While I love all the fresh fruit that comes with summer, the fruit flies that sometimes come with too-ripe fruit are so gross. Having little bugs flying through the kitchen, landing in the food, just makes me cringe. I’ve experimented with a few different techniques for catching them and this method is definitely the most effective. If you’ve got fruit flies in your home, let me show you how to catch fruit flies and rid your home of the pesky little pests.
First, get rid of the fruit that introduced the fruit fly population or that continues to provide a breeding ground! Then, make a fruit fly trap.
You’ll need an empty soda bottle {a small one is fine}, apple cider vinegar, and some type of fresh fruit. A couple of grapes, a strawberry, or a piece of banana all work well.
Pour apple cider vinegar into the empty soda bottle. I usually pour about a cup in but you could use a bit less as well. Cut your fruit of choice into pieces and drop them into the bottle.
Place a funnel on top of the bottle but make sure the funnel has a narrow opening. If you don’t have a funnel, you can make a cone from paper and insert that into the soda bottle. Whatever you use, make sure it’s narrow enough that the fruit flies can’t fly or climb back out.
Now all you have to is wait patiently. Don’t get discouraged if you see fruit flies congregating around the funnel … they’ll eventually wander into the bottle and they’ll be trapped. I leave the bottle out for a couple of days, add new fruit and vinegar after a day, and the fruit fly problem is quickly eliminated.
How do you get rid of fruit flies?
I hate fruit flies! They seem so much worse this year. I use this variation: in a small bowl, add about 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar, a few drops of dish soap, and water. Adding the water will produce suds on the top. The fruit flies land on the suds and get trapped, then sink to the bottom. I keep a bowl on my counter through most of the summer and refill with water to produce more suds as needed. Works perfectly every time, and isn’t as cumbersome (or noticeable) as a bottle.
I’m going to try that method. The bottle and funnel is definitely noticeable! 🙂
I’ve done this, it works hella good. I put it out at night, and in the morning, all but one gnat was in the trap. I don’t know if he was the smart one or the stupid one. One recommendation: cut the bottle at the “shoulder”, invert the top portion into the smaller portion, tape around the joint. You can throw out the whole thing it you’re grossed out by bugs. Voila!
Cutting the bottle and inverting the top is a great idea!
I’m dealing with fruit flies right now! We’ve been doing apple cider vinegar in a bowl. It works but the smarter ones just hang out on the edge of the bowl, so I’ll definitely try the bottle trick!