F'ing Fruit Flies, I hate you!!

[iamEarthymama]

I had a quick search so forgive me if this has been done to death.
I am feeling really stressed and anxious about fruit flies.
I know why they are abundant, warm and mild winters etcetera, I listened it an item on Today on R4.

I don't care!! I want the bloody annoying bloody horrible little buggers to go away NOW!

Please help, I want to run away. I have emptied veg baskets and checked for dying fruit but still the pesky critters appear!

Please give me some ideas!
DP is talking about DDT, I think t has been banned but we are twitching and close to breaking now.
House is full of cling film covered jars with juice, cider vinegar etc
But they like dishcloths and hovering taping my head as I try to make a drink.

[iamEarthymama]

Now it has been confirmed!
We are the only people who are manky enough to have this infestation!
I am going to soak the clothes in bleach and myself in gin or I just won't cope!

[MrsTerryPratchett]

I'm infested.

[Hassled]

We were plagued with them a couple of years ago so I do feel your pain. But somewhere there has to be a source - has an apple dropped behind a cupboard or something? Something is sustaining them.

Leave a glass with a bit of wine in the bottom out overnight. They love wine and in the morning you'll have a glass of dead fruitflies.

Also - window stickers - like this. Eventually you have to peel off a mank sticker full of dead insects, but it's effective.

[stealthsquiggle]

We have this, periodically. I empathise.

I shut all fruit in the fridge whether it likes it or not, and DH can just about be restrained from chemical warfare for long enough for me to out all other food and eating utensils away. Usually. Then he lets rip, and I retreat rapidly as the perfumes in fly spray make me really wheezy.

[Quangle]

I have them too. For about the last month. Why are they here?

I will accept a fruit fly in my house when I have left a banana to go a bit manky but in the absence of such a circumstance they should cease and desist.

[stealthsquiggle]

On yes, they love wine. Usually mine - I find the little bastards doing backstroke in my glass .

[DreamsOfFreddieInTheNight]

Mine were in my plant pots- in the soil. I topped them all with gravel and have never had them back since!

Horrible things

[heather1]

I had this problem in the summer. All fruit needs to be in the fridge. All compost outside the house or if that isn't possible keep it in a bag in the freezer.
Now you need a small pot. Shot glass size or a little bigger is best. Squish a grape or two and put in the pot. Cover with cling film. Secure with a elastic band if needed. Pierce the cling film with a fork so there are small holes in the taunt cling film.
This will attract the flies. The can get in but cannot get out. Periodically put in the freezer to kill the flies. Then remove after an hour or so. The fruit will defrost and attract the flies again.
Make sure no compostable material goes in your kitchen bin as this will just attract fruit flies.
Using this method I was fruit fly free within a couple of days.

[PigletJohn]

they might be coming in from outside. I get them on/round the grapevines in the garden, and they will infest the house sniffing out fruit juice, wine, over-ripe fruit, kitchen bin.

I just noticed there aren't any now, but there were lots a week or so back.

The breeding cycle is very fast.

[Whatisysystemidfor]

We have them too. Any tips to tackle greatly appreciated. You are not alone OP.

[CardiffUniversityNetballTeam]

Okay. I think I can help you. We have this problem at work almost every summer, (food/beverage retail).
The reason they won't go away no matter how much you clean your surfaces, cloths etc. is probably because they have made a nest in your sink drain. Every time you wash up or tip your half drunk tea mug down the sunk little bits of food and sugar go down the sink and stick there, so they build a little house down there. Boak.
You need to put a capful of bleach and a pint of boiling water down the sink every day for about a week to make sure they're all dead.
Et voila. No more fruit flies.
HTH.

[iamEarthymama]

I love you all!
You made us laugh, and in the face of these determined creatures we need that.
I will try all the suggestions; there are plants near the sink so both those could be sources or refuges

I will try to leave some wine in the bottom of a glass.

We did try those sticky fly traps last night, they make a lovely addition to the shabby chic kitchen I find. The technique is that you have to untwirl the paper from a little cylinder and pull it out, all the while giving cries of Urgh, get away you little bastard! I might start a Pinterest page, 1,000 things to do with a Fruit Fly, I bet a coat of Annie Sloane paint would stop them in their tracks.

We do compost and recycle rather religiously but I had got to the point last night when I was ready to put everything in a big bin bag and chuck it away.

My sister in law is on her way; she moved into a new house, turned the heating on and found it was infested with fleas to such an extent that she couldn't stay there. Three weeks of hell.
She really was flecky, what an attractive family we are!

[doradoo]

They can be in your sink trap/plug hole - pop some bleach down there and leave for a bit.

Make sure you don't leave any peelings etc about

ALso - check anywhere you may have standing water - bottom of a coffee machine / plant pots / soggy dishcloths.

When it gets too cold they should go...... till next year ;)

[iamEarthymama]

Dorado, the bleach hot water combo is in play as we speak.
If I have to go through this again I will be like the poor devil on Criminal Minds this week who thought that insects were crawling under his skin.

I wouldn't put it past them, I am sure they will inherit the Earth.

I do try not to use bleach so you can see how close to the edge I am!

[stealthsquiggle]

Oh yes. Coffee. I have a bean to cup machine and it's drawer where it spits out the grounds is a favourite lurking place. I think it invites them in when it wants cleaning.

[NoMilkNoSugar]

We've had them all summer and the little feckers have driven me mad. I found they were coming out of the fish tank, which we have in the kitchen. There's a little flap you lift to feed them and the flaked food was sticking to the sides.

[Peppasavedmylife]

I had loads of these but after I accidentally left a small cup of balsamic vinegar on my worktop, a load of them got trapped in it. So now I leave some out all the time and it seems to keep them away (well rather in there swimming!).

[BeCool]

So happy I found this thread as I have regular visits too.
Hadn't had many for a while and then I made cupcakes last weekend and they reappeared en mass.

I live in central London pretty much bug-free-ville, apart from the little fruit fly fuckers.

Going to do the hot water bleach regime as sink pipe nest makes sense - YUK!

[Allstoppedup]

We had them this year, I found making a cone out of paper and resting it in a cup with a little vinegar at the bottom caught loads!

A friend of my DPs put little glasses covered in clingfilm with holes punched and a bit of red wine but I'll be damned if I'm sharing any of my with the little fuckers!

[BeCool]

I found making a cone out of paper and SHOUTING at them through it, completely ineffective

[Allstoppedup]

Becool perhaps you just weren't being authoritative enough?

[DuelingFanjo]

I read they come up the sink plug-hole.

[BeCool]

OMG they may not be fruit flies at all but DRAIN flies - www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Drain-Flies

[SonT]

Fruit flies often live on the outside of Bananas.

Thing to do is quickly dunk and wipe bananas in a bowl of water when you get them; eggs are washed off. No flies.

[haggisaggis]

We've got them too. Fruit now in fridge. I think though they've got into the cupboard where I keep sauces - so have the joy of clearing that out this weekend. Will check the coffee machine and drains as well. I did leave a cup of vinegar out overnight but they didn't seem to like that. They prefer my wine when it's in MY glass!