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Title: Fruitfly invasion - HELP!!! Post by sandie99 on Aug 17th, 2006, 1:19pm Thanks to warm weather and careless ex-flatmates, I have about 3000 fruitflies in my appartment. They drive me nuts! Sure, they don't bite, but still I would not like to have any of them in my food... I get enough of protein, thank you very much... Now, I have taken the garbage out too often, kept my kitchen clean, got rid of smelly stuff my flatmates left me with, used insect spray, killed them with piece of paper...but still, the amount of the fruitflies doesn't seem to decrease the slightest. What I should try next? Thank you in advance, Sanna |
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Title: Re: Fruitfly invasion - HELP!!! Post by Yorky on Aug 17th, 2006, 1:26pm get that tall supporter of your's,to check top of your cupboards you never know(when i was younger fell out with a flatmate ,so left him the flat,and a tin of tuna fish poured on the top of his units ;;D) |
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Title: Re: Fruitfly invasion - HELP!!! Post by Sandy_C on Aug 17th, 2006, 1:34pm Sanna - I feel for you. Been there! You're doing everything absolutely right, fully and completely. Make sure that there is NOTHING left out of the fridge, ever. Even if it says it does NOT need refrigerating after opening - stick it in the fridge anyway - EVERYTHING! Make sure everything is washed down with soap (I've found doing a light wipe on the counters and down the sink drain (they love the drain) with vinegar helps), keep small plastic bags handy (the kind you get at the grocery store) and every time you have food scraps put them in one of those bags and take them outside immediately - do not put in general trash can for later removal. As a matter of fact, do not put anything in the general trash unless it's a paper product. Even plastic jars, cans (Red Bull for instance) should be completely rinsed out before throwing away. They like warm/humid - so if you have AC - crank it up! Turn on fans, ceiling, floor fans, over the stove fans. Wear a sweater if you get cold. It isn't easy, and it will take a few days, because they multiply like.....well flies :-/. Eventually, they will disappear. Good luck Sandy |
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Title: Re: Fruitfly invasion - HELP!!! Post by Paul98 on Aug 17th, 2006, 1:43pm Ahhhhh! I worked down the hall from a fruit fly lab for 25 years. Can't stand them! I never knew if the suckers landing on salad just walked accross a surface with P32 and were now wipeing it on my food. Try this: Funnel with ~ 2cm hole, a 1 L jar, vassoline, red wine and some rotting fruit. Take a peach and mush it and palce in jar. Add 100-200 ml of red wine. Place funnel in jar mouth and smear inside of funnel with vassoline (lots of it) Make sure funnel seats tightly in neck of jar so the only way in or out is through the vassoline. Sit contraption on counter for a couple of days. It should collect the buggers. Non toxic and cheap. -P. |
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Title: Re: Fruitfly invasion - HELP!!! Post by alienspacebabe on Aug 17th, 2006, 1:45pm Try vacuuming them up. Worked for me. and make sure the source, the food, is gone. |
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Title: Re: Fruitfly invasion - HELP!!! Post by Paul98 on Aug 17th, 2006, 1:48pm On second thought......Get a bat....the kind with wings ;;D ;;D ;;D ;;D -P. |
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Title: Re: Fruitfly invasion - HELP!!! Post by Yorky on Aug 17th, 2006, 2:04pm on 08/17/06 at 13:48:19, Paul98 wrote:
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Title: Re: Fruitfly invasion - HELP!!! Post by sandie99 on Aug 17th, 2006, 2:35pm Thanks for the advices! :) I've been careful with food and continue doing so. That vacuuming seems so tempting right now... ;;D I have placed jars with water on my kitchen table, hoping that they will drown... :P Well, few a least. Keep on sending advices! All are welcome. :) Best wishes, Sanna |
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Title: Re: Fruitfly invasion - HELP!!! Post by Tom K on Aug 17th, 2006, 2:41pm The big draw is the drains. Throw bleach down your drains, kitchen, bathroom sink, tub, etc. Just straight bleach will work, make sure to hit all the sides of the drain. |
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Title: Re: Fruitfly invasion - HELP!!! Post by ShadowLord on Aug 17th, 2006, 7:19pm Throw out you beer cans and bottles... Or at least put them in a trash can with a lid... Can't tell you how many fruit flies I had before I thought to start only throwing my empties into the can with a lid... The little buggers are mooching boozehounds ya know. PFDAN................................................... ShadowLrd |
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Title: Re: Fruitfly invasion - HELP!!! Post by Donna_D. on Aug 17th, 2006, 7:39pm on 08/17/06 at 14:35:42, sandie99 wrote:
Add a drop or two of liquid dishwashing soap to that water and it will work wonders. DD |
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Title: Re: Fruitfly invasion - HELP!!! Post by sandie99 on Aug 18th, 2006, 3:12am Good that I have returned all the empty cans and beer bottles to the store. I kept 3 pretty energy drink cans, but I'm going to return them shortly. That's 45 cents my way... ;) Donna, I just added some liquid diswashing soap. I hope it works wonders with these little suckers as well! :) Sanna |
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Title: Re: Fruitfly invasion - HELP!!! Post by ShadowLord on Aug 18th, 2006, 10:16am I'm serious about them bein' attracted to beer... If ya put out a dish with beer in it, the next day, the beer'll be gone and you'll have a thousand little flies passed out drunk in the dish... Unfortunately, you'll prolly end up with like 10X that amount the next night waitin' for the bar to open. From my experience, some places are just over run with the little buggers, and no matter how careful ya are about cleanin' up food and anything else they'd be attacted to, ya just can't seem to get rid of them... Fly paper hung over garbage cans, food prep areas, in bathrooms, and dining rooms can help keep the numbers down. Sprays might help when there's alot swarmin' around, but they'll just be back again the next day, because they reproduce so damned quickly. Good luck! PFDAN.................................................... ShadowLrd |
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Title: Re: Fruitfly invasion - HELP!!! Post by Lizzie2 on Aug 18th, 2006, 12:45pm Oh I had this same problem not too long ago. It was awful....I was starting to lose my mind because they were driving me nuts!! My friend told me to put out a tumbler filled with brandy and they'd all be attracted to it and die. I didn't have any brandy, but I almost did it with wine - only I can't leave that out on the counter for any prolonged period of time or Tony will try to drink it! I did let the kitty lose on them - he would jump on top of the refridgerator and make all these noises cuz he'd see them flying around and couldn't get them! Then finally one day when I couldn't take it anymore, I grabbed a bottle of 409 from below the sink, started screaming and spraying the bottle everywhere I saw a fly. I had 409 all over the kitchen before I was done....it didn't leave a mark, and the fruit flies were gone after that. So losing your mind and acting bat-shit crazy and spraying them with cleaning solutions...that seemed to be the best option for me!! Do you have a garbage disposal or regular sink drain? Good luck! Carrie :) |
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Title: Re: Fruitfly invasion - HELP!!! Post by sandie99 on Aug 18th, 2006, 12:48pm I need all the luck with these little creatures! 27 have met their death in water and around 12 from I killed with newspaper. That leaves... plenty more... :-/ Sanna |
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