There's so much to love about the hotter months; swimming, boating, hiking, camping, and so much more, however one of the negatives of the hotter months are those pesky fruit flies. And if you're like our family, you love the goodness of having fresh fruit available, and if you're like me, that glass of red or white wine to enjoy without the hassle of aggressive fruit flies.

Now, there are many commercial chemicals or traps that can aid in ridding your home or office of them, however, here are some amazing remedies that you can do by using all natural goodies found in your pantry that's inexpensive and effective.

Below, I will share some at home methods that worked when we had a visit with those pesky rascals. As always, I hope this helps. 

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

Oh my gosh! Apple Cider Vinegar is truly a heaven send for attracting fruit flies. They absolutely cannot stay away from it. So, I've used a combo of Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar and added just a dab of grape jam, covered with plastic wrap and added some holes in the wrap and it will trap tons of them...Yukky, but effective. Check out this video that explains exactly what I mentioned HERE

 

ESSENTIAL OILS AND HERBS

Here are a few essential oils and herbs that deter fruit flies. 

BASIL, PEPPERMINT, EUCALYPTUS: These are a few of the herbs that deter fruit flies. Placing these in muslin sacks, or tea bags and hanging them around the house will deter fruit flies. 

CAMPHOR (be very cautious with this one), LAVENDER, PEPPERMINT, CLOVE, LEMONGRASS, all deter fruit flies. They can't stand the smell. You can dab some cotton balls in these oils and wipe around the home, especially in the kitchen area, and deter these rascals all while making your home smell naturally amazing. I love to dip tea bags into essential oil blends and hang around the home. They can't stand it, I tell ya!

 

INCENSE

I have learned, fruit flies hate smoke, and especially smoke from incense. They can't handle inhaling the smoke. When they inhale the smoke, they die fairly quickly, leaving you fruit fly free.

 

WINE, BEER AND BOURBON

 

Well, I guess these rascals like a good glass every now and then like we do. Fruit flies love the smell of wine and it will attract them in minutes! So, a small glass of wine used to trap them, similar to the apple cider vinegar method, works extremely well with attracting, trapping and killing the fruit flies.

 

MILK, SUGAR + GROUND PEPPER

Taking a mixture of 2 ounces of ground pepper, 1/4 lb of raw sugar and one pint of milk, simmer it together in a saucepan for 8 to 10 minutes. Pour the mixture into a shallow dish and the fruit flies will be attracted to it instantly and die. 

TIPS..TIPS..TIPS..

Some other tips that can help minimize fruit fly infestations are: keep the area clean and tidy, keep fruit refrigerated (check out my pic below of our fridge and how we use glass ware to keep fruit secure and our area fruit fly free), minimize sitting water, fruit flies are attracted to sitting water. Get rid of rotting fruit as the yeast is where they lay their larvae and harvest. Again, I hope this helps and you can enjoy your summer pest free as much as possible.

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