How do you get fruit flies or nats out of your home because they make me itch!?
Question:
Answers:
First, you need to make the house someplace they don't want to be. This means no uncovered fruits or veggies. Check places like the garbage, recycling bin, sink and drains, counters, buckets, mops, rags, pantry and cupboard shelves, plants with dead leaves, etc. Anything that may have come in contact with plant matter and have small pieces of decaying fruits or vegetables could be a breeding ground. This is a good time for serious spring cleaning. Also, check for holes in screens and fruit fly breeding areas near your house like open garbage cans or dumpsters. Now that you've cleaned up and gotten rid of breeding areas, you need a trap to get rid of adult flies. Here are two options I found online.
Option 1
1. Get a small jar you don't plan on using again ( like a baby food jar or something similar ) and wash it out well. Make sure it is not a jar with a funky smell such as a used pickle jar or anything that use to have strong spices. You want a clean, odorless jar.
2. Take a chunk of banana and place inside the jar. This is why you want a clean, odorless jar - so that the banana smell won't be overpowered by other not-so-tempting smells. Banana seems to work the best, but you can experiment.
3. Fit a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the jar, making sure that it fits tight and well sealed around the edges. Then take a pen or pencil and poke 4 to 5 holes in the plastic, just big enough for a fruit fly to fit into. Once a fruit fly crawls in, it can't get out. You would think they would just fly back out through the holes, but they won't!
4. Place the jar in an area where you have seen the most fruit flies. Depending on the amount of fruit flies you have, you can expect to start seeing the jar fill up within just a few hours. After 24 hours, you will discover just how bad your fruit fly problem is!
This simple, inexpensive & safe method works perfectly and if you don't want the jar on public display, you can always slip it behind the garbage can, in the cupboard or even under the sink (Just don't forget about it!). You will want to empty the jar every 3-4 days before any eggs have a chance to hatch. While adult fruit flies can't easily escape through the holes, their maggots can very easily, and besides that - they are disgusting to see crawling around in the jar. You don't want to see these things crawling on your counter!
Cleaning out the jar shouldn't be a problem. If you have a kind heart, you can choose to let them go outside. Personally, I spray the little buggers with bug spray, wash out the jar and start the whole process over again if I think there are still some fruit flies left to capture.
For bad fruit fly problems, you will want to use this method for a good two weeks to make sure you've captured the majority of fruit flies. You might even want to use a few jars in different places. Before long, your kitchen will be back to normal.
OR
Option 2
Fruit Fly Trap:
Need:
1) a glass jar, any size, but taller than wide
2) a piece of paper
3) a piece of masking tape
4) a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
5) a piece of decaying fruit
6) liquid soap
Put the vinegar in the jar and 2 drops of soap, add water so that the liquid is about an inch deep. Add fruit bit. Roll the paper into a cone shape, leaving about a 1/2 inch opening in the bottom of the cone. Place the cone in the jar so that the opening is at least an inch, but not more than 2-3 inches, above the liquid. Tape the cone to the jar rim so that there is no opening other than the one at the base of the cone. Place the jar where there is air movement, as the flies will be drawn by scent. When the liquid starts to fill with dead flies, pour it out and make a new batch.
Refrigerate all produce that you bring into the house. Place a small saucer of white vinegar on the kitchen table or burn a citronella votive on your stove. Burning incense also help.
They do bite, they say they only live 16 hours but they sure do a lot in a short period of time.
Fruit flies seem to disappear when you cover your compost bin and get rid of decaying fruit.
If you have a indoors/outdoors dog or cat, it may be fleas instead. For that you need to call Terminex or another exterminator.
Don't leave fruit out..even apples..bananas are the worst for attracting the little critters.
Keep all fruit in the refrigerator.
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