water on the drains. We did this and it worked. Haven't had any since then.

  • marcolo
    11 years ago

    Just stick with traps.

    What works well for me is a mixture of white wine, a little water and a scant drop of soap. Then I make a trap out of a single-serving water bottle. Cut the top of the bottle to make something like a funnel, turn it over and stick it into the remaining bottle. Seal well with tape. Gross but effective.

    Also make sure your produce isn't coming into the house with flies on it.

    And, also, make sure you really have fruit flies and not fungus gnats coming from your houseplants. If they seem to come from the plants, then get some beneficial nematodes from Amazon or a garden center and follow the directions.

  • marcolo
    11 years ago

    Do NOT pour ammonia down a drain until you are absolutely positive there is NO BLEACH left in it.

  • grlwprls
    11 years ago

    Ugh. Right before we left New Orleans we had a major infestation of fruit flies. I did everything you've done - scrubbed, bleached, removed, refrigerated, trapped (lather, rinse, repeat). Then, I went to make salad dressing. The fruit flies were in my cabinet where I stored my vinegars and a little bottle of soy sauce with the cap like you see in Chinese and sushi places. There must have been 100 dead fruit flies in that bottle of soy sauce. And they were inside the vinegar cabinet just sort of hanging out.

    That said, when I buy produce now, I shake it, examine it, etc. We only have one grocery store in town and if the onion area is swarming with fruit flies (it often is) I go home without *any* fruit, vegetables, or onions. I half think the reason there are so many fruit flies are all the d@mn fruit samples in the produce department. And the fact that it seems borderline dirty to me, anyway.

  • weedmeister
    11 years ago

    I've had them before. Once they get started, it takes a while to get rid of them. Scrubbing surfaces really isn't the issue. They have found something to feed on and that is what they are after. You need to hunt around to find out what it is. I found some in a bread bag. Others in a partially open box of cereal.

    They can come in from outside. They die off fairly quickly.

    My dad used to raise them for his biology (genetics) classes since they go through generations fairly quickly.

  • melissastar
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks Weedmeister. At least that gives me hope. My son leaves for boot camp on Sunday afternoon. I leave for an 18 day vacation on Thursday. Between Sunday and THursday, I will trash every opened box, carton, bag or other container of food I can find, whether I see evidence of flies or not. Hopefully, when I come back, the only flies left will be dead flies.

  • home4all6
    11 years ago

    We had them, too--the SUPER strain! I was losing my mind! And I cloth diaper, so they also found the bathroom with the diaper pail--it's closed, but they found it! And the sink drain in that bathroom--it was weird. And this is my 3rd summer of cloth diapering, but the first time this has happened. I tried everything, and just couldnt' get rid of them. But they were everywhere, especially the kitchen. It was annoying and gross! And I was really losing it...

    Then we left for a week's vacation. I knew I'd either come home to an empty house, or a house that was now converted into fruit fly city! Luckily, it was the former, and there was not a fruit fly to be found. And they haven't returned, thankfully.

    So, my solution, just go on vacation :)

  • andreak100
    11 years ago

    Hmmm, who knew that the solution is to just go on vacation? I think I need a small fruit fly infestation...in need of a mini-vacation!

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