How to remove fruit flies from your kitchen — Amanda’s student essay

How To Remove Fruit Flies From Your Kitchen?

At the grocery store, you are drawn to the beautiful and luscious apples, bananas, strawberries, or even sweet peaches.  You load up your grocery cart, check out and head for home with some healthy and nourishing fruits. A few days later you begin to notice something sinister and evil living in your kitchen. We have all dealt with these little pests, the ever-dreaded fruit fly.  

A female fruit fly can lay up to 500 eggs at a time, so it will not take much time before your kitchen has been invaded and they are winning the war. The life cycle is quick for these tiny insects and adults can mate just two days after reaching maturity to keep the vicious cycle going. Even though they are not big enough to harm you, they are just the right size to drive you and your family nuts.  So how do you rid yourself and your home of this nuisance?  

Before you grab that spray canister and start spraying everything and anything in sight vowing not to ever purchase fruit again, you can use some simple kitchen ingredients that are most likely already on your shelf right now.  You will need to start with a glass jar, such as an empty spaghetti sauce or pickle jar. Be sure the jar has been thoroughly washed and cleaned. 

 

Flies are eating rotten fruit on the ground.

Next, you will add some apple cider vinegar or white vinegar, about two inches deep in the jar, and top that off with a couple of drops of liquid dishwashing soap. Gently stir the mixture but be careful not to create bubbles. The final step is to cover the jar with plastic wrap and poke some small holes. Dish soap is great for causing surface tension and causing the fruit flies to be trapped with no way to escape. Be sure to place the jar in an area where the fruit flies seem to be concentrated, such as near a garbage can or counter where the fruit is kept.

This natural form of remedy for pesky fruit flies has a fantastic plus for many homes overusing a chemical spray that can be harmful to more than just insects.  Most, if not all, pet owners are extremely concerned and cautious about what their precious fur babies could encounter in the home, even when dealing with unwanted pests. 



Almost all chemical sprays contain many harmful ingredients, such as DEET that can, unfortunately, cause serious health problems or be fatal to dogs and cats if ingested or licked. Apple cider vinegar contains only two simple ingredients, apples, and water, neither of which is harmful to pets if ingested.  If “Fido” or “Fluffy” decides to get nosy about what is in the jar, their curiosity will not cause an emergency visit to the vet’s office costing a sizeable amount of money.  In just a matter of a few short days with these two basic items your home can be pest-free, remain pet safe and you can enjoy all of your wonderful fruit in peace.

Author: Amanda White

Kennesaw State University

Student Scholarships

Every year Thrive Pest Control hosts an essay contest and the reward is a 1-year scholarship at a 4-year university in the United States. This blog post is one of those scholarships.