There’s nothing yuckier than a cloud of fruit flies in your face. This DIY fruit fly trap will clear out your kitchen in no time at all and it’s super easy. Oh, and it’s all natural too. Bye bye, fruit flies!
What’s worse than fruit flies? Well, mosquitoes are definitely worse but I made some citronella candles (and some more citronella candles) and all-natural bug spray to keep them away. Oh, and yellow jackets are also a pain but I made a recycled bottle wasp trap for those. Now it’s time to stick it to those icky fruit flies with another all-natural and simple solution. This fruit fly trap just takes a few minutes to make and it sends fruit flies, um, flying.
Materials:
- Small glass bowl
- Wine or juice
- Natural dish soap
- Plastic wrap
- Bamboo skewer
Make it!
1. Fill a small glass bowl with some wine or a little juice and a piece of the fruit that the flies are so in love with. Just a plain syrup will not work as well. Fruit flies are looking for some yummy rotting fruit so they can lay their eggs in it, so use rotting fruit to lure them into your trap.
As a side note: Eeeewwww! Yes, this means that they will lay eggs that turn into baby flies which we know are, well, I don’t think I need to say more. These are not fun pets is all.
2. Put a few drops of dish soap in the liquid.
3. Cover tightly with a piece of plastic wrap and poke a few holes in it with the bamboo skewer. Make sure the holes are big enough that fruit flies can find their way in to their demise da da dum.
4. Remove all temptation from the area (ie: move the offending fruit) and place the trap in its spot. Clean out when full and start again if the problem persists. It usually takes me only one fruit fly trap full to get rid of them as I don’t let it get too out of hand.
Even though I’m giddy about killing fruit flies, warding off mosquitoes, and trapping wasps, I do love insects as a whole. I know their value to the garden and earth, and respect their world. If you want to see the good side of creepy crawlers: learn more about beneficial insects for the garden, build your own bug hotel, plant a pollinator garden, a bee garden, or a butterfly garden. Yay for bugs! Just not on me. Or my fruit.
Nikki Gwin says
October 4, 2016 at 9:23 amOh man! These things are SO annoying! Thanks for an easy solution.
:) gwingal
Mary Campbell says
April 24, 2019 at 8:49 pmIndeed! I’m trying it now… hope it works because I don’t know where these flies are getting in my house from but it needs to stop…
Nola Parton-Jones says
August 21, 2018 at 12:28 amHi, I looked at your Insect Hotel or whatever you called it, can’t remember now out of all the names you named, except Hostel. However, you recommended using bamboo for the bees. Bamboo is really NOT the proper material for these bees, called Mason Bees, because they really do require special care to save their population as well. May I recommend going to Crown Bees so you can learn about how to protect these most beneficial bees? Otherwise, I enjoyed the instructions and will add some of it to my already in progress “Bug Barn” (for the cuteness of the name, not for propriety). Thanks, Nola