# Fruit flies....



## MichaelZ (Sep 17, 2007)

how do you combat the little friggin' tings? Any help would be greatly appreciated over here!!!







Z


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## grapeman (Sep 17, 2007)

Nothing short of a Nuke here ever gets them, and I'm not going to set one of those off, so I just live with them, cursing and swatting at them!
















http://smiley.smileycentral.com/download/index.jhtml?partner=ZSzeb098_ZN&amp;utm_id=7926 *Edited by: appleman *


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## jobe05 (Sep 17, 2007)

Michael:

I think it was Joan who posted last year that she put a mixture of fruit juice and dish soap in a small dish and let it sit to catch the critters. I have done this with a couple onces of juice and a teaspoon of soap ever since, and it works GREAT!!!!!!!! 

The soap helps catch the fly and keeps it grounded till it drowns.

Try it, simple and easy, and it works! Thanks Joan!


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## Wade E (Sep 17, 2007)

I used to have a big problem with these but since I made my wine room I have only seen 1 or 2 this year. Not sure why but I am not complaining.


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## NorthernWinos (Sep 17, 2007)

I'm going to have to set a trap like Joan made....does anyone remember what juice she used??? I do remember that Post.


I have 'cooties' in my flour...and now they are in everything in my pantry. I have been throwing lots of stuff out, pancake mix, Shore Lunch, oatmeal...anything grain....Now I put all my new stuff in the freezer....how can I get rid of those little buggers????


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## PolishWineP (Sep 17, 2007)

I've used cider vinegar and dish soap. I also use a residual insecticide. I spray it onto a paper towel, then wipe the areas they like to hang,windows, ledges, etc. I *finally *got rid of them about a week ago. They were ugly bad here. 


Northern, as far as the cooties in your grain products, there's a good chance they are what I call mealie bugs. You have to toss everything that they could have gotten into in the cupboards, wipe them thoroughly, and as you know, store things in your freezer or fridge until you're sure they're gone.


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## Dean (Sep 17, 2007)

We had them REALLY bad this year. Fruit flies have about a 9-14 transit. This means, that from egg to death, is anywhere from 9-14 days. Their main source of food is obviously, anything fruit, but they are really attracted to smells of fermentation, because, in nature, that means rotting fruit.

So, all fruit and veg need to go into the fridge, or somewhere really sealed off from the rest of the world. Dry foods like flour, grains, ganulated sugar,etc, need to go into plastic buckets with tight sealing lids. Next, because they live in drains, you need to block off *all* drains in the house with plugs when not in use. This includes bathrooms, showers, etc. Small, blue-light bug zappers will attract the remaining ones and kill them off, but with no food sources, or breeding grounds, they die off in about a week. The sinks and drains are the biggest ones, because their maggots can easily live in there on all the bacteria. Only really harsh chemical will kill them in drains, but then that also gets into our ground water systems, or if you are on septic, will destroy your septic field.


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