During the summer months, we are often annoyed by pesky flying bugs that seem to zip by us in the blink of an eye. Although most of these flying bugs bother us while we are outdoors, there are ones that can also be found in our homes. And they’re FAR more annoying!! Houseflies are one species and fruit flies are another. Houseflies on one hand are large enough for us to hit with a fly swatter, but hitting fruit flies with a fly swatter is really challenging. This year the fruit flies have been really bad in our home and they drive us nuts! Especially my husband!
Did you know that preventing fruit flies is easier than you think if you follow these simple tips that are listed below…
Preventing Fruit Flies in Your Home
- No Surplus- One tip for eliminating or preventing fruit flies from invading your home is to have no surplus of fruit in your home. In other words, do not buy more than a two day supply of fresh fruit at the grocery store. By doing this, chances are you will eat it all up before it has a chance to become too ripe.
- Bag It Up- Bagging your refuse from your fruit before putting it in the garbage can will eliminate fruit flies from making your garbage bin a free for all. Empty bread bags and milk bags are great for storing fruit peels, seeds, and over ripened fruit that you will not eat. Another great tip for bagging it up is to store your fruit waste in the refrigerator in a bread bag until it is pretty full or until garbage day. That way you will just need to toss the bag in the receptacle and then dispose of it in your outdoor garbage bin.
- Store Fruit in Refrigerator- As soon as you get your fresh fruit home from the grocery store, full your sink with some baking soda and water and wash the fruit that can be peeled. This will remove some of the chemicals used to preserve them. Pat dry with a paper towel and then store them in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them. Leave a couple of bananas out to eat, and put the others in the freezer. Frozen bananas are a great icy treat for children and can be used for baking purposes.
I’ve implemented these tips in our home and we’re already seeing a difference in the number of annoying little bugs! And that is making my husband VERY happy!
This is good to know! I get fruit flies a lot during the summer
Good tips! I always get them, but surprisingly, winter is my problem time!
These are very good tips….and I’m going try them.
Thanks so much for sharing this! We always seem to get so many fruit flies in the summer. I’ll definitely be using this!
I HATE fruit flies. They might be my least favorite thing about summer. I never thought to bag organic items in the trash- that’s a great tip! My biggest problem is limiting extras. I try to go to the grocery store as infrequently as possible just because I have to bring my three little kids with me. Thanks for the tips!
Oh we need this so badly! I’m killing fruit flies all the time! Thanks for sharing these tips!