Flies are a common sight in kitchens where they can often been seen buzzing around the fruit bowl or the bins. Whenever the UK experiences an increase in temperature you can guarantee flies won’t be far away.
That’s because flies are attracted to moist, fermenting fruits and vegetables, reports the MEN. Their appearance is too hard to ignore particularly if rotting food has been left in the food scrap bin, or worse, the expensive cat food that your lovely kitties just refuse to eat and you leave it out in the hope that they will eventually eat it – but they never do.
Flies are also partial to the dregs of liquid leftovers or fizzy drink or alcoholic spillages, such as beer, wine and soft drinks. That being said it is vital that you keep your house nice and clean.
READ MORE Katie Price says ‘it’s obvious I’m a good mother’ amid bedtime rant
Once they are in though, the annoying flies seem to double in numbers – and they can be quite tricky to eradicate. Female fruit flies can lay up to 500 eggs at a time and repeat every day for up to 20 days.
How to make your home fruit fly-free
The first step to take is to find and remove their breeding source, such as fermented or rotten food. Compost bins should be regularly cleaned and bleached, while homemade traps can be used to eliminate the pests.
Councils advise not to leave cut or spoiling fruit, vegetables and other foodstuffs exposed in open containers. Bags of potatoes and onions should also be checked frequently as an infestation can quickly spread if any are found to be rotten.
What are the best ways to get rid of fruit flies?
Apple cider vinegar
Take the cap from the bottle of cider vinegar and cover the opening in plastic wrap – secure it with a rubber band. Poke a hole in the wrap so the fruit flies can enter, but once inside they can’t get out.
Vinegar and soap
If the plastic isn’t working add three drops of soap to a bowl of vinegar and leave it uncovered in the kitchen for a few hours. The flies will be attracted by the vinegar, but the soap means the insects sink and drown.
Paper cone and piece of fruit
Place a bit of vinegar and ripe fruit in a jar. Roll your paper into a cone shape and put the small end into the jar. Fruit flies are drawn in, but can’t get out and drown.
Milk, sugar and pepper
Mix a pint of milk, four ounces of raw sugar and two ounces of ground pepper in a saucepan then simmer for 10 minutes. Pour the mixture into a dish and leave it on the side.
The flies will be drawn to the sweet mixture and drown in it.
Red wine
Fruit flies like a drop of wine almost as much as humans. Leave a bottle open with a little bit left and watch them drop in.
Change the soil in your pot plants
Bit more of a labour intensive solution this one. If you have plants at home and you are certain that fruit flies are coming from them then you might want to change the soil in your pots for fresh.
Invest in top-quality soil, which is less likely to contain pests.
Wash the dishes
Another tip that requires a bit of elbow grease. Make sure that you don’t leave and dirty dishes lying around in the sink.
Get in the habit of washing up straight after you have finished eating a meal and you won’t give the flies an excuse to be there!
Keep your bins covered
Fruit flies love an uncovered bin, so don’t give them chance to get at all that rotting fruit and veg by keeping a lid on it.
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
Yorkshire
