How to Kill Fruit Flies

The dog days of summer often bring with them unwanted fruit fly infestations. If you keep a fresh fruit bowl on the kitchen table in hopes that your kids will snack from it, but end up with partially moldy peaches, leopard-spotted bananas, and the darting buzz of pesky critters, you may have a fruit fly problem. Get rid of those annoying pint-size insects by trying one of these methods for killing and trapping.

EditSteps

EditKilling Flies Quickly

Make a sticky swatter. Like most people, your first response to seeing a lot of fruit flies is to want to swat them. Unfortunately for us, their small size makes them incredibly difficult to swat. To fix this problem, make a homemade sticky swatter. Grab a styrofoam plate, and coat it with a thick layer of cooking spray. As you swat the tiny flies, they will get caught in the oil and stick to the plate, eventually dying.

Use a blow dryer. If you want to exact your revenge on those annoying little flies, pull out your hair dryer and get at them! Turn your blow dryer on so that the air is blowing away from the fans. The suction from the other side will suck up the flies, where they will be burned in the inner heater. A bit gruesome, sure. But your flies should disappear pretty quickly.

Burn a little incense. The very small respiratory systems of fruit flies are delicate, and require a constant supply of clean air. This means that inhaled irritants, such as smoke, can kill them quickly. Although you can’t set a fire in your house, you can burn incense. The smoke and perfume put off by these sticks will lead your flies into a slow death.^[1]

EditMaking Traps

Use rotten fruit. Your fruit fly problem probably didn’t start until you realized you left out some fruit that eventually rotted. Use the method that gathered the flies in the first place to capture them again, but, this time, lead them to a more morbid end. Place a piece of rotting fruit in a bowl, and stretch clear plastic over the top. Cut several small holes into the plastic using a toothpick, and leave it near the site of the flies. They will be attracted to the scent, but unable to get out.

Sacrifice some wine. Humans aren’t the only thing attracted to wine. Fruit flies flock to this alcohol as well. Thankfully the perfect fly-catcher is ready made anytime you crack open a bottle. Empty the bottle so that there is an inch or less of wine at the bottom. Leave this out near where the flies are gathering; they will fly in, but the funnel-effect of the bottleneck will keep them trapped.

Try apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is a great household product to have around, as it works in many ways around your home. Included in its abilities is the capacity to kill fruit flies after an outbreak. Pour some of the vinegar into a cup, and add a plastic or paper funnel to the top. The funnel will block off most of the entrance, allowing a space large enough for the flies to enter but too small for the less-than-intelligent flies to exit. For an extra measure, add a bit of dish soap to the vinegar to create a fly poison.^[2]

Make a dish soap trap. When added to a sweet solution, dish soap cannot be detected by fruit flies. The chemicals present in the soap will act as a poison and kill the unwary flies. Fill a jar with a mixture of vinegar (any kind) with sugar - it doesn’t matter in what proportion. Add in a squirt of dish soap and mix the solution well. The flies should be attracted to the sweet and sour scent, but will die when they consume the soapy poison.

Make a beer trap. Turns out fruit flies have a thing for lots of alcohol, not just wine. Grab a mason jar and fill it halfway with any kind of beer. Use a hammer and nail to puncture the metal lid several times, creating 3-5 holes. Screw the cap back on and leave the trap where the flies congregate. The beer can be dumped out every few days and replaced to catch more flies.^[3]

Use a bottle of soda. If you already drink soda, then you’re in luck. Grab a bottle of soda (any kind, although colas tend to work well) and hammer a hole through the plastic lid. Empty the soda so that there is only an inch or less remaining in the bottom of the bottle. Replace the lid, and watch the flies swarm!

Try using yeast. This one may sound strange, but a concoction of yeast may do the trick in capturing and killing fruit flies. Fill a glass halfway with warm water and 1 teaspoon of sugar, and pour in some active dry yeast. Mix the solution (prepare for it to bubble!) and then cover the entire glass with plastic wrap. Poke holes in the top to let the flies in, but make sure they are small enough so that the flies can’t get back out.^[4]

Hang up some fly strips. Undoubtedly the least attractive of the trapping methods, fly strips work wonders on capturing fruit flies. These ultra-sticky strips will attract flies and trap them the instant they step foot on the tape. Try hanging your strips in a less obtrusive setting than perhaps directly over your kitchen sink for the most appealing set-up.

EditKeeping Flies Away

Remove appealing breeding grounds. Fruit flies are, pretty obviously, attracted to fruit. However, they will flock to any generally dirty area and most rotten foods. Try to throw out bad foods immediately, and keep your trashcan area and drains clean and old-food-free. This will lower the temptation of turning your house into a breeding ground.

Kill their eggs. If your flies have gotten to the point where they are noticeable, its likely that they have already laid eggs somewhere in your house. Fruit flies like moist areas, so the culprit locations are typically kitchen and bathroom sink and shower drains. Pour a bacterial digester down your drain to kill off any eggs that may be there. If you don’t have any on hand, bleach can work as a substitute, but being so thin and runny it may not stick well enough to the eggs to kill them.^[5]

Grow some fresh basil indoors. Strangely enough, fruit flies don’t like basil. If you want to use your green thumb to keep this herb fresh and on hand, you will also manage to keep fruit flies out. Grow basil in a small pot and keep it in your house where the flies seem to congregate. Kept near a bowl of fruit, the flies will be less likely to appear in the future.

Use cedar wood. Another strange natural remedy, fruit flies are repelled by the scent of cedar wood. Find a way to keep some in your home, either as decoration or for use in a fire, and your fruit fly population should diminish. Keep pieces of it stashed around your kitchen and near breeding grounds to scare the flies away.

Spritz some essential oils. Improve the aroma of your house and ward off flies and other insects by spraying your home regularly with certain essential oils. The scent of lemongrass oil and lavender are repulsive to fruit flies and many other bugs, and cause them to avoid congregating in the area. Mix 10 drops of one of the oils with 2 ounces of hot water, and mist all the rooms of your house with it.^[6]

EditTips

Fruit flies take 8-10 days to hatch from their eggs, so continue using your trapping methods even after the first generation of flies have disappeared. This will ensure that future generations are caught and killed as well.