It’s the time of year when you can get inundated with fruit flies.  This doesn’t mean your house is dirty or a bad housekeeper. The flies can come into your home on fresh fruit from the grocery store.

Rinse Fruit and Store Airtight

One tip to keep them at bay is  to make sure you keep all your fresh fruits and vegetables in air tight containers or in the refrigerator.  Also, rinsing them off as soon as you bring them into the house can prevent some of the eggs that could hatch on your fruits.

Moving Air to Repel Flies

Fruit flies have a hard time with moving air so keeping a small fan where you see them hovering will keep them out of the area.  My local farm market keeps mini fans blowing on all their fresh berries at this time of year.

Fruit Fly Trap

Trap Fruit Flies

You can also make a “trap” to catch the fruit flies.  A bowl trap seems to work the best. Just place some cut up fruits in the bottom of the bowl and cover it with a clear plastic wrap. Use a sharp knife and puncture small holes in the plastic wrap. The fruit flies will smell the fruit and work their way into the small holes. Once they get into the bowl they will be trapped and unable to get back out.  Just leave the bowl trap out on the counter where you find the flies.Keep cleaning out the trap and replacing it until you no longer find flies in the trap.

There are other types of traps, but after trying many different types, the bowl trap worked the best and it was the easiest.  Just leave it in a discrete place and clean it out daily.