How To Make Fruit Fly Traps
Fruit flies may be tiny, but they can still be a real nuisance. They are prolific breeders meaning that they just seem to keep remerging no matter how many you might appear to kill. You could spray with a bug spray every day only to find it does nothing to diminish their numbers.
Another way to get rid of them is to create a trap. This means you can have a more or less permanent trap in key positions around the home and you won’t have to use chemical-laden bug repellants and sprays. You can even make fruit fly traps yourself at home, and here’s a few tips on how to get the best results.
1. Wine Bottle
Most of us have a wine bottle or two lying around the home somewhere. If you don’t have an empty one then few would complain about needing to drink the contents. They are one of the easiest of things to use to make a fruit fly trap with and they are also reasonably effective.
All you need to do is to make sure the bottle is cleaned first and then add the bait. The fruit flies will be lured in through the top by the aroma of the bait and they will hopefully become trapped. You can also try using bottles of different colors for added aesthetic appeal.
2. Plastic Wrap Topped Jar
Do you have a jar lying around the home such as the type that is used for fruit preserves? If you do then it could make an ideal trap. You can try using a jar that is left open, which will likely trap a few fruit flies, but it will be more effective if you prevent the flies from getting out again.
To prevent the flies from leaving the trap, you can try covering it with some plastic wrap. Just be sure to add some holes to let the aroma of the bait out, and the flies in. You can make sure that the wrap stays firmly in place with some elastic bands.
3. Jar with Holes in the Lid
Jars will often come with a lid that you can screw on or off, which are ideal for sealing the jar to help keep the contents inside fresh. If you do have a jar that still has one of these lids then it can increase the effectiveness of your fruit fly jar trap.
Before fixing it onto the jar, first make some holes in the lid. Make sure that you create the holes from the top because this will cause the holes to bend inwards, making it harder for the flies to escape. A removable lid will also make it easier to clean that jar as and when necessary.
4. Paper Cone in a Jar
If you are feeling creative and/or you want to create a trap that is likely to be more effective, using a combination of a jar and a paper cone could be your best option. It is a little more challenging than some of the other options but is still not particularly difficult to make. Take a jar, and remove the lid if it has one.
You should then take a piece of suitably sized paper and fold it so that it makes a cone shape. Tape the cone into position, making sure that it fits correctly, and cut the bottom part of the cone to make an entrance. This method will make it easier for the flies to get in but also harder for them to get out.
5. Fruit in a Bag
If you don’t have other materials, or if you just want to have a trap that is easy to make, a plastic bag could be what you need. It may not be as effective as other types of trap, but it will still trap some flies and is better than nothing. To do this, simply take some bait and place it at the bottom of the bag.
Leave the bag slightly open and fruit flies will be attracted to the bait. Leave the bag in place and the following day you can tie the bag up to keep the flies in and you can put a new bag with bait in its place.
6. Cider Vinegar
Fruit flies get their name for a very good reason they are attracted to fruit. To be more specific, they are actually attracted to the fermentation process that takes place as the fruit begins to breakdown. With this in mind, fresh fruit is not the most effective bait to use. Fruit flies are going to be more attracted to cider vinegar.
Simply pour a little into the trap and it will not be long before fruit flies come to your trap in their droves. That’s not to say that fruit or fruit juice won’t work at all, but cider vinegar or similar is likely to get the best results.
7. Add Dish Soap
Fruit flies are very small and light animals. As such, they can actually sit on top of liquids without breaking the surface tension and this will make the liquid far less effective at trapping them. The good news is that there is a way to overcome this problem, making the trap more effective at stopping the flies.
Add a little dish soap into any liquid bait that you are using and this will instantly remove the surface tension. Fruit flies will then land on the liquid expecting to find that they will remain on the surface, only to find that they end up drowning in the liquid instead.
8. Place Near Flies
For the best effects, place your trap close by to where you usually find fruit flies. This will often be somewhere like a plughole or maybe a trash can. Just place it in the general vicinity and the aroma of the bait will soon begin to attract the flies to the bait.
You should put the trap in a place where it is easy to access but is not likely to be knocked over. A window sill might be the ideal spot, and you can also consider creating a hanging design that will keep it accessible, yet also out of the way.
9. Keep the Trap in Place
Fruit flies can be very persistent. Even though you may have appeared to have trapped them all, it will not be long before more arrive to replace them. For this reason, it is important that you leave the trap in place to make sure the flies are not able to proliferate again.
Depending on what you use to make the trap with, cleaning the trap and replacing the bait will be very easy. You can also experiment with different materials to help make a trap that is good looking as well as functional. You can even try to experiment with plant pots and similar to try to hide the fact that there is a trap at all.
10. Prevention is the Best Cure
It is often the case that you can take steps to prevent fruit flies from being attracted to your home and it might be easier than you think. Some straightforward common sense will often make a big improvement while there might also be other factors you haven’t considered.
Make sure that you dispose of your trash regularly, and try using a trash can with a closable lid. Make sure not to leave fruit juice lying around and, if you are a wine drinker, make sure not to leave any lying around in glasses or bottles. If you notice that there are a lot of fruit flies at the grocery store, consider shopping elsewhere. Fruit flies lay a lot of eggs and you might unwittingly start another infestation if you bring those eggs home.
