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Author Topic: Fruit flies  (Read 466 times)

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Offline Phallacy

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Fruit flies
« on: December 22, 2016, 06:02:47 PM »
Them annoying little bastards have infested my apartment. They started to come in a month ago, but the numbers were rather small until last night. Holy crap, they hatched. Big time. Now there's like 100 fruit flies buzzing around all over my kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. I've laid out vinegar traps, hung up some fly strips, and that's all I know to do. I talked to management, but they say they don't know where the flies are coming from, and cannot do anything about them. Just great. I don't leave food and trash out.
Right now, there'a fruit fly dashing around on my monitor. :grrr:

Oh and I had a few ziplock bags full of used cumrags in my bedroom, which the fruit flies LOVED!

Offline Yuri Bezmenov

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Re: Fruit flies
« Reply #1 on: December 22, 2016, 07:01:07 PM »
Raid make some flying bug killer, I've used it before, it works OK.

Also, there's those electric flyswatters that look like a tennis racket.

Offline Gopher Gary

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Re: Fruit flies
« Reply #2 on: December 22, 2016, 11:00:24 PM »
Also, there's those electric flyswatters that look like a tennis racket.

Oh! If you do that, please post video.  :zoinks:
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Offline 'andersom'

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Re: Fruit flies
« Reply #3 on: December 23, 2016, 02:19:15 AM »
Them annoying little bastards have infested my apartment. They started to come in a month ago, but the numbers were rather small until last night. Holy crap, they hatched. Big time. Now there's like 100 fruit flies buzzing around all over my kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. I've laid out vinegar traps, hung up some fly strips, and that's all I know to do. I talked to management, but they say they don't know where the flies are coming from, and cannot do anything about them. Just great. I don't leave food and trash out.
Right now, there'a fruit fly dashing around on my monitor. :grrr:

Oh and I had a few ziplock bags full of used cumrags in my bedroom, which the fruit flies LOVED!

Time to set traps.

Time to improve the vinegar traps. No vinegar but a little bit of wine, or fruit-juice. Now and then you can throw in a bit of sweet organic material. Piece of a clock-house, something like that.
You can make the opening of the bottle a bit smaller, using clingfoil or anything. Make sure the outside of the bottle is clean. You want to trap them inside.
Don't refresh the contents of the bottle. Ad a bit of sugar and some water every other day, and drain a bit if the amount of countertop "pruno" is getting too much. Fruitflies love that shit. It will be fermenting, the alcohol will make that they drown in the mess. And the odour of decomposing fruit-flies attracts more fruitflies. If it is only a little bit in that bottle, the odour will be heaven for them and no problem for you.

Further, give every surface they gather on extra attention when cleaning Swipe it thoroughly a few times extra per day. It is said cleaning with a detergent that smells of eucalyptus will chase them away. The lid of your bin, in and outside, is a place where tiny splatters of organic juices can be enough to get them procreating. Those annoying critters are so small that one drop of spilled juice can feed whole families.

Make a note of where they gather on your walls and surfaces. Sometimes they gather on very illogical places on the walls. That's a thing to specifically tell management, I guess.
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Offline 'andersom'

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Re: Fruit flies
« Reply #4 on: December 23, 2016, 02:22:43 AM »
Lol, only saw the yellow words now.

You know what to use for bait in those traps now.  :lol1:





Oh, and check the bins you throw your trash in. To see if they are not squirming with little fruit-fly maggots. If they are your bins, cleanse them. Hot water, detergent, what ever, get rid of that gene pool. If they are everywhere in the communal bins, notify management.
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Offline 'andersom'

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Re: Fruit flies
« Reply #5 on: December 23, 2016, 02:28:53 AM »
Raid make some flying bug killer, I've used it before, it works OK.

Also, there's those electric flyswatters that look like a tennis racket.



This post made me think of Lutra.

Most of the fruitflies will probably get through the mazes. But there will be a few that will sparkle.
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Offline "couldbecousin"

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Re: Fruit flies
« Reply #6 on: December 23, 2016, 05:55:51 AM »
  The yellow words ... the yellow words ... :vortex2:
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Offline Queen Victoria

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Re: Fruit flies
« Reply #7 on: December 23, 2016, 10:39:31 AM »
We got rid of our fruit flies in the fire.  Not recommended way of dealing with them.  They came back this year with some bananas.  Managed to stop them with the vinegar trap method.  However, I find ketchup works well in the trap.  If you can find a clear plastic container since they become disoriented with all the "escape routes"

Using fly strips works well also.  I've been told they lay their eggs in the sink drains.  So maybe a daily flush with boiling water and keeping the drains covered when not used will keep the population contained.
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Offline Phallacy

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Re: Fruit flies
« Reply #8 on: December 29, 2016, 04:40:33 PM »
Yeah, using fly strips works pretty well. I just got some "fresh" ones today from the store (cuz mine were sitting in the box for like 1-2 years before being used) and man, I forgot how sticky and gooey those things are when they're new. As soon as I hung up the strips, they started to catch the fruit flies.

So satisfying seeing those little fuckers squirm as they try in vain to get unstuck from the adhesive. That's what you get for trying to ruin my snacktime, you miserable little insects! Bwahahahaha! >:D

Offline Jack

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Re: Fruit flies
« Reply #9 on: December 29, 2016, 05:48:58 PM »
:laugh:

Offline Walkie

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Re: Fruit flies
« Reply #10 on: December 29, 2016, 06:20:28 PM »
Be very sure that you haven't overlooked  a carrot or something  in some dark corner of your cupboards. Fruit flies especially love sweet root vegetables like carrots. The females are the ones you have to worry about. They will lay their eggs in healthy, ripe fruit and veg, which then  rots quicky and turn into the kind of nasty stuff that  the larvae like  by the time they hatch .  Throw out anything that looks like it might have been compromised.

The fruit flies go through their entire life-cycle in two weeks. The adults only live about 5 days.  so if you can prevent  them breeding , they will quickly die off.  Best to keep fruit and veg in the fridge, where the fruit lfies can't get at it, insofar as that's  possible.

Failing that, it's said that that rinsing the fruit  veg in a solution of bicarb will make it unappealing to the fruit flies, though  I don't actually know if that works.

Last timeI had fruit flies, they'd come with a bag of sweet potatoes from the supermarket, one of which had been infected.  That's what's most likely to have happened to you, IMO. Fruit flies seem  to be becoming an increasing problem  on the farms (especially in Oz, which has been overrun by European species of fruit fly ) but it's worth giving the drains a good clean, just in case.

Finally, you don't use e-liquid at all do you? Nicotine is absolutely deadly to fruit flies. I've taken to using a bit vineger or something  as bait, and adding a bit of high nicortine e-juice to it. No need to trap them. They die within a few seconds of absorbing the nicotine. :) I also think that's prolly kinder than trapping them , since it's so much faster.

« Last Edit: December 29, 2016, 06:26:40 PM by Walkie »

Offline Gopher Gary

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Re: Fruit flies
« Reply #11 on: December 29, 2016, 06:26:47 PM »
I also think that's prolly kinder than trapping them , since it's so much faster.

You're too nice, Walkie.  :lol1:   :plus:   These are the cries of the fruitflies! They have a life! They have a consciousness! :soapbox:
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Offline Gopher Gary

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Re: Fruit flies
« Reply #12 on: December 29, 2016, 07:05:56 PM »
I just realized you might not get that reference.  :orly:


 :headbang2:

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Offline Walkie

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Re: Fruit flies
« Reply #13 on: December 29, 2016, 07:17:47 PM »
I just realized you might not get that reference.  :orly:


 :headbang2:



Ooooooh. Weeellll,  if you're going to keep distracting  my attention back to your mockery gopher, i shall start insisting upon  actual receipt of the plus you pretended to give me, as recompense for the brain injury. Fair's fair!

Carrots have consciousness too, hmm?

Heck, you'll be telling us that gophers have souls next :D

Offline Gopher Gary

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Re: Fruit flies
« Reply #14 on: December 29, 2016, 07:22:02 PM »
It's good spirited mockery.  :zoinks:  I actually thought it was sweet. I don't believe I've ever considered a gnat on that level. I can't actually plus or minus anyone.  :dunno:
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