The summer joy of summer fruits has brought us a summer fruit fly
problem. We used to be in the habit of leaving peaches and pears in a
bowl on the counter to ripen. Now everything is in the refrigerator.
The counter tops and sinks are scrubbed to unusually clean. Glasses of
orange juice used to get a quick rinse before being put in the
dishwasher. Now they're getting washed thoroughly, THEN put in the
dishwasher. The garbage has a plastic liner and is behind a closet
door. The fruit flies aren't gathering there.


And still the fruit flies persist. It's gotten to where we can't drink
a glass of wine with dinner without them hovering. If we forget to wash
the glass, they're all over it when we turn our backs.


We're starting to suspect the garbage disposal, but we've been rinsing
it appropriately.


Would vacuuming the AIR do any good? Naturally, we're not big on
poisons. Fly paper?


It makes sense that they're outside, but what's bringing them inside?
(The windows have screens, but we all know how much good those do.)
(Jim suggested that they've been evolving to find sweets longer than
we've been evolving to do away with fruit flies.)


Help!


--Lia

Julia Altshuler wrote:

The summer joy of summer fruits has brought us a summer fruit fly
problem. We used to be in the habit of leaving peaches and pears in a
bowl on the counter to ripen. Now everything is in the refrigerator.
The counter tops and sinks are scrubbed to unusually clean. Glasses of
orange juice used to get a quick rinse before being put in the
dishwasher. Now they're getting washed thoroughly, THEN put in the
dishwasher. The garbage has a plastic liner and is behind a closet
door. The fruit flies aren't gathering there.

And still the fruit flies persist. It's gotten to where we can't drink
a glass of wine with dinner without them hovering. If we forget to wash
the glass, they're all over it when we turn our backs.

We're starting to suspect the garbage disposal, but we've been rinsing
it appropriately.

Would vacuuming the AIR do any good? Naturally, we're not big on
poisons. Fly paper?

It makes sense that they're outside, but what's bringing them inside?
(The windows have screens, but we all know how much good those do.)
(Jim suggested that they've been evolving to find sweets longer than
we've been evolving to do away with fruit flies.)

Help!

--Lia

Make a 'fruit fly trap'. Basically, place a funnel inside a glass
that's baited with favorite choice of fruit (juice). Secure the edges
of the glass around the funnel. Make sure the bottom of the funnel is a
couple or three inches above the bait. The flies will go through the
funnel to get the bait, but they won't be able to escape. Hope this
makes sense.

Sky, who's dealing with FFs too

--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
. ..
The summer joy of summer fruits has brought us a summer fruit fly problem.
We used to be in the habit of leaving peaches and pears in a bowl on the
counter to ripen. Now everything is in the refrigerator. The counter tops
and sinks are scrubbed to unusually clean. Glasses of orange juice used
to get a quick rinse before being put in the dishwasher. Now they're
getting washed thoroughly, THEN put in the dishwasher. The garbage has a
plastic liner and is behind a closet door. The fruit flies aren't
gathering there.


And still the fruit flies persist. It's gotten to where we can't drink a
glass of wine with dinner without them hovering. If we forget to wash the
glass, they're all over it when we turn our backs.


We're starting to suspect the garbage disposal, but we've been rinsing it
appropriately.


Would vacuuming the AIR do any good? Naturally, we're not big on poisons.
Fly paper?


It makes sense that they're outside, but what's bringing them inside? (The
windows have screens, but we all know how much good those do.) (Jim
suggested that they've been evolving to find sweets longer than we've been
evolving to do away with fruit flies.)


Help!


--Lia

A few years back we had a similar problem with fruit flies. Eventually we
found out they were hatching new ones, which was why there always seemed to
be more! What I did was make a simple fruit syrup and put it in a bottle,
then make a paper funnel and put it in the top. The fruit flies would go in,
but weren't very adept at getting back out, so it was pretty good at
catching most of them. The rest I killed the old fashioned way...with a fly
swatter.

It worked for us, so I hope it works for you!

kimberly
--
http://eating-sandiego.blogspot.com/
http://www.revver.com/video/1100047/patriot-pilot/#

On Aug 22, 3:33*pm, Sky wrote:
Julia Altshuler wrote:

The summer joy of summer fruits has brought us a summer fruit fly
problem. *We used to be in the habit of leaving peaches and pears in a
bowl on the counter to ripen. *Now everything is in the refrigerator.
The counter tops and sinks are scrubbed to unusually clean. *Glasses of
orange juice used to get a quick rinse before being put in the
dishwasher. *Now they're getting washed thoroughly, THEN put in the
dishwasher. *The garbage has a plastic liner and is behind a closet
door. *The fruit flies aren't gathering there.

And still the fruit flies persist. *It's gotten to where we can't drink
a glass of wine with dinner without them hovering. *If we forget to wash
the glass, they're all over it when we turn our backs.

We're starting to suspect the garbage disposal, but we've been rinsing
it appropriately.

Would vacuuming the AIR do any good? *Naturally, we're not big on
poisons. *Fly paper?

It makes sense that they're outside, but what's bringing them inside?
(The windows have screens, but we all know how much good those do.)
(Jim suggested that they've been evolving to find sweets longer than
we've been evolving to do away with fruit flies.)

Help!

--Lia

Make a 'fruit fly trap'. *Basically, place a funnel inside a glass
that's baited with favorite choice of fruit (juice). *Secure the edges
of the glass around the funnel. *Make sure the bottom of the funnel is a
couple or three inches above the bait. *The flies will go through the
funnel to get the bait, but they won't be able to escape. *Hope this
makes sense.

Sky, who's dealing with FFs too

--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Add a little yeast & sugar to the fruit or juice to drive them wild! I
make a paper funnel- that way, you can adjust it to fit your glass or
jar...

merryb wrote:

On Aug 22, 3:33 pm, Sky wrote:
Julia Altshuler wrote:

The summer joy of summer fruits has brought us a summer fruit fly
problem. We used to be in the habit of leaving peaches and pears in a
bowl on the counter to ripen. Now everything is in the refrigerator.
The counter tops and sinks are scrubbed to unusually clean. Glasses of
orange juice used to get a quick rinse before being put in the
dishwasher. Now they're getting washed thoroughly, THEN put in the
dishwasher. The garbage has a plastic liner and is behind a closet
door. The fruit flies aren't gathering there.

And still the fruit flies persist. It's gotten to where we can't drink
a glass of wine with dinner without them hovering. If we forget to wash
the glass, they're all over it when we turn our backs.

We're starting to suspect the garbage disposal, but we've been rinsing
it appropriately.

Would vacuuming the AIR do any good? Naturally, we're not big on
poisons. Fly paper?

It makes sense that they're outside, but what's bringing them inside?
(The windows have screens, but we all know how much good those do.)
(Jim suggested that they've been evolving to find sweets longer than
we've been evolving to do away with fruit flies.)

Help!

--Lia

Make a 'fruit fly trap'. Basically, place a funnel inside a glass
that's baited with favorite choice of fruit (juice). Secure the edges
of the glass around the funnel. Make sure the bottom of the funnel is a
couple or three inches above the bait. The flies will go through the
funnel to get the bait, but they won't be able to escape. Hope this
makes sense.

Sky, who's dealing with FFs too

--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Add a little yeast & sugar to the fruit or juice to drive them wild! I
make a paper funnel- that way, you can adjust it to fit your glass or
jar...

I found a website that might help --
http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef621.asp -- I just used a
large plastic funnel because I wasn't so adept at making a paper funnel
G.

Sky

--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice

Julia Altshuler wrote:

Would vacuuming the AIR do any good? Naturally, we're not big on
poisons. Fly paper?

Nothing ever worked better for me than a glass of dry white
wine in a wine glass, just left out to sit. Worked better than
beer.

It makes sense that they're outside, but what's bringing them inside?

One time I had a fruit fly infestation that didn't want to quit.
Eventually I found a bag of liquidized potatoes that had hidden
themselves in a cabinet. Once that disgusting mess was cleaned
up, problem solved.

If you have a continuing problem, they are still hatching somewhere,
I'm sorry to say. You need to find the source in your house.

nancy

On Aug 22, 3:20�pm, Julia Altshuler wrote:

The summer joy of summer fruits has brought us a
summer fruit fly problem...
�
Would vacuuming the AIR do any good? �Naturally,
we're not big on poisons. �Fly paper?

I bought a pitcher plant (carnivorous) at a farmers market.
It's cheap, not particularly attractive, but it works.

Julia Altshuler wrote:

And still the fruit flies persist. It's gotten to where we can't
drink a glass of wine with dinner without them hovering. If we forget
to wash the glass, they're all over it when we turn our backs.

Rinse out the empty wine bottles as soon as
they're empty.

On Aug 22, 3:54*pm, Nina wrote:
On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:50:22 -0400, "Nancy Young"
wrote:

Julia Altshuler wrote:

Would vacuuming the AIR do any good? *Naturally, we're not big on
poisons. *Fly paper?

Nothing ever worked better for me than a glass of dry white
wine in a wine glass, just left out to sit. *Worked better than
beer. *

It makes sense that they're outside, but what's bringing them inside?

One time I had a fruit fly infestation that didn't want to quit.
Eventually I found a bag of liquidized potatoes that had hidden
themselves in a cabinet. *Once that disgusting mess was cleaned
up, problem solved.

This has been my experience, too. *There's something somewhere that
they're eating. *Eliminate that and the problem will (eventually) go
away.

Flour moths are even worse... I had those in my last house, and we
never completely got rid of them. *(We had kind of a nasty selling
experience with that house, so part of me has this evil wish that they
are still tormenting the current owners.)

Nina

OMG! We had those, too. Little brown moths, right? We had a HELLUVA
time getting rid of them. I finally got a pheromone thing that got
them. I threw soooo much stuff out trying to get rid of them. You will
never guess where they were - in a ziplock bag of white chocolate. It
was disgusting- a bunch of moth wormy things.....ewwwwww!

merryb wrote:

On Aug 22, 3:54 pm, Nina wrote:

Flour moths are even worse... I had those in my last house, and we
never completely got rid of them. (We had kind of a nasty selling
experience with that house, so part of me has this evil wish that they
are still tormenting the current owners.)

Nina

OMG! We had those, too. Little brown moths, right? We had a HELLUVA
time getting rid of them. I finally got a pheromone thing that got
them. I threw soooo much stuff out trying to get rid of them. You will
never guess where they were - in a ziplock bag of white chocolate. It
was disgusting- a bunch of moth wormy things.....ewwwwww!

I think I read here on RFC that placing bay leaves in drawers, closets,
shelving, and such can help to keep those flour moths/woollie bugs at
bay (pun intended g). I haven't tried this trick yet. Does anyone
know for sure?

Sky, who'll probably soon buy some bay leaves in bulk

--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice

On Aug 22, 4:09*pm, Nina wrote:
On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:01:59 -0700 (PDT), merryb
wrote:





On Aug 22, 3:54*pm, Nina wrote:
On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:50:22 -0400, "Nancy Young"
wrote:

Julia Altshuler wrote:

Would vacuuming the AIR do any good? *Naturally, we're not big on
poisons. *Fly paper?

Nothing ever worked better for me than a glass of dry white
wine in a wine glass, just left out to sit. *Worked better than
beer. *

It makes sense that they're outside, but what's bringing them inside?

One time I had a fruit fly infestation that didn't want to quit.
Eventually I found a bag of liquidized potatoes that had hidden
themselves in a cabinet. *Once that disgusting mess was cleaned
up, problem solved.

This has been my experience, too. *There's something somewhere that
they're eating. *Eliminate that and the problem will (eventually) go
away.

Flour moths are even worse... I had those in my last house, and we
never completely got rid of them. *(We had kind of a nasty selling
experience with that house, so part of me has this evil wish that they
are still tormenting the current owners.)

Nina

OMG! We had those, too. Little brown moths, right? We had a HELLUVA
time getting rid of them. I finally got a pheromone thing that got
them. I threw soooo much stuff out trying to get rid of them. You will
never guess where they were - in a ziplock bag of white chocolate. It
was disgusting- a bunch of moth wormy things.....ewwwwww!

The pheromone thing was the best thing we ever tried, and it still
only mostly got rid of them. *And they ate enormous Belgian chocolate
bar that my chef sister had gotten for me... that meant WAR. *They
love chocolate, and as far as I can tell, they can get through
anything.

Nina- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That really surprised me to find them in chocolate- the *******s!! At
least mine was white chocolate- you lost a dark one

Sky wrote:

I think I read here on RFC that placing bay leaves in drawers, closets,
shelving, and such can help to keep those flour moths/woollie bugs at
bay (pun intended g). I haven't tried this trick yet. Does anyone
know for sure?

Sky, who'll probably soon buy some bay leaves in bulk


It might help a tiny bit if you have a tiny problem. I'd say your best
bet is to go through your cupboards carefully, discard anything that
seems old to you, and keep everything else in the pasta-grain-bean-rice
family in the freezer for a year. Meanwhile, clean the cupboards with a
solution of 4:1 water:bleach. You get flour moths when you import the
eggs with a purchase. From there, they lay and hatch, lay and hatch.
The freezer doesn't do anything except keep the eggs from hatching for
the time they're frozen. They thaw and hatch when you remove them. So
cleaning the cupboards and keeping anything edible out of them for a
while is your best bet in halting the infestation.


--Lia

Julia Altshuler wrote:

Sky wrote:

I think I read here on RFC that placing bay leaves in drawers, closets,
shelving, and such can help to keep those flour moths/woollie bugs at
bay (pun intended g). I haven't tried this trick yet. Does anyone
know for sure?

Sky, who'll probably soon buy some bay leaves in bulk

It might help a tiny bit if you have a tiny problem. I'd say your best
bet is to go through your cupboards carefully, discard anything that
seems old to you, and keep everything else in the pasta-grain-bean-rice
family in the freezer for a year. Meanwhile, clean the cupboards with a
solution of 4:1 water:bleach. You get flour moths when you import the
eggs with a purchase. From there, they lay and hatch, lay and hatch.
The freezer doesn't do anything except keep the eggs from hatching for
the time they're frozen. They thaw and hatch when you remove them. So
cleaning the cupboards and keeping anything edible out of them for a
while is your best bet in halting the infestation.

--Lia

Thanks for the advice, Lia. I'll go through my pantry soon anywho, as I
intend to do some major painting there.

Sky, who hopes intentions come to fruition ;\
--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
. ..
The summer joy of summer fruits has brought us a summer fruit fly problem.
We used to be in the habit of leaving peaches and pears in a bowl on the
counter to ripen. Now everything is in the refrigerator. The counter tops
and sinks are scrubbed to unusually clean. Glasses of orange juice used
to get a quick rinse before being put in the dishwasher. Now they're
getting washed thoroughly, THEN put in the dishwasher. The garbage has a
plastic liner and is behind a closet door. The fruit flies aren't
gathering there.


And still the fruit flies persist. It's gotten to where we can't drink a
glass of wine with dinner without them hovering. If we forget to wash the
glass, they're all over it when we turn our backs.


We're starting to suspect the garbage disposal, but we've been rinsing it
appropriately.


Would vacuuming the AIR do any good? Naturally, we're not big on poisons.
Fly paper?


It makes sense that they're outside, but what's bringing them inside? (The
windows have screens, but we all know how much good those do.) (Jim
suggested that they've been evolving to find sweets longer than we've been
evolving to do away with fruit flies.)


Help!


--Lia
Apple cider vinegar works great for a bait too and it kills them when they
land in it. Can be watered down a bit.
DH

Sky wrote:

I think I read here on RFC that placing bay leaves in drawers, closets,
shelving, and such can help to keep those flour moths/woollie bugs at
bay (pun intended g). *I haven't tried this trick yet. *Does anyone
know for sure?
================================================== ===========

Go ahead and put the bay leaves in your canisters of anything floury,
Worked for me, You might notice a bay leaf smell to the flour but I
never minded it and I couldn't taste it at all, (but then I rarely
bake sweets).

Avoid refrigerating peaches - that's how they get mooshy and woody. I
used to taste the sample peaches in the store, pick them out soooooooo
carefully - making certain they smelled good and peachy. Then I'd
take them home and put them in the fridge. By the next day they'd be
inedible. Now I put them in a brown paper bag on the counter and every
one has been perfect! Learned that from Lynn Rosetto Casper on the
Splendid Table (NPR).

Lynn in Fargo
No longer refrigerating fruits including tomatoes