Combating annoying fruit flies in the kitchen

Do you spot one fruit fly? Then your whole kitchen will be full in no time. And that is not surprising when you know that one female can produce up to 900 offspring. As their name suggests, they are primarily attracted to (over)ripe fruit.

Fruit flies may not be dangerous but it's not nice and hygienic either. So check your fruit bowl regularly or, even better, cover the fruit and put it in the fridge. The fruit basket is not the only favourite hangout for these little wings. You should also place your rubbish bin outside the house. Do not leave dirty dishes lying around and rinse jam jars and liquor bottles immediately after they have been made. Even dish and tea towels with food leftovers attract fruit flies, so we recommend changing them every day!

A real boozer

• Despite all your efforts, do you have unwanted visitors in your kitchen? Then you can catch them with a fruit fly trap or you can also do it yourself with some kitchen utensils. Vinegar and alcohol are irresistible, they like it, for the little flies. Sweet syrup also goes down well, so fill a bowl with it and cover it with some plastic kitchen foil. Then prick a few holes in it with a fork. The fruit flies will be attracted by the smell and will fly into the bowl but will then be trapped.
  
  
• In the battle against fruit flies, you can also use their natural enemy: the ichneumon wasp. It also deals with white flies and aphids. The parasitic wasps will lay eggs in the larvae of the fruit flies after pupation, preventing the larvae from developing further. Some fruit flies make their larvae drink alcohol in threatening situations because parasitic wasps are intolerant of it. Whereas fruit flies are much more resistant to alcoholic liquids because of their yeast-rich diet.
  
  When the parasitic wasps lay their eggs in the fruit fly larvae and the wasp larvae start eating them from the inside, they also ingest the alcohol and die. Fruit flies are clever creatures, so make sure that these suckers have no alcohol in their reach.
  
  

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