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Original poster

Fruit flies

22 replies

fruitflyhater · 29/07/2022 19:48

Never had more than 1 or 2.
Went for a nap this afternoon at 3pm and all was fine, awake and 4.30 and it's like a plague in here.
Anyone else? Any suggestions?

All fruit and bread (all of which got covered in the bastards within that 1.5 hr window) have been chucked.

Have 2 homemade traps with cider, and 2 shop-bought traps. My homemade ones have got about 40, shop ones about 2 Hmm have cleaned bins, kitchen, checked all feasible places for spillages they reproduce in...

Ugh just hate them. Where's the wine?

OP posts:
NannyGythaOgg · 29/07/2022 22:34

The fruit flies are in my wine.

I left some wine (luckily only half a glass full) in an opened bottle of red last night. Poured it into a glass tonight and there were a dozen or more of the little bastards in it.

When I have left a bit of wine in a glass as a trap - nada, but I can guarantee, if I want to drink it they are all over it.

MarthanotMarfa · 29/07/2022 22:38

It will be your plug and/or trap overflow. In our old cottage (v rural) I nearly died of. Stress trying to pinpoint them and my dad said to bleach and pour boiling water down the plugs etc. It works. Once they come off the fruit they lay in the sink.

ItsMutinyontheBunty · 29/07/2022 22:49

There will be a breeding ground somewhere. I had this a couple of years ago and it turned out to be old potatoes 🤢

DottyLittleRainbow · 29/07/2022 22:52

There will be a mouldy old bit of fruit lurking somewhere, OP…

BeenThereBoughtTheTeeShirt · 30/07/2022 09:39

Amazon - the executioner fly raquet.

BaronessBomburst · 30/07/2022 09:53

Why did you throw the fruit away? I still eat it, just wash it and trim off any manky bits. They rarely break the skin anyway.
I find a hoover nozzle a good weapon. You can suck them up straight out the air.
There's nothing like vacuuming a bowl of fruit...... Grin

OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow · 30/07/2022 10:21

The wine is a good trap. Jam jar, wine, drop of washing up liquid. Cling film over the top with a hole punched in. The little fuckers love it.

SirVixofVixHall · 30/07/2022 10:30

We also have loads of them this year. Get a few occasionally but never this many. Their breeding cycle is really fast, grubs hatch and pupate very quickly. This week I had taken some bananas out of the fruit bowl that were a bit brown and past their best, I was going to make banana bread, so I put them on a plate in the pantry ,and then forgot about them for a few days. I went to use them yesterday and one had gone squishy underneath and had some juice coming out of it - the juice was full of tiny fruit fly grubs and they were all over the underside of the banana.

Athenajm80 · 30/07/2022 10:37

Fruit flies and 'proper' flies (bluebottles?) are the bane of my life every summer. When I first moved into my house, I was half convinced there was something dead buried somewhere as there were so many flies. Apparently though, it's the proximity of my house to certain amenities, but I don't think I'm that close.

Of course it's not helped by the litter trays and cat food even though I do my best to make sure neither are manky enough for flies.

I hesitate to say this considering the flaming a pp got on here for posting a thread about fly paper, BUT I have fly paper and the Amazon tennis racket thing someone else recommended. They help but I still have millions of fruit flies. They appear to be particularly prolific this year.

BlooberryBiskits · 30/07/2022 11:45

I had an issue a few weeks ago, made traps with cider apple vinegar, but if washing up liquid & little bit of water to foam up - poured into small bowls /wide jam jars to lure them to death by drowning

also agree re the drains; I used washing soda which is much less toxic than bleach & that did the job (you can buy it next to washing powder in supermarkets, it’s in a green bag costs about 99p I think)

have been keeping fruit in fridge or oven (i have a double oven) since

Shinebright21 · 30/07/2022 11:59

We’ve battled those last year - like you it was a plague and we tried everything. In the end best thing I did, was her a few bottles of malt vinegar. Opened the lid, and the flies dropped through the hole. 24 to 48 hours all gone.

FredaFox · 30/07/2022 13:19

OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow · 30/07/2022 10:21

The wine is a good trap. Jam jar, wine, drop of washing up liquid. Cling film over the top with a hole punched in. The little fuckers love it.

This but I didn't cling film it. It works, I used lager instead of wine

Original poster
fruitflyhater · 31/07/2022 14:27

The situation seems to have resolved, and the fruit flies have fucked the fucketh off.
thanks for advice and solidarity.

OP posts:
GreenLunchBox · 13/08/2022 01:12

fruitflyhater · 31/07/2022 14:27

The situation seems to have resolved, and the fruit flies have fucked the fucketh off.
thanks for advice and solidarity.

Did they truly fuck off, OP? I keep thinking I've won the battle but am actually losing a war. I'm ready to just hand them my house keys at this point.

Original poster
fruitflyhater · 13/08/2022 06:58

Hahaha it's funny as until 2 days ago I would have said yes, but they are back with a vengeance today Sad

OP posts:
Darbs76 · 13/08/2022 07:20

arggh I had the same. Went away for 2wks and came back and I’d forgotten to bin the sweet potatoes and the heat caused them to majorly rot. When I removed the source they dispersed around the kitchen but it took all week to get rid. I got some sticky paper and put it near where they all were. That didn’t catch many. Now just one or two I see around the house. Removing the source of the issues is the main thing to do but catching the darn things is so hard

Original poster
fruitflyhater · 13/08/2022 07:27

Last time I bought traps from Amazon which really worked, so have ordered some more of those. F*ckers

OP posts:
GreenLunchBox · 13/08/2022 09:29

fruitflyhater · 13/08/2022 07:27

Last time I bought traps from Amazon which really worked, so have ordered some more of those. F*ckers

Which traps did you buy?

I tried to catch them with cider vinegar.
The bastards in my house must have notified their friends as I now just have more fruit flies.

anglesee · 13/08/2022 09:31

I had this last year. It took weeks to rid
Of them. They kept jumping in my wine

Plug ins worked.

anglesee · 13/08/2022 09:32

Oh and a trap! A bottle with liquid in. Bought on amazon

Augend23 · 13/08/2022 09:35

Do you own a thing of raid?

It's vile stuff and you need to spray it before you go out, or at least shut the kitchen up after you have sprayed it but it really does kill all the flies. Just try not to breathe it in.

CoffeeBeansGalore · 13/08/2022 09:41

Until you find the source - Clear Dettol in bottle with trigger spray. The lime & mint smells lovely. Spray around the room. Come back in 5 mins & the little horrors will be dead. Works on big flies as well.
Last year was worse for us. We live near trees & water so will always be some around during summer.

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