Fruit Flies
Can someone please tell me how to rid my kitchen of fruit flies? They were swarming on my bowl of peaches, so I put those in the fridge. Then the hovered over my apples and bananas. I moved the apples to the fridge as well, but I am leaving the bananas on the counter–my kids won’t eat them if they turn brown in the fridge.
The darned flies are still around the bananas, but their latest obsession is my starter. I was trying to make sourdough starter. I had it covered with a dishcloth on the counter. They got ALL OVER the dishcloth, and some even got under it and drowned in the starter. I obvoiusly had to toss the starter. I’m just dying to try it again, though, but not until I get these bugs under control.
Any tips???
August 14th, 2006 at 2:51 pm
I keep my starter in a gallon sized plastic bag. You have to let the gas out every day :-). Also, kill them with bug spray and then make sure your drain is free and clear. In FL we discovered they like to settle and nest at night in the sink drain pipes and then get on fruit and counters and such in the day. Kill the present generation, clean and cover the drain at night, and seal up the starter and maybe it’ll work?
August 15th, 2006 at 7:27 am
Put the starter in your oven — the light on is just the right warmth, but not necessary. Just remember to take it out before you bake anything!
Also, I keep starter in the fridge unless I’m preparing a batch in the evening for something I’m going to make the next day.
Do you have a pantry or closet you can put the bananas in?
August 17th, 2006 at 10:25 am
Fruit flies love bananas. Sorry. Check your drain. As I’m writing I realize I haven’t been by lately and you may already have this under control ,but just incase I’ll have my say anyway. In college in my genetics class we had to manipulate the lifecycle of fruitflies. The entire lifecycle of a fruit fly is 10 days. We were to mutate them into being sterile fruit flies. While my partner and I passed the test I still don’t think I can tell you everything about it. But they love bananas! And soda and beer cans too -if you recycle them and they are around, be sure to wash them out first. Make a fly trap: pour a tiny bit of red wine into a shallow dish or jar lid and cover it with plastic wrap; poke a tiny hole in it and they will enter and not leave. You will need to change this every day or other day though.
August 20th, 2006 at 2:29 pm
Thanks for the ideas…things are getting better now that the fruit is all in the fridge. I may have to try making a new starter again, this time in a ziploc bag.