Banish Fruit Flies From Your Kitchen With A Beverage You Already Have In Your Fridge

Humans are not the only ones who look forward to summer's fresh fruit. Fruit flies also seize the opportunity to enjoy nature's abundance, especially the conveniently available stash in your kitchen. These pesky flies live year-round but are more prolific in the late summer and early fall when their food source is most readily available. The good news is that you can eliminate fruit flies from your home by using their favorite treat against them. This effective trap only uses one ingredient: orange juice. Simply pour orange juice into a bowl, cover the top with perforated plastic wrap, and watch the fruit fly population in your kitchen disappear.

Fruit flies can produce up to 500 offspring within their week-long life cycle, meaning that once they've made their way into your home, a small problem can quickly become a major infestation. As their name suggests, fruit flies are attracted to fruit. This includes organic peels and fermenting fruit as well as sweet beverages like fruit juice, soda, and even wine. So, if you don't have any OJ but still want to act fast, there are several other liquids you can use to lure them into your homemade trap. While your trap is doing its job, there are several steps you can take to prevent these opportunistic pests from thriving in your kitchen.

Making a fruit fly trap with orange juice only requires a few simple steps. Begin by pouring half a cup of orange juice into a small bowl. Cover the top with plastic wrap, securing it with a rubber band if necessary. Poke small fruit fly-sized holes into the plastic wrap. This way, the fruit flies will have an opening to access the juice, but the plastic wrap will prevent them from escaping. Place several traps around your kitchen, especially in areas that fruit flies are drawn to like the garbage can or the basket of fruit on your countertop.

An alternative solution is to pour a half-cup of orange juice into a plastic soda or water bottle. Instead of covering it with cling wrap, you can leave the top exposed. Most fruit flies will not be able to escape as the opening of the bottle is too narrow. There are also slightly more sophisticated store-bought versions of this trap available. Tool and hardware store Lee Valley sells fruit fly trap caps in sets of four. The lids are made of plastic and are designed to fit onto regular-sized jars. The caps feature a funnel with five holes surrounding it, an upgraded but similar contraption to the plastic wrap. Pour orange juice into glass bottles and secure all four lids on top. The fruit flies won't stand a chance.

Fruit flies are attracted to overripe produce and fermented liquids. While orange juice is an effective way to attract fruit flies to your homemade trap, there are other options you can use instead. For example, you can say goodbye to fruit flies with the help of a favorite alcoholic beverage — wine. Wine is made of fermented grapes and is an attractive substance for these insects. Another option is to use apple cider vinegar as an attractant instead of fruit juice and to mix it with dish soap. The smell of the apple cider vinegar will attract fruit flies, and the soap will disrupt the surface tension of the vinegar and cause the fruit flies to immediately sink into the mixture.

Once you've gotten your fruit fly problem under control, there are steps you can take to prevent them from returning. Clean up spills right away, wipe surfaces frequently, and leave food covered or in the refrigerator as often as possible. Fruit flies are also attracted to moist environments, so even if you keep all your fruit in the fridge and the garbage sealed, there may still be sneaky things attracting fruit flies to your home, such as damp kitchen rags. The kitchen sink is also a breeding ground for fruit flies, as it is often damp with bits of food inside, so be sure to clean your sink and drain often.