Getting rid of flies

[Laugs]

Help!

We get loads of tiny little flies in our kitchen - I think it's due to being in an upper flat above a small yard where two big dogs live.

This has been the case every summer since we moved in and today I've just found this year's first flies. NO!

Any suggestions how to get rid of them and keep them out?

They don't really fly around that much, just stick to the window. They make me so angry!!

Thanks x

Are you sure they aren't fruit flies?

Could be??

What are fruit flies like?

They are tiny - about 3mm long and they are incredibly irritating. They aren't big built fat things like bluebottles just like tiny brown flies. They don't make much noise or fly incredibly fast.

Can't think of a better way to describe them - if you did biology at school you may have bred them to study their genetics!

Sounds like it is probably them. Any ideas how to get rid of them?

Also, they don't seem to be attracted to fruit - or is that not why they're so called?

They lay their eggs on rotting fruit so they will tend to gravitate towards the fruit bowl if you have anything slightly over-ripe in it.

Have a look here www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Fruit-Flies - isn't it amazing what you can find on the internet when you are trying to avoid the washing up

Great, thanks.

Don't suppose you've tried any of the techniques?

No, I just swore at them and bought a proper compost crock thingy (that was what they were after the little blighters).

You can get those sticky things you stick to the window which supposedly repels flies but I have been told they have carcinogenic compounds in them so I avoid them. I'm sure I read somewhere last year that normal flies don't like citrus fruit smells so leaving orange peel by doors and windows helps (althout the fruit flies might love it!).

They are prob too small for a electric fly zapper (probably won;t fly up that high) and, more importantly, those things are incredibly unhygenic as they scatter bits of fly everywhere, they also use a lot of electricity and have to be left on for 24 hours a day if they are to be effective.

Right! have to go and do the washing up now -hope you get rid of them one way or another.

we had fruit flies - got rid of them this way...

covered all fruit and food with cling film

put bowl with vinegar, water and sugar mixture on windowsill, covered with cling film,made holes in cling film - next few days there were loads of trapped and dead flies

ours were breeding in the compost bin in the garden - that was solved by putting in layer of soil and lots of cardboard etc

Thanks - I'm going to try the vinegar trick. Cheers for your help.

Right tried vinegar and didn't get a single fly. Next day, got the hoover out and sucked them all up. And chucked out all the fruit that had been in fruit bowl in case it had eggs on it.

Now there are just as many back again.

They are realy starting to piss me off!