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How to make a fruit fly trap
If you are unfortunate enough to spot small flies in your kitchen, they're more than likely fruit flies. Pesky fruit flies can be a problem year-round, but they tend to become a real nuisance during late summer/fall. This is because they are attracted to ripened or fermenting fruit and veg.
This isn’t to say that’s all they eat though. They also feed on wine, vinegar, and pomace. If you’re wondering what pomace is, it's the pulpy residue left from the crushing of fruits. Fruit flies also love yeast in foods. That means they are attracted to bread and other baked goods.
Essentially, to cut a long story short, fruit flies will fly to most food items in your kitchen.
The first thing most people do is blame themselves for the presence of fruit flies, but they aren’t necessarily your fault. Their presence is not a cleanliness issue. Fruit flies are very inventive beings, they can even arrive in your produce that you bring home from the supermarket. The worst thing about fruit flies is that they are incredibly hard to control once you have them in your home. This is mainly because they can lay eggs on anything, even the tiniest little crumbs of food that we struggle to see. They can also enter your drains to lay more eggs, which aren’t even visible to us!
You may be thinking, they’re only flies, what harm could they possibly do? Well, besides being a nuisance, they have the potential to contaminate food with bacteria and other pathogens which are nasty to us humans. To avoid a fruit fly infestation happening in the first place, we suggest storing produce in air-tight containers or refrigerators. It’s also wise to inspect any fruits or vegetables that arrive into our homes. In addition, it’s important to keep your home clean! Try working out a schedule to regularly clean drains, garbage and anywhere else where food can accumulate.
In order to spot them, it’s important to know the warning signs. The two most visible signs of fruit fly activity are the adult flies and the pupae. Adult flies are most likely to be seen flying around in kitchens or trash cans. This is because these are the locations that are most likely found near the decaying fruit or vegetables. They also are attracted to liquor/beer bottles as well as sticky liquids like soda bottles.
Fruit flies have a four-stage reproductive cycle. The larvae will start to feed on decaying fruit immediately after they hatch. Worryingly, it only takes one to two weeks to complete the entire metamorphosis. Even more worrying is the fact that females can lay up to 500 eggs at a time and will repeat this process every day for as many as 20 days. This illustrates how fast these flies can reproduce.
If you don’t move fast, it could be too late to get a grip on the situation. You must move quickly or prepare for an infestation.
Looking for ways to catch flies that aren't fruit flies? Check out this blog post.
DIY fruit fly traps
A good place to start to trap fruit flies is to create some DIY fly traps. They’re extremely popular for homeowners as they are normally inexpensive and they’re also easy to make. DIY contraptions can range from a bowl full of vinegar, to plastic soda bottle traps that are reminiscent of school science projects.
The most logical strategy is to create a trap of your choosing and set it out on the kitchen counter, or anywhere else your fruit fly buddy’s like to hang out.
In some cases, homemade creations may not work. In this instance, if homemade traps aren’t working for you, it could be time to visit your local hardware store and purchase something like a sticky fly trap. These traps will more than do the trick for fruit flies. The principle also remains the same. Place the trap in the problem area and dispose of it once the trap is full.
Apple Cider Vinegar
As we mentioned before, you can try attracting fruit flies by making an apple cider vinegar trap. Here’s how you make it. Start by filling a disposable container up with water. Then add a few tablespoons of vinegar and sugar to the water and stir the mixture. Finally, add a few drops of dish soap to the mix and stir again.
Once you’ve done mixing your solution, place the container wherever the fruit flies are gathering. They will be attracted to this solution but drown once they touch the liquid. The dish soap acts as a quicksand as they’re trying to consume the vinegar.
If needed, you can create multiple traps, just remember to empty and clean when full. A kitchen full of fly traps doesn’t make for a very pleasant living environment!
Dish soap
As we mentioned before, dish soap is a great way to drown the flies. It doesn’t just work with apple cider vinegar. The same goes for wine or beer too. Just remember to add three drops or so of dish detergent. Placing in a saucer normally works best as they are wide. Once the flies arrive to it, the dish soap breaks the surface tension, and they drown in the mixture.
The Ranch Fly Trap
It’s often the case that fruit flies arrive from outdoor areas before setting up camp in your home. This can mean that a larger, more industrial trap can help stop the infestation from occurring. The Ranch Fly Trap is designed to capture flies, helping protect your property from pesky insects ruining your day-day life.
Of course, practice all the ideas we’ve mentioned above. However, to protect yourself from large-scale fly problems, a tried and tested product is required. With the Ranch Fly Trap, we offer a range of products, as well as our own bait recipe designed to attract these pesky insects time and time again.
They are set up in a matter of seconds and have been used by thousands of homeowners to ensure their lives aren’t disturbed by any unwanted guests. If you would like to learn more about how the Ranch Fly Trap can help with infestations, click here. Alternatively, take a look at our social media for footage on flies getting trapped!