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SnuggleBuggles
07-14-2009, 03:31 PM
They just make me feel icky. Where do they even come from?

That's all. Back to cleaning.

Beth

Clarity
07-14-2009, 03:36 PM
I hate them too!

Any idea on how to get rid of them?

Carrots
07-14-2009, 03:43 PM
Me too!! I feel like they appear whenever there are bananas in the house. Gross!

m448
07-14-2009, 03:52 PM
LOL I hate them too and they seem to come in with the fruit. I just set out little jelly jars with about 1" red wine vinegar (or you can use apple juice, old wine, etc .) then a 1/8" or even thinner layer of veg oil on top. The flies are attracted to the vinegar but smother in the oil.

I find that they start falling right away and by a couple of days later are gone - only to come in with another batch of bananas later but at least they're new ones. LOL

happymom
07-14-2009, 04:17 PM
Me too!! I feel like they appear whenever there are bananas in the house. Gross!

I never put 2 and 2 together, but you are so right! I just noticed some fruit flies in my kitchen the other day and I happened to have just bought bananas for the first time in a while.

They really are gross. I'm always afraid theyre gonna land on my food and get stuck or die there. I guess cuz theyre so slow moving. This is why I'm paranoid about never leaving anything uncovered on the counter (like food that just came out of the oven) for too long. DH thinks I'm crazy. Maybe I am ;)

momof2girls
07-14-2009, 05:13 PM
found this info:
The obvious next question is, if the peaches came home "clean," and there are flies on them now, how long will it be before there are eggs or larvae (AKA "maggots," of course) inside the peaches? Do you eat the peaches, or not? The answer is there could be eggs on the fruit instantly, and 30 hours later, larvae -- perhaps 500 of them.

If you don't disturb their happy community, the tiny, white larvae will spend five or six days gobbling the yeast and alcohol-rich products of fermentation, then crawl out of the sludge, hatch into red-eyed monsters and start the cycle again.

And once they're established in your house, they can sustain themselves on an impressive range of nutrients. They can live on the slime inside a sink drain. They can flourish on a sour mop. They'll eat damp flour or food fermenting quietly in a crack in the floor. They've even proven capable of existing on a diet of alcohol fumes, their bodies deploying a special chemical that converts the alcohol to nourishment before it can poison them.


And in their eight-day life cycle, they breed prolifically.
Some thoughtful soul has gone to the trouble of calculating that one pair of flies, in one year, can produce a dynasty that, packed in a ball, would fill the void between the Earth and the Sun. And that was at just 100 eggs per female. Some sources say they lay 1,000.

DietCokeLover
07-14-2009, 05:47 PM
I hate them too!

Any idea on how to get rid of them?

You can also put a little dishwashing liquid in the bottom of a bowl and pour a little balsamic vinegar in it. Don't mix it. Flies will get stuck and die.

hbridge
07-14-2009, 08:12 PM
Vinegar and dish soap did NOT work for us. In frustration, DH tried wine in a shallow dish with a few drops of dish soap and a week later we were free of fruit flies. The wine attracted them and the soap kept them stuck. Good luck.

DietCokeLover
07-14-2009, 09:08 PM
Vinegar and dish soap did NOT work for us. In frustration, DH tried wine in a shallow dish with a few drops of dish soap and a week later we were free of fruit flies. The wine attracted them and the soap kept them stuck. Good luck.

your fruit flies must have more expensive taste than mine did!

MommyAllison
07-15-2009, 02:25 AM
found this info:
The obvious next question is, if the peaches came home "clean," and there are flies on them now, how long will it be before there are eggs or larvae (AKA "maggots," of course) inside the peaches? Do you eat the peaches, or not? The answer is there could be eggs on the fruit instantly, and 30 hours later, larvae -- perhaps 500 of them.

If you don't disturb their happy community, the tiny, white larvae will spend five or six days gobbling the yeast and alcohol-rich products of fermentation, then crawl out of the sludge, hatch into red-eyed monsters and start the cycle again.

And once they're established in your house, they can sustain themselves on an impressive range of nutrients. They can live on the slime inside a sink drain. They can flourish on a sour mop. They'll eat damp flour or food fermenting quietly in a crack in the floor. They've even proven capable of existing on a diet of alcohol fumes, their bodies deploying a special chemical that converts the alcohol to nourishment before it can poison them.


And in their eight-day life cycle, they breed prolifically.
Some thoughtful soul has gone to the trouble of calculating that one pair of flies, in one year, can produce a dynasty that, packed in a ball, would fill the void between the Earth and the Sun. And that was at just 100 eggs per female. Some sources say they lay 1,000.

Ewwww. I feel a sudden urge to scrub my entire kitchen now.

jacksmomtobe
07-16-2009, 10:42 PM
We returned from vaca and had a swarm of fruit flies (I think from the raisins in a box of raisin bran). I orig tried vinegar and did not see much action but a little red wine & some dish soap really did the trick. They loved the wine but had no interest in the vinegar set up. We are fruit fly free!!!

SnuggleBuggles
07-16-2009, 10:55 PM
Ewwww. I feel a sudden urge to scrub my entire kitchen now.

I know. That info totally grossed me out.

I only seem to have 2 fruit flies but I swear they follow me.

Beth