How To Get Rid of Fruit Flies

Fruit flies are a common nuisance during the summer months. If these pests are ruining your picnic, you can take action. Follow these simple steps to get rid of fruit flies and your home will be a much less annoying place.

Materials:
Paper cup
Vinegar
Trash cans with secure lids

1. Get rid of the food source. This means clean your kitchen counters so there is no fruit basket, empty the trash can, get rid of old sponges and clean up any spills. Fruit flies need a food supply to breed, so as long as you have food sitting out, especially if it is rotting, you will invite an infestation of these pesky bugs.
2. Make it difficult for flies to get into your home. There are a few different methods to secure your home from flies. Store your exterior garbage cans far from the doors of the house. Make sure they have secure lids. Empty them regularly and be sure to hose them out often as well. Keep your windows closed or at least have good screens over all openings.
3. Treat local vegetation. If you have bushes or other vegetation near the entryways to your home, you may be inviting fruit flies. Remember that they feed on organic sources and your vegetation could be part of the problem.
4. Try the vinegar trap. Some people suggest attracting the flies to a trap in your kitchen. Fill a small paper cup about half full with vinegar. Leave it on your kitchen counter. Check back in a few hours and you may find that the vinegar attracted several flies and once they got in the cup, they couldn’t get back out.
5. If all else fails, invest in fly traps or a bug zapper. These tools are a bit old-fashioned but usually do the trick.

Whatever method you choose for ridding your home of fruit flies, remember one thing –- they can come back. Keep all the rooms in your house free of food debris, clean up spills as soon as they happen and watch your garbage collection. You should be able to tamp down an outbreak quickly.