Every fall, as we near the end of canning season, my house seems to fill itself with fruit flies. Yes, it is entirely my own fault because I always leave the apples, and the onions, and the potatoes, and the pears, and everything else out on the counter or the table so that we can grab and snack on them whenever we choose. However, it is still a problem when the flies arrive.
Many years ago, my wonderful mommy showed me the simplest trick to getting rid of them naturally. It takes 2 minutes to put together and next thing you know, your flies are all trapped in a jar.
Since I know you all struggle with fruit flies every once in awhile too, I wanted to share my little secret with all of you. Relief from the fruit flies is just a piece of paper, a jar, and a secret recipe away.
- You will need a jar, a piece of paper, a piece of tape, fruit, and bread. Any jar will work. A regular sheet of paper and whatever tape you can find will suffice. A piece of fruit that is a little on the riper side, or even got a few bad spots already is ideal.
And a soft, fragrant piece of yeasty bread is the best. - Roll your paper into a funnel shape so that the top part is as wide as you can make it. The bottom opening only needs to be about as big as your thumb. Tape it in place.
- Put your piece or two of fruit in the jar, and squish it down a little so some juice covers the bottom. The more fragrant the better! Then toss a chunk of bread on top. The bread is your secret weapon. The smell of the fruit will draw them in and the yeast will hook them, they love it! Just don’t fill your jar too full or the flies will crawl right out.
- Top your jar with your paper funnel. Make sure the funnel is not sitting on the bread. Then place it near your worst fruit fly problem. That last picture is after only 5 minutes on my counter. They go down the funnel to the delicious fruit fly food and can’t figure out how to get back out.
- A short while later, when the jar is filled with flies, carefully take it outside and set the buggers loose. Hold the funnel in place until you are away from the house and your door is closed. Repeat as many times as you need. For me, that means I have a fruit fly trap on my counter for a few weeks, but it sure does work great!
No pesticides, no spraying, just a natural way to remove the fruit flies from your house.
Hope this helps you as much as it helps me!
~Farmer’s Wife
Ugh! They’re driving me nuts. I use this method but have a plastic funnel, and instead of letting them go I fill the jar with hot water. It’s so bad right now that I have traps on the vegetable bin, beside the trash can, on the window sills, and on the counters. They seem worse than usual this year.
Oh good idea, the hot water! I will have to try that. Thanks Robin! Just a few more weeks and fruit fly season will be over here, I hope it’s that soon for you too!
This is a great idea. Those things are annoying. No stinky chemicals either and that’s good for the bees !
Soooo annoying, I agree!
I have also used this method, but I add apple cider vinegar to it as well. Works like a charm!
I will have to try that next time, thanks
This is the best my school has a compost thing and we have a ton of fruit flys. They come around while we are eating lunch. This will help us a lot. Thanks so much
You are welcome Aya! Good luck!
Many folks do not realize that fruit flies cause severe and destructive issues for fruit farmers partly due to the rapid 24 hr turn around from egg to adult fly! Do not release back into the wild to do more harm, instead add warm-hot water to the jar and gently shake to dispatch those flies. The heat will also increase the amount of flies to visit your jars! Raspberries and watermelon have been fruit fly favorites at our house.
Thank you so much for your wisdom Rosie!