Summer, sun, sweet drinks and fresh fruit on the table are simply part of the true summer enjoyment. Now the time has come for fruit flies, which spoil our enjoyment with great regularity. Although they are very small at around 2 mm, they usually occur in large numbers.
The Invasion of the Fruit Flies
Who hasn't experienced it when, when you reach into the fruit bowl, a cloud of small fruit flies rises up and spoils your appetite for fresh fruit. Fruit flies are obsessed with ripe fruit and even vegetables because their larvae feed on the microorganisms they contain. Each female lays up to 400 eggs. Within a few days, an invasion of these tiny fruit flies develops.
To prevent an invasion of fruit flies, fruits and vegetables should be stored in a cool cellar or refrigerator and only taken out shortly before use. Immediately cut vegetable and fruit residues and their peels into small pieces and put them in the compost or organic waste bin.
Preventing fruit fly infestation
If you don't want to give the little fruit flies a chance to come in, you can follow the following advice:
- Keep overripe fruit in the fridge
- Check fruit basket daily
- Empty the trash can daily in summer
- Don't leave drinks out in the open
- Rinse drinking glasses after use
- Wipe off splashes of fruit and vegetable juice immediately
- Briefly rinse empty beverage cans stored in the house
- Dispose of fruit and vegetable waste in a compost heap away from the house
- Pour boiling water down the sink once a day
- Air frequently
The scent of herbs drives away insects
Just as vegetables, fruit, juice, vinegar, wine and beer attract small flies, nature offers herbs whose scents scare fruit flies away.
- Dry the olive herb and hang it in a cloth bag in the kitchen
- Put chestnuts or onions in the fruit bowl
- Place a pot of peppermint or lavender on the windowsill
- Place basil in pots in the house
- Top lemon slices with cloves and place on plates
- Put close-meshed fly screens in front of the windows
If none of this helps, home-made fruit fly traps are an effective solution.
Build the best fruit fly traps yourself
No chemicals need to be used to get rid of the summer plague of fruit flies. Simple fruit fly traps are effective and can easily be built by people who are completely inexperienced. Building such a trap simply exploits the fruit flies' appetite for rotting fruit and sour smells.
The classic, simple fruit fly trap
Pour into a shallow bowl:
- 1 part fruit or wine vinegar
- 3 parts fruit juice, beer or wine
- 1 drop of dishwashing liquid
- 2 parts water
Mix all ingredients well. Add the water last. The drop of detergent is only intended to break the surface tension. This means that the fruit flies cannot stay on the surface and go under and drown. Because of the higher evaporation in summer temperatures, the fluid should be replaced regularly.
Tip:
Just mix a drop of dishwashing detergent into the water, otherwise the flies will no longer accept this trap.
The more durable version
The following ingredients are required for the slightly longer version of the fruit fly trap:
- 1 small bowl (preferably yellow in color because it is particularly attractive)
- 1 piece of very ripe fruit
- 1 drop of dishwashing liquid
- 1 plastic bag
- 1 scissors or fork
- 1 elastic band
Put 1 drop of dishwashing liquid on the piece of fruit. Place in the bowl and put a plastic bag over it and close the open end with the rubber band. Now either cut off the tip of the bag (small hole) or pierce it in a few places with a fork. The fruit flies find their way into the trap, come into contact with the detergent and can no longer find their way out. The fruit retains its attractiveness for a long time and therefore needs to be replaced much less frequently.
Fruit fly trap for the ecologist
Not everyone has plastic bags in their household and doesn't want to buy them out of ecological responsibility. A modification of the fruit and fruit fly trap can be used here. The foil bag is replaced by a small glass that is placed with the opening over the bowl of fruit. Place two small matches underneath so that the fruit flies can crawl in. After coming into contact with the detergent, they cannot find their way out again. If you want to release the flies again, leave out the detergent. If some fruit flies have gathered under the glass, simply pull the sticks away and release the flies in the garden.
The quick trap
- Fill a small container with rotten fruit residue.
- Place a fine-mesh sieve or strainer over it
- Place near the fruit flies
- After about 20 minutes, cover with a towel
- Take the covered container outside and release the flies
This method can be repeated until the fruit fly invasion is defeated.
Fruit fly trap made from deposit-free plastic bottle
- 1 empty plastic bottle
- 1 part fruit or wine vinegar
- 3 parts fruit juice, beer or wine
- 1 drop of dishwashing liquid
- 2 parts water
- 1 sharp knife
Using a sharp knife, cut the top third of the bottle as straight as possible. Unscrew the screw cap and spread some jam on the thread. Fill the bottom part of the bottle 2/3 full with the mixture. The cut top part acts as a funnel and is placed upside down in the bottom half of the bottle. If you want, you can fix the funnel with glue. The fruit, fruit or fruit flies try to get to the sweet neck of the bottle, fall into the mixture and are trapped.
Catch fruit flies without any vessels
Not everyone wants to set up containers as fruit fly traps in their house. The following examples show how you can keep the annoying little insects away from your neck:
- Stick double-sided tape on the wall near the fruit flies
- Apply a water-vinegar-juice mixture (dishwashing detergent is not necessary with this variant)
- The small flies are attracted by the scent, stick to the adhesive tape and can be disposed of without any problems
What you need to know about fruit fly traps in brief
In general, you should keep the kitchen and trash cans very clean during fruit fly season and immediately wipe off any splashes of water, fruit juice or similar from work surfaces. Garbage, especially fruit and fruit remains, should disappear in a tight bag. It is best to dispose of it in household waste twice a day. You can prevent flies from multiplying by regularly pouring boiling water down the drains of sinks and sinks. This kills any eggs or larvae that the fruit flies like to lay in these areas. Finally, two tips for traps:
Dishwashing liquid as a trap
- Dishwashing liquid in water or juice softens the surface tension of the liquids, so that the flies sink in and sink.
- You'll practically drown in this inexpensive yet very effective fruit fly trap.
- To increase the effect, you can also add a little apple juice or orange juice to the dishwashing liquid and vinegar mix.
A variant of this trap works with a bowl, a piece of fruit, some dishwashing liquid and vinegar mix and a plastic bag: The bag is used to cover and enclose the bowl. The casing is then pierced in a few places with the tip of a pair of scissors or a fork. The fruit flies are guaranteed to find their way to the fruit, but will not come out again after contact with the dish soap.
Adhesive strips as a trap
Adhesive strips are stuck to the wall in the kitchen or wherever there are more fruit flies. They also emit a sour odor that attracts fruit flies, whereby they simply stick to the adhesive tape.
