Fruit Flies-HELP

[kessieann]

Does anyone know about Fruit Flies? We have a problem in our bathroom of all places. There is no fruit in our house. I have checked the bathroom from top to bottom. I have put bleach down all of the drains because I read that they might be in there. Nothing is working. It will seem that there are less of them and just when I think I have it tackled they must have eggs hatching and it multiplies again. I have a child and 3 animals so I have to be careful what poisons I use. Has anyone dealt with this before?

 

[Patrick IL.]

Try putting some vinegar in a cup...leave it setting out somewhere in the area. They are attracted to it and then they drown in it

 

[kessieann]

Ok thanks, I will do that. I am assuming it is the cider vinegar rather then the white vinegar?

 

[philaround]

We had the same problem several years ago. Could not figure where they were coming from, but the bathroom was loaded with them all the time. After about a week of this I noticed that the problem was always worse when we had the window open and the house ventilation fan on. I sarted closing the bathroom window everytime we had the fan going and the flies disappeared. I quess the fan was sucking them in thru or around the screen somehow but the bathroom was the only room where this happened. Go figure.

 

[helenabear]

My dad just had this problem... we have no idea how it started. But we too put little cups of regular old vinegar with a drop of soap (helps to make the water tension better to trap them) and within a couple of days they were all dead. Just make sure you put them in a cup you don't mind having a bunch of dead fruit flies in. Good luck

 

[Bildmouse]

We had a problem with little flies several months ago and found they were coming from the bird food. If you have pets check their food bags. We moved the food to the back porch and put it in a rubbermaid container and the flies have disappeared.

 

[Chattyaholic]

We had a fruit fly problem one WINTER. Had no idea where they were coming from and how they could even LIVE in the winter. My new boss had a holiday flower/greenery arrangement sent to my house as a Christmas gift, I kept it on the counter between the kitchen and dining room and lo and behold every morning there were dead fruit flies on the counter by it! By the time the arrangement needed to be thrown out, we had NO MORE fruit flies. I guess they didn't like the pine in the arrangement or something!!

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Originally posted by Chattyaholic
We had a fruit fly problem one WINTER. Had no idea where they were coming from and how they could even LIVE in the winter. My new boss had a holiday flower/greenery arrangement sent to my house as a Christmas gift, I kept it on the counter between the kitchen and dining room and lo and behold every morning there were dead fruit flies on the counter by it! By the time the arrangement needed to be thrown out, we had NO MORE fruit flies. I guess they didn't like the pine in the arrangement or something!!

The moist soil is what draws them to plants. I had an old pot in my office, something I should have taken home to be pitched. We couldn't figure out where these gnats were coming from. One day I pulled out the old plant and realized it was the cause.

The only problem we seem to have is when a certain window in the "dining room" (computer room) is open at night. Those little bugs find there way in, and were always flying in front of the monitor. I close it at night now and haven't had the problem since.

 

[kessieann]

Well, I did the vinegar and soap and boy did I catch fruit flies. I am going to get some drain cleaner tomorrow because dh went in there and they had multiplied again. I have no plants in the house at all. The only thing I can think of is the drain and maybe the bleach just went straight down without killing the eggs. This is so frustrating and really just yucky. Thanks for the tips!