Quick Tips To Get Rid Of Fruit Flies

Consumption of fruits has always been encouraged as a part of a healthy diet. Be it as a nutritional accompaniment for a toddler who has just taken to solid food or that of an octogenarian who is no longer allowed to enjoy the pleasures of fried foods, fruits are meant to be enjoyed by everyone. Considering the health benefits of fruits, it is obvious that you must be buying them on a daily basis and at bay given point of time your home is well stocked with fruits.

Thus if you are someone who consumes fruits on a daily basis, you will be well acquainted with the troubles that pesky fruit flies bring along. While storing fruits in sealed places does help, it is not a fool proof solution all the time. No matter how hard you try these little creatures somehow find their way into the farmer's market haul and from there to your kitchen.

Tips to Get Rid of Fruit Flies

• Unfiltered apple cider vinegar

Take a small quantity of unfiltered apple cider vinegar into a glass. Cover the top of the glass with a plastic wrap and secure the same with a rubber band or with the help of cello tapes. Poke a hole in any part of the plastic wrap (make sure that this is a small hole). Your fruit fly trap is ready. This trap relies on the idea that fruit flies are immensely attracted to the smell of vinegar. Thus they will not be able to resist the small and end up entering through the trap door. Once they are inside the poor little creatures will not be able to escape.

• Paper cone method

For this all you will need are a sheet of paper, a small amount of vinegar and a small chunk of fruit. Make sure that the fruit that you are using is very ripe in nature (after all this is going to be your bait to the flies). Take a small jar and transfer the vinegar to it. A couple of tablespoons of the same should suffice. Then place the fruit piece. Roll a piece of paper in the shape of a cone and stick it out of the cone. Make sure that the narrow opening is placed down. This will ensure that the flies are drawn in by the irresistible combination of the ripe fruit and vinegar, but they are not able to get out.

• Milk, sugar and pepper

Well no, we are not planning to make a yummy dessert out of this. All we are trying to do here is to trap the fruit flies so that they do not bother us by eating their way to our delicious fruits. Here all that you have to do is to take a pint of milk and to that add 4 ounces of sugar. Make sure that you use raw sugar that is granular in nature and not just any other sugar substitute (like sugar free, sugar cubes, sugar powder or anything else of the likes). Transfer the contents to a saucepan and then heat the same. When you see the first bubbles appearing, add a couple of ground pepper and slimmer for the next 8 to 10 minutes till a thick spoon dropping consistency are achieved. Once that is done, pour the contents into a shallow bowl. You can use a ceramic or plastic bowl; however a steel bowl will be preferred. This will ensure that the flies are drawn to the mixture and that they drown very quickly.

• Vinegar and dish soap

This is yet another trick with the magical ingredient in question - vinegar. Here you need t take about 3 to 4 tablespoons of vinegar to a clean bowl and add three drops of dish soaps to it. Do not try to substitute the same with soap particles ass that is not going to mix properly and as a result, it will not work. The logic here is that the flies will initially be attracted by the smell of vinegar. When they come to the bowl and in contact with the vinegar, the soap that has been mixed with the vinegar will ensure that the surface tension of the solution comes down. As a result, the flies will end up soaking in the solution and eventually drowning.

• Bleach

This method is advisable if the fruit flies that are bothering you are mainly outdoors. Here all that you need to do is get the area cleared of garbage. If the place in question is an open drain, you can pour some water over it before you proceed. Once that is done you can go ahead and pour the bleach solution all around. The gnats and fruit flies will rapidly fly in and very soon there will be not too many of them left in your kitchen garden. As a special tip, make sure that you do not go for this particular trick in the rainy season as that may not produce the desired results. Also make sure that you do not mix ammonia with bleach. Te combination of ammonia and bleach gives out toxic fumes which may affect the health of your near and dear ones.

• Red wine

If you thought that you are the only one who loves to get high on wine, well you are mistaken. The fruit flies are attracted to the red wine as much as you are (if not more). You can utilize this knowledge to your benefit in an endeavor to trap fruit flies. All that you have to do here is take a small bottle and to that you have to add a little quantity of red wine. The smell of red wine will draw the insects towards itself. Once they are in, you really do not have to put in much effort on your part. The skinny neck will ensure that the flies remain trapped and your fruits are saved from the wrath of the same.