Fruit flies can kill more than your love for your favourite fruit. Fortunately, there are several homemade weapons you can use to attack and eradicate them.
Fruit flies on fruit
Image - Knockoutpest.com
Fruit flies can kill more than your love for your favorite fruit. Flies breed in filth and keep alternating between filth and food. Fruit flies are no different except that tend to show a preference for fruit. Flies have the capacity to infect any surface they land on and spread several diseases. Fortunately, there are several home-made weapons with which you can attack them and eradicate them before they reach your fruit.
A mesh fruit basket creates a physical barrierImage - Meme-mall.com
The Deadly Bottle
Apple cider vinegar is a favorite device in the arsenal of the fruit fly terminator. It does not have to be a full bottle; remove the cap and cover the mouth with a plastic sheet, securing it with a rubber band. Then create an entrance for the fruit flies by poking a hole in the plastic. They cannot resist the scent of the vinegar, and once in the bottle they cannot escape!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Image - Dieteclamir.atspace.co.uk
A Soapy Death
If you discover that your fruity pests are resistant to the plastic wrap, here is another time tested remedy that can literally sink the enemy. Take a bowl of vinegar and add three drops of dish soap to it and place it in an area prone to fruit flies. The soap cuts through the surface of the vinegar and creates a lethal solution that traps the flies in.
Fruit Bait
Fruit flies may not understand poetic justice but that does not mean they cannot be killed by it. Fruit flies harm your fruit so why not use it as bait? Place a piece of very ripe fruit in a jar of vinegar. Then, roll a piece of paper into a funnel and insert the tapered end into the jar. The flies will be funneled to the fruit but will not be able to fly back out through the paper cone!
Use ripe fruit as bait Image - Fivegallonideas.com
The paper cone keeps the flies trapped in the jarImage - Wikimedia.org
A Milky Mix
Take a half liter of milk, around 100 grams raw sugar and roughly 50 grams ground pepper. Mix them well in a saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes. Place it in a shallow dish and leave it out on your kitchen counter. Fruit flies will get drawn to the solution and drown in it.
Milk, sugar and peeper mix attracts fruit fliesImage - Ieatgreen.com
A Drunken End
We all know over drinking can be harmful, but to a fly it can be fatal. Fruit flies love red wine and partake of it if when left out in the open. If they do not drown in the drunken revelry, you can add some soapy water to finish them off. The skinny neck of the bottle can also keep them trapped inside. Bourbon and tequila also do the trick. You could try whiskey and rum too!
Drunken Fly!
Image - Lordsofthedrinks.com
Smoke ‘em Out
This last trick is not for recommended for those who are turned off by the scent of incense. For those who like the fragrance, it can be a relaxing battle, pardon the oxymoron! So light up some incense sticks, and while you relax, the tiny lungs of the fruit flies cannot stand the smoke and they’ll beat a most hasty retreat.
Incense Sticks
Image - Bettslaw.net
Use these simple and easy DIY home remedies to get rid of fruit flies today.
