Fruit fly infestation!! help?

A month ago we began to get a fruit fly infestation in our house (recently moved in). I know they feed on bits of food etc and lay eggs in shallow water. I'm sure other people sometimes leave a plate to wash later with a few scraps at the bottom or a saucepan they've used, not everyone can immediately clean everything surely?

My bf keeps a 'food waste bin' in a kitchen drawer, it is not airtight enough i think and attracted them in the first place- every time i open the drawer flies come out. However they laid larvae weeks ago so now the tiny flies are on everything and going into rooms all over the house. He won't get rid of his food waste bin (pointless as our area doesn't seperate food waste, only dry recycling nor do we have anywhere to compost it) and blames me for leaving plates unwashed for more than 20 minutes. Is this fair i thought it was normal if people are busy and not particularly dirty??

He also doesn't believe in using bug spray and wants to drive them out by making me clean up obsessively in the kitchen. I find this unrealistic. We have an old house where the windows have grates/gaps so things fly in anyway. I think due to heat + a food waste bin in a drawer attracted them. and now they are feeding on any crumb i leave behind. This is disgusting and i'm trying my best to tidy up after myself however it isn't driving them out.

How can we deal with this? Is it fair to get rid of the food waste bin for a start? It seems like no matter what else i clean they will keep coming for that.

Reply 1

Moonbow

Of course!! They would love it :biggrin:

Also do get rid of the bin just in case, and also by a flower sticker thing, that's what I did when some escaped :colondollar:

Or jam? Put an open jar of jar in the kitchen and they will go straight for the sugar and get stuck. Same principle with the flower trap. Maybe get some carnivorous plants too?

It is a good place to start :smile:

Reply 2

Anonymous #2

They way I managed to get rid of an infestation was by using a hoover to suck up all the flies (luckily, mine is a very powerful one and uses bags, so it was very easy to dispose of them without them flying out again). I tried various traps that people suggested online but they would only attract a few flies and there were literally hundreds of them so it was never going to work.

Since then, I make sure to wash my dishes as soon as possible and not to leave any spoilt fruit lying about, and also take out my rubbish every day when it is hot. Your boyfriend will need to get rid of his bin, or at least store it outside the house or the problem will keep recurring. Also, in my experience, fruit flies don't fly in through the window, they tend to be brought into the house in fruit that you buy and then breed, so getting rid of the infestation should hopefully put an end to it if you then continue to be careful.

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

Original post by Moonbow

Of course!! They would love it :biggrin:

Also do get rid of the bin just in case, and also by a flower sticker thing, that's what I did when some escaped :colondollar:

Or jam? Put an open jar of jar in the kitchen and they will go straight for the sugar and get stuck. Same principle with the flower trap. Maybe get some carnivorous plants too?

It is a good place to start :smile:

Thanks! I've ordered some of those and trying a bowl with honey (don't have jam) :smile:

Original post by Anonymous

Hundreds jeez! what caused it and where were mostly hanging around?

I've done a big spray, got rid of the food waste bin, and going round clapping the ones i find. Weirdly they are also hanging around the bathroom and bedroom, just setting up camp it seems. We also had a moth problem a couple months ago. I wonder if it is mostly the location of the flat?

Reply 4

Anonymous #2

Original post by Anonymous

Thanks! I've ordered some of those and trying a bowl with honey (don't have jam) :smile:

It happened because I'd accidentally left some fruit out in the kitchen before going away for a week and it had started to rot as it was really hot. So entirely my fault. They were all in the kitchen, luckily, as there door was closed.