The weather is warming up and the kids are going in and out of the door all day long. That’s sure to let a few bugs in, right? Right. But there is one sneaky pest that usually doesn’t fly in the doors at all. Fruit flies usually hitch a ride as eggs on fruit you buy and hatch when the conditions are right. And this time of year, we’ve got apples, strawberries, watermelon – you name it – out on the kitchen counters. Before you know it, that one fruit fly hovering over the bananas could turn in to a real headache – an infestation.

Fruit fly infestations usually start with a few lucky eggs who are able to hitch a ride on your produce. Once they hatch, they only live for about 30 days, but they reproduce like crazy! One female fruit fly can lay hundreds of eggs in her short life span, and it only takes a week for those eggs to become adults. That means that you could be dealing with hundreds of fruit flies in only a matter of days.

If you already have a fruit fly infestation, getting rid of them means you have to be diligent about dealing with them, not just kill the ones you see (remember their quick reproduction times?). The best way to get rid of or prevent fruit fly infestations is to get rid of the things that are attracting them. Here are a few tips to get rid of fruit flies and prevent them from returning.

• Make sure you have a tight fitting lid on your trash can and empty your trash often. Fruit flies love a good meal of rotting produce. Make sure you don’t invite them to the buffet.

• Clean up all sweet spills promptly. Juice, soft drinks, jelly, wine – anything sweet can attract fruit flies.

• Don’t leave out dirty dishes. Best practice is to just wash the dishes after each meal, but if you can’t do that, put dirty dishes in a sink full of soapy water, rather than leaving them dry in the sink or on the counter.

• Clean out the drains . Fruit flies love all the food particles and bacteria that we don’t know about that are just sitting in our drains. An easy way to remedy this is to pour boiling water and bleach down the drain.

• Don’t leave food out on the counter. If you must leave produce out, as soon as it ripens, freeze it, cook it, eat it, or throw it away.

• Make a simple fruit fly trap. Using a small jar with holes punched in the lid, mix water, dish soap, vinegar, and sugar in the jar. The fruit flies with be attracted to the sugar, but will be trapped and killed by the vinegar. This may help reduce the infestation, but it won’t solve the problem entirely, unless you take the steps mentioned above.

If, despite all your best efforts, you are still dealing with fruit flies, take comfort in knowing that YES Pest Pros can help you. Our pest control technicians are trained in the most up-to-date methods to eliminate fruit fly infestations, and other household nuisance pests.

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