We have been attacked by an abundance of fruit flies lately in my kitchen. AHH! Don’t you love those little flying insects that seem to find every bit of food in your kitchen and around your trash can? Here is our simple, frugal, and effective solution!
Fruit Fly Trap
1 quart jar
1 piece of paper, rolled up into a funnel
tape
apple cider vinegar
small slice of banana
Fill a quart jar with a 1/2 inch of apple cider vinegar and a small piece of banana. Roll up your paper into a funnel shape (larger at the top) and tape it in place. Place the funnel into your jar and make sure all the edges are secured shut with tape. You may have to adjust the size of your funnel to make sure it fits nicely into your jar. Place the jar where the fruit flies are flying around and let it go to work. You will be amazed at how well this trap works. The fruit flies will smell the fruit and climb inside, but for some odd reason they don’t fly back up the funnel to get out. When you have caught a good supply, place the entire jar in the freezer. After a short time that flies with die and you can remove the jar from the freezer and use it again without even removing the old contents. Use repeatedly until your fruit flies are eliminated.
As you can see in my picture, this easy trap is amazingly effective!
Ant Trap
We are often plagued with ants in the Spring time as well around here. We have various sorts of carpenter and sugar ants. This little concoction does the trick! Last year we had huge carpenter ants all around our kitchen. Many were coming out of our electrical saukets in our kitchen. We were blown away by how quickly they were eradicated with this recipe.
1 tsp. borax (borax is an natural laundry boosting powder available in the laundry section of the store, normally on the top shelf)
2 cups hot water
6 Tbsp sugar
folded paper towel
small shallow cup (like a creme burlee dish)
Disolve borax in hot water. Stir in sugar. Dip the folded paper towel, using tongs, in the solution till completely saturated with solution. Cram the paper towel in the dish. Place in location where you have seen the ants. This solution will be eaten by the ants and taken back to the nest to share with the other ants and thus eradicate the entire nest. Keep away from children by placing on a countertop or cupboard, if possible.
It’s Frugal Fridays!
I was told by someone that fruitflies lay their eggs inside drains. I don’t know if that is true but maybe that is why they are in the bathroom.
Like your ant solution. Another formulation is boric acid (more expensive than borax, but borax would probably do) mix a couple of tablespoons full with peanut butter and honey. Put this mixture in some empty pop cans and place around the outside of the house and in the crawl space. Can be placed in the garden. It takes a month to finally get rid of all the ants, but it will work. It takes years for them to recover.
In CA most of the ants are an exotic tiny army ant that makes long trails into the cupboards. I do not feel bad about killing the exotics since they have replaced most of the native varieties.
Spiders are very hard to kill because their long legs prevent them from being exposed to poisons. It is also better not to kill them unless you know it is a poisonous spider. They keep the bug population down.
Fleas you need to stop whatever is bringing them into the house. If it is a dog or cat, bathe them and then apply Advantage or Advantix. After that is taken care of, to get rid of the home infestation vacuum all your soft furniture, mop all your hard floors, then sprinkle borax over every square inch of your carpet (pulling out all furniture). Let it sit for at least 2 hours, but preferably to the next day. Then vacuum up the Borax. Worked perfectly for me.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Our house has been covered with fruit flies this year! We discovered the original source, an apple that had rolled off the counter and was rotting behind some tote boxes. But our fruit flies seemed to migrate upstairs into the bathroom also. No food up there and they were all over the bathroom drain. We got one of the fly strips you hang from the ceiling (NOT very attractive to say the least). I’m going to try this! Thanks!
Being in the pest control business for 15 yrs I have to say nice job. Borax in your homemade bait, you in essence created a boric acid bait which we use professionally. However I am surprised it worked for Carpenter Ants as they are carnivorous and usually do not feed upon baits.
Your fruit fly trap was again…great. We use professional traps made with apple cider vinegar as well. However fruit flies only live a short time and if the food source and/or breeding source is found and removed the flies will die off. REMEMBER…if you have Fruit Flies (true Fruit Flies) the is something fermenting. Find it and eliminate it. Be care not to leave your homemade Fruit Fly trap out too long because the vinegar will ferment and provide a possible feeding/breeding site for the flies!
GREAT JOB!
I have been using Raid ant baits for years with no visible reduction in carpenter ants.
One year we heard them chewing the wood in the wall, and my husband ripped the panelling off to discover the nest, which we then sprayed with Raid ant killer. But I guess we didn’t get the queen, because we still have carpenter ant problems.
I have long suspected that raid ant traps don’t work on carpenter ants, and am ready to try something else. I was just about to try the borax & sugar solution, when I read your comment about carpenter ants not usually feeding upon baits.
Any new suggestions are welcome…except ripping all the walls out of my cottage!!!!
I love these ideas! Great! I’ll keep this in mind next time this issue creeps up on me! ♥
I love these ideas! Great! I’ll keep this in mind next time this issue creeps up on me! ♥
We’re trying the ant idea today…but my husband is unsure about it (as he usually is about more natural things). How quickly did it work for you?
They went away in a matter of days. I replaced the traps once as they tend to dry up a bit, but it was about a week before they all just disappeared.
Lindsay, Thank you so much for this. I couldn’t believe how well it worked! I was so excited that I posted about it on my blog.
http://spaininiowa.blogspot.com/2009/08/fruit-flies-be-gone.html
Thanks again!
Diana
I had a book that said you could spray vinegar in the corners of your room to keep spiders from making their webs there. I haven’t got around to trying it though.
Do you have a way to make an attractive rat trap for inside the home? I need somthing that would not be out of place in my kitchen.
I have been making these fruit fly traps for years; they work better than commercial lures!! You can also bait them with wine. To dispose of the flies, I put a couple drops of dish soap on the funnel, then run hot water in, it kills them instantly.
thanks a lot.
now, is there any easy way like this to get rid of silverfish?
My sis-in-law taught me this great trick: wash all fruit (especially what will be sitting out on counters, etc.) as SOON as you get home from the store (even bananas in their peels!!) This washes off the fruit fly eggs and then they never hatch!! As long as you truly wash your fruit, you will have NO FRUIT FLIES AT ALL!!!
We have problems with both of those pests…and the ingredients to deal with them! Thanks for the tips!
Oh! I have had it up to my ears with fruit flies! THANKS!
Thanks for the info on the fruit fly trap. It was very timely information and really worked great! I like finding natural remedies that really work.
Our fruit flies have been out of control!! I just tried your fruit fly trap and it worked AMAZINGLY! Thanks!
Wonderful! I need to try that fruit fly trap. We’ve been having problems with gnats at my office. I will have to try it to see if it works. =)
I forgot to add that I just used an apple core because I had one sitting there so just about anything the flies are attracted too will work in the trap.
Ah, your timing is perfect. I’ve been trying all sorts of things to get rid of the fruit flies in my kitchen and nothing has worked. I set this trap up this morning and it is so full of little flies now!
Thanks!
Fruit flies LOVE kombucha too, so if you make that stuff it really works to attract them. Thanks for the tip about freezing them…I always killed them with bleach and felt very bad about doing it that way. Whenever I look at fruit flies I can only see “breeding machine” now, because I heard they have an extremely short reproduction cycle – something like 30 minutes. They also love sourdough or anything else that’s fermenting, which is why they love rotting fruit.
I am all for natural remedies, but I am a bit surprised so many people are so excited about killing “pests”. Is it just me who feels this way? I really struggle with convenience vs respecting life.
I can’t stand spiders, for example, but I can’t bring myself to kill one. I feel like they are a part of this world just like you and me. Granted, I don’t have a huge fruit fly problem – although we do have silverfish that are quite annoying. But I still can’t bring myself to do a mass extermination.
Lindsay, you seem very thoughtful, as well as respectful of life and God – is this an issue you have thought of? I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts (no judgment – just curiosity and to get me thinking).
Well, honestly, I love respecting all the lovely insects and bugs in God’s creation, but when they enter my home and are taking over, than I am all for their removal. Their domain is outdoors and not in my house.
We seriously had so many fruit flies that I hardly do my dishes without being swarmed with them. If you desire not to kill the fruit flies, another thought is to trap them in the trap and then take the jar outdoors and release them. I have done this before as well. IF you can carefully remove the spiders outdoors, than by all means! Sometimes they just get a bit overwhelming to manage indoors. Those are my thoughts.
Thanks for your thoughts. I also think their domain is outdoors (which is what I remind my husband of when I ask him to “rescue” a spider by taking it outside, since I prefer not to touch them! I always tell him they’ll be much happier there).
I guess I was just surprised at all of the smileys and exclamation points in the comments about killing them off (although I definitely understand that they are a big pain!) But you raise a good point (with your fruit fly method) that you can choose to release them outdoors.
Thanks.
A Jenn after my own heart.
I posted above that I leave spiders alone. If they can’t be tolerated, then relocate them outdoors without killing them.
Thanks for this post. We live in Okinawa and have terrible trouble with ants. I can’t wait to try this.
Love these ideas. How about spiders – any tips to share there???? Spiders are bad this year at our house.
Do you have any good ideas for fleas?
Thanks so much! This is exactly what we needed. We are being plagued by both of these little devils and no matter how many I splat, more just keep coming. I’m off to make this little mix right now. Thanks again!
THANK YOU! This is such great timing. We just discovered ants yesterday…
THANK YOU! You have saved my life. And my summer fruits and veggies. And my compost bin (hubby would say get rid of it if we couldn’t control the fruit flies). Yay for you!
What a great idea? Do you have any natural way of getting rid of spiders??? Please? lol.
Unless they are truly out of control, I would leave spiders alone. They help control (trap and eat) all those other unwanted bugs around the house. Of course I’m a science nerd though, and love spiders.
If I find them in a place that I can’t tolerate (near my bed, or food in the kitchen), I relocate them outdoors without killing them.
Lindsay,
Thank you for your blog! I’ve benefitted from it in many ways! We also have had the seasonal ant problem, and I’ve had good success using clove oil. Also I wanted to tell you about a company called Sun & Earth. I just ordered a gallon of dish liquid for $13. I also get their hand soap by the gallon ($13) and put it into foam pumps to help it stretch further. We use it for hand and bodies and even hair! You can check out their products at http://www.sunandearth.com
Thank you so much! We have been invaded by ants and NOTHING seems to stop them! I will try the Borax trick when I get home; I’m so glad we can use stuff we already have on hand. Thanks again!
I know that cinnamon is also good at keeping away ants. Just sprinkle it around or where they are at and they won’t cross it!
We do the same thing as Jessica for the fruit flies. I just use an old baby food jar with about 1/2 in. of apple cider vinegar and a few drops of liquid dish soap. The fruit flies are attracted to the vinegar and then once they go for it they get stuck in the jar and the dish soap kills them off. I just rinse the jar out about once a week and refill it because it looks pretty gross with all the dead fruit flies floating around in there!
Wow! This is so great- and perfect timing! We have had both ants and fruit flies this year and it’s getting annoying, but I hate using expensive products that are unsafe for the children to be near. Thank you!!!!
I love the fruit fly solution…we did something similar one year when we got fruit flies really bad, but it was using a 2 litre bottle and was more difficult…the paper funnel really makes this an easy solution!
Thank you, Lindsay, for this wonderful article! I have begun moving my family towards a more natural lifestyle, and have been battling with ants in my home for some time now. I’m definitely going to try the recipe today! I love your blog, btw. It’s so inspiring and really lifts my spirits when I am feeling the homemaking blahs. Your sweet spirit is evident in each article. Thank you!
Wow, thanks for the fruit fly trap! We are also plagued by these pesky little bugs in our apartment. I’ll buy a banana and try this very very soon!
Thank you! We have been invaded by ants and love your solution!!
that’s awesome about gettin’ those pesky fruitflies! i do something almost exactly like that, only I use an old canning lid and poke tiny holes with hammer and nail over the top-about 4 or 5..then screw the lid on-i usually use a pint-sized jar with a bit of apple cider vinegar in it too! they crawl in but can’t crawl back out! mom taught me that one! we get problems with ants every so often so thanks for the remedy:D
Great ideas!! I will be using these. Thanks for sharing, you are awesome!!
AMEN~!!!!! We have fruit flies, and oh! are they a nuisance! Last year, I scoured the counter every day, put all good eats in the fridge (but bagged my ‘maters) to *attempt* eliminating invitation, but they STILL came! They are coming back, loving the outside of DH’s sourdough jar….I am on my way to try this now!!
This is EXACTLY what I needed to see today. I just stuck everything in the fridge to be done with them, yet to find them around the trash can…and we’re certainly not putting THAT in the fridge, lol
What an awesome idea, Thank you!!!
Sarah M
We did just this for our fruit fly problem, my husband actually set the jar in the oven and after lots were in there he turned the oven on and that killed them. I also had read to stick the vacuum hose down the garbage disposal because they can’t stand up against the suction, that seemed to work as well. After all of that, we ended up with only a few left that eventually (surprisingly) died off.
For ants I have used the coffee grounds from your past post (but outdoors) and it has worked marvelously!
We have more problems w/flies, then fruit flies. I notice fruit flies only when I have veggies out or fruits (usually only after a week tho, or if one of the children left something in their room too long.
And once the fruit/veggies/old food are removed, no more fruit flies.
I just wanted to add that I have done another similar fruit fly elimination that might be even easier. I just put acv in a glass with a couple drops of dish soap and it was very effective. However I did find I had to change the acv every 10-14 days, so maybe it’s not as cost effective.
That fruit fly trap is a lifesaver. For ants we sprinkle cornmeal on the ground outside around the base of our house. We had a very bad black ant problem in the years before we did that, and haven’t seen a single ant or spider since we started doing it. I can’t remember where I read about it, but it certainly works. I do it once in the spring and again in fall. I just dump a line of cornmeal along the house, where the dirt meets the basement wall and voila! I’m not sure if its killing the ants or deterring them though
The fruit fly trap sounds great, but I wonder if the cornmeal ant bait around the house might not attract meal moths. I start seeing them fluttering around in my house every year when the farmers around us harvest their corn. They love to get into unsealed containers and cocoon under wallpaper edges. Anyone have any ideas?
It is amazing you can even make a fruit fly trap look pretty! Do you think this would work with house flies?
Another very easy way to kill the fruit flies is this….I read it a few weeks ago & did not honestly think it would work but it did/does. Now I just leave the jar on my counter & we are not having anymore problems.
All you need is a small cup, (I use a tiny canning jar), 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar, & a few squirts of liquid dish soap (I used costco brand dish soap). Just put it all in the glass jar & sit it on the counter. The fruit flies will go to it & die. They will die right there. You don’t have to move this mixture to the freezer. Within 2 hours we caught a lot & by the next day all the fruit flies were gone. As I said we just leave the glass out now to catch any new ones. Since doing this we have not had anymore problems & this way is so quick & easy!
The fruit fly trap is brilliant! Thanks for posting that. We’ve been having an unusual amount of the little pests for the last couple of weeks. My daughter has been vacuuming them out of the air, but that hardly seems to put a dent in the population.