How to Make a Quick and Easy Fruit Fly Trap
This fruit fly trap will clear out your kitchen in no time at all and it’s super easy.
What’s worse than fruit flies? Well, mosquitoes are definitely worse but I made some 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.
Materials:
- Small glass bowl
- Wine or juice
- 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 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 with the bamboo skewer. Make sure the holes are big enough that they 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 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, learn how to build a bug hotel, check out this cool spider ball, this goldenrod crab spider, and this honeybee swarm. Yay for bugs! Just not on me. Or my fruit.
Pin it!
I like it. If you would like to get all medieval on the little buggers, this worked for me.
(requires an in sink garberator)
1. have a liter or two ready in a quick pour jar
2. put a chunk of the fruit-du-jour in the garberator before going to bed
3. have drain screen ready for deployment
4. when getting up in the morning, put screen over drain, hit the garberator switch, and pour water in.
The tiny screams of perishing fruit flies will bring a sense of satisfaction, and do away with them at the same time!
(I am serious, this worked great, and did away with all but one fly. I assume he flew off to warn his friends to stay away)
Dishwater soap did the trick for me.
Great post really helpful thanks for posting.
I do this with apple cider vinegar, no soap. Works wonders!
Hey Friends,
Sadly, your wasp traps are going to trap more than just wasps … they’ll also trap bees and other insects. Wasps won’t sting you just randomly, and they’re fabulous predators of other “pests” in the garden like cucumber beetles and potato bugs!
Cheers!
I have to agree with the above comment regarding the wasp traps. Wasps are beneficial pollinators and useful garden predators. Like bees, they won’t bother you unless you disturb a nest or inadvertantly step on them. If one gets inside, I just capture it under a glass and release outside. I like your idea for the fruit flies, but please reconsider your treatment of wasps! We need all the pollinators we can get these days with declines in bee populations.
Thank you for your comments Lori and Kim. I agree with you about supporting pollinators and have written about it many times. Not only that, but they troll my lettuce garden and fruit trees for aphids to snack on, so I welcome them in the garden to keep other pests at bay.
Later in the season, however, they are nearing the end of their life cycle and large numbers of them buzz around picnics and outdoor dinners as there is little work left to support the colony. It’s at this time of year that I trap those that are becoming a great nuisance. The colony’s eggs have already been layed and fertilized, so the large number of yellow jackets around are contributing more to pestering than to pollinating.
In addition, yellow jackets can cause a lot of damage to houses (such as chewing through siding) and they become very aggressive when their nests are threatened. So near the house, I do what I can to discourage them from setting up shop. If that means leaving them to do their thing in the garden, but trapping them near the house, I think it is a fair compromise.
For more on attracting beneficial insects to the garden and natural pest control, please see this group of posts: http://gardentherapy.ca/organically-ridding-pests/
Thank you again for your comments and for supporting pollinators!
Also, Kim, I have not seen a bee or anything other than a yellow jacket in my traps. Perhaps due to the location of them near the house, where other pollinators rarely venture.
I think it is good to note that the traps could attract other pollinators and one should be careful with location.
More on the wasp traps in question here: http://gardentherapy.ca/super-simple-diy-wasp-trap/
Great idea!! And the tightly fitted plastic wrap with teeny tiny holes means it could also be used in a worm bin.
Oh man! These things are SO annoying! Thanks for an easy solution.
:) gwingal