It’s fruit fly season. One fruit fly can lay five hundred eggs, and its life cycle is about a week. They’re tough to catch and can easily overrun any kitchen feeding them.
As I write this, there’s one buzzing around my face. It’s Chinese water torture level annoying. And, if I see one, there’s really about a hundred, and if I put off making traps, there’ll be ten million tomorrow.
Options:
- Amazon has yellow sticky traps. They’re hideous and unnecessary.
- Make a trap. It’s easy and you probably have all you need on hand.
Two Buck Chuck Trap
If you don’t have Trader Joe’s famous Charles Shaw line of wines (“Two Buck Chuck” because it used to be two dollars), you should keep in in stock. Trader Joe’s “everyone should be able to afford wine” wine is not only good for gauche guests, it’s fantastic for trapping fruit flies. Braggs apple cider vinegar and homemade kombucha work well, too.
- Get a few small mason jars or deli containers.
- Put an inch of wine in each.
- Cover tightly with them with plastic wrap. Use an elastic to hold it tight.
- Punch a few holes in the plastic wrap and put the traps around the house.
- Change them out every so often but remember to open the lid outside to free any fruitflies outside.
How they work:Â Fruit flies can get in, but they can’t figure out how to get out. They drink themselves to death then drown.
Prevention
Look for things like fruit bowls, potato and onion bins, or an uncleaned slice of tomato hiding on a counter or piles of veggies. Get rid of all of it. If you do have produce that benefits from being left out like the fruit bowl or tomatoes, cover it with a dishtowel or cloth napkin. It won’t be a Martha Stewart decoration, but it prevents fruit flies from feeding and laying eggs.
If you compost, check your bin for any access points. Ours has a top with holes in it for aeration. That’s also a place for flies and fruit flies. I keep that covered with a dishtowel, too, and empty it daily.
It’ll take a few days to a week to notice a difference if you clean out the sources of food and trap the existing flies.