Homemade fruit fly trap

Do you love fruits? Do you like to shop at the local produce market for fresh, juicy fruit and stock up at home for smoothies and healthy snacks? That is a great life choice but it can be marred by the ever present fruit flies that wait for you to place your fruit into the basket before they invade your kitchen.

What is a fruit fly?

These are small yellow flies with red eyes that love to hover around ripe fruit. They can be a persistent nuisance all year round but they are especially common during the warm months of year. You will see them around your kitchen in late summer and early fall when fruits are ripening and some are over ripe and fermenting. The adult fruit fly is only an eighth of an inch and the female lays her eggs on top of the moist fruit. For example, if you slice up a mango and leave it unattended and uncovered, you will come back to these small insects feasting on it and laying their eggs on it.

They will breed everywhere where fruit and vegetable matter is disposed like in the trash can, compost pit, and even on rags used to wipe away the juice of the ripe fruit.

Homemade fruit flies traps

You can get rid of fruit flies using natural methods including making fruit fly traps. These insects love fermented materials so this is the best way to attract them and then trap them.

Apple cider trap

Place apple cider vinegar in a jar and cover it with plastic wrap. Poke some holes into the plastic wrap. The fermented smell of the apple cider will attract the flies and they can enter the jar through the holes. The mixture should have some liquid soap to make it harder for the flies to leave though.

Use stale beer or wine

Stale wine and beer bear that fermented smell that is attractive to fruit flies. Leave a bottle open with some of the stale liquid inside. The fruit flies will buzz their way into the bottle but find it difficult to get out of the bottle. The skinny neck of the bottle is enough of a trap so you don’t need to trap the insecs further.

Use a paper cone

Place a over ripe fruit into a jar and insert a paper cone with the slimmer end tapering to the bottom of the jar. The insects will fly inside in search of the fruit but have no way to come out.

Conclusion

The best way to get rid of fruit flies is to remove over ripe fruit and vegetables like tomatoes from your space. The produce that is not being used immediately should be stored in the fridge. Also make sure you take your garbage out regularly, clean up spills and also wash the rags used to clean up thoroughly.