Fruit Flies Dear God

MalReynolds

I have no idea where these things came from. I rent the basement of a particularly nice house, and a few days after installing a window unit (there was no functional AC) I found a couple of fruit flies in my bathroom. No problem; killed them, then sealed the window unit better, as I thought they might have come from outside.

After a few days, they reappeared, in greater number. I thought they might be living under my sink, so I sprayed some bug-killer under the cabinet, and that seemed to do the trick.

And now, they're everywhere. They hang out by my front door, they're in my bathroom, in my bedroom, in spaces in-between. I'm killing 20-40 of these little fucks a day, with my hands, with magazines, with a bonafide fly swatter, and I've sprayed the bug-killer in every possible area I thought they might be living in, to no avail. They keep respawning.

I keep my place very neat; I have a covered trashcan and I don't leave open containers around. I have no idea where these shits are, and I have nary a clue on how to get rid of them, as conventional means seemed not to have worked.

halp.

Cabezone

They could have bred inside the drain of your sink.

JustinSane07

You might need to hire a professional at this point.

Dr. Frenchenstein

There could be a rodent or something dead in your wall. I had some dead rats in the crawlspace of my house, and got swarmed with flies. Are you sure they are fruit flies?

Echo

Cabezone wrote:

They could have bred inside the drain of your sink.

Yeah, had that happen a few times. Ye gods.

Get a bowl. One part vinegar, one part something sugary - soda or whatever. Add a few drops of dish soap.

Put it near wherever the flies are, leave it for a few days.

Then purge the bowl with fire.

edit: but yeah, that just kills the symptoms. Need to get rid of the source too.

physi_marc

Cabezone wrote:

They could have bred inside the drain of your sink.

This happened to my girlfriend and me when we moved into our apartment. There were always fruit flies around the kitchen sink and in the bathroom. We bought Drano and used it in both sinks and the bathtub. It solved our problem for several months. We need to do it periodically, though.

MalReynolds

Thanks; I'll see if I can scrounge up some drain cleaner (I'm sure I have some) and see if that fixes the issue. I'll try and remember to keep everyone posted.

MrDelish

when we had fruit flies like whoa I cleaned up our pantry and found a sack of potatoes they had nested in. I threw that out and anything else they might have feasted on. What finally finished them off was pouring bleach down the drain a few times during the day.

ceres

Echo wrote:

Cabezone wrote:

They could have bred inside the drain of your sink.

Yeah, had that happen a few times. Ye gods.

Get a bowl. One part vinegar, one part something sugary - soda or whatever. Add a few drops of dish soap.

Put it near wherever the flies are, leave it for a few days.

Then purge the bowl with fire.

edit: but yeah, that just kills the symptoms. Need to get rid of the source too.

One of my professors worked in a yeast lab during grad school, and there was a fruit fly lab down the hall. The flies were constantly escaping into the yeast lab, so they took care of it with a cup of Maneschewitz by the door. The flies would be attracted to it, drink, be unable to to fly out, and then drown. It won't get rid of the source, but it might help clear the air temporarily.

Zeromus

physi_marc wrote:

Cabezone wrote:

They could have bred inside the drain of your sink.

This happened to my girlfriend and me when we moved into our apartment. There were always fruit flies around the kitchen sink and in the bathroom. We bought Drano and used it in both sinks and the bathtub. It solved our problem for several months. We need to do it periodically, though.

Just seconding this. Had the same situation, solved it the same way.

MalReynolds

Would Hydrogen peroxide and baking soda work?

spool32

Though I know what you're talking about, they probably aren't fruit flies. They are probably in your drain, yes. Drain cleaner will help some, but the best solution is the vinegar one from above, plus get out your vacuum and suck those fuckers up. After a week or two you will defeat them.

This will give you more info: http://www.pestproducts.com/fliesdrains.htm

Malkor

Apple juice and vinegar.

They drown.

MalReynolds

It looks like I've inocorrectly identified them as fruit flies; they're moth flies. I still want to destroy their habitats and make sure their children write songs and poems about the scourging their parents recieved (if I weren't intent on killing the children as well).

Would the same solution work as above? Could I use hydrogen peroxide and baking soda, or should I stick with bleach? I know I should also probably leave out drowning bowls for those straggling mothers who aren't in the drain when I decide to start a holocaust?

spool32

The problem with either is that they won't coat the inside of the drain. Bleach will probably work better, but it's going to be a process either way.

MalReynolds

I'll do it every few days until they're dead.

For good.

ShimSham

Yeah, bleach tends to work the best for flies and all that jazz if they're in the sink. Just pour a cup or two of bleach down the drain before you go to sleep (or leave for a while, just so long as no water will be there to wash it out)

If they're in your sink this isn't an uncommon problem at all, and you're likely to have them pop up again sometime in the future because that's just life. Just consistently use a little bleach for a week to ten days at least.

Mentioned in another thread but my dad owns a pest control company and I worked for him for some number of years and you wouldn't believe how many people have this problem.

BlueBlue

I had a similar problem and found these trap papers to work pretty well at attracting/killing, way more so than any vinegar solutions
http://www.amazon.com/Whitmire-Sticky-White-Fly-Traps/dp/B0002L2IXY/

But I only got rid of them once I tossed out the source, which was a bag of dirt

riz

Since the OP stated they're not fruit flies, I'm not sure this is still relevant, but I found (very recently) that the apple cider vinegar traps did nothing for the flies in my kitchen (the result of forgetting there was a peach pit in the trash). What worked though, like a charm, was some old red wine and some sugar. I made a trap with a glass bottle and they went right for it. Meanwhile the vinegar trap was untouched. Must be alcoholic flies in New York.

BoomShake

I literally just ended a campaign victorious against the flying menace.

One turned into two turned into twenty over night. Took out the garbage and all recyclables. Scrubbed the kitchen down to remove all crumbs. Tried both the vinegar + soap and the fruit bowl trap (cut fruit in a bowl, cover with saran wrap with holes big enough for them to get in but too small to get out), but neither were particularly effective. The only thing that seemed to work was a combination of periodically coming in and swatting at them after they settled as well as never leaving a dish unwashed or any pool of water, no matter how small, anywhere. Even running water and the disposal a few times a day.

I wish you luck, comrade.

MalReynolds

Occupation: Day One

I stalked the aisles of the grocery store, my hand-basket growing heavy with every future purchase. I had asked one of the employees where I could find baking soda and vinegar, and after journeying to the instructed section, I found that she had been off by, essentially, the entire store. So I traipsed back across, near the produce, and picked up a gallon of vinegar. In the back of my mind, a voice called out, "Are you sure that's going to be enough?"

No. So I picked up another. And two boxes of baking soda. And a tin of baking powder, for good measure, also because I couldn't remember which of the two baking accoutrements I should be handling. I did remember the pneumonic device, back in fifth grade, that the science teacher espoused to the class to differentiate between baking soda and baking powder - that baking powder would, for some reason, explode. Perhaps that's why I purchased it. I wanted those moth-flies to explode into tiny little moth-fly giblets.

I walked back across the store to the self check out, when the laundry aisle caught my eye. Two gallons of bleach made their way into my basket. Then, I stopped by the organic aisle and picked up some apple juice, so that I could create drowning traps for the miserable assholes. And then some yogurt, because I was out of yogurt and remembered as I walked past the dairy section. And then some Mentos, because I really wanted some.

With my death-kit/nutrition kit in hand, I checked out; my Holocaust Starter Bundle only running around $14.

I arrived home, and let me tell you, friends, I took far too much enjoyment in what followed. I prepped every sink with a bleach enema, and let it stew for fifteen minutes. My kitchen sinks, the bathroom sinks, the shower drain; the entire place smelled of burning bugs and cheap cleaning supplies. After I assume their existence had been handily wiped out, I continued my campaign. Each drain was treated with liberal amounts of both baking soda and vinegar. I let this sit as well. I boiled water and flushed each of the drains, and then set out the death-juice. Shaking, and dripping with sweat I popped a Mentos (Mento?). Then I took a nap! Then I had some yogurt.

When I arrived home from the gym, I opened my bathroom door, swatter in hand, and took care of the three or four flies that were flitting about; I also squashed the life out of those who had chosen to roost near my bed. But only four? That's an all-time low. Satisfied in Day One of Death Dealing, I went to sleep. No flies this morning, either.

The treatment will continue when I get home today.

I will emerege victorious, and soundly earn the title of

Pretty fly guy.

dukederek

Dude, I'd be really careful mixing Bleach with anything acidic, although the chlorine gas may kill the flies it mightn't have the greatest effect on your respiratory system either.

Nice story though

spool32

Seven-at-a-blow for the modern age.

:^:

AbsoluteZero

It sounds like what you are doing is working, but I thought I'd mention if you need something to really coat the inside of your drains, you could try Liquid-Plumr Foaming Pipe Snake. That shit is basically just lye and bleach, and will foam up to fill all the nooks and crannies of your drains.

willowmae38

What are these vermits???are they fruit flies,nats or what are these??we bought our house almost 4 yrs ago & the winters are cold real blasted cold.we are very clean people.we have honestly tried it all.i we thought summer lake flies were bad,as we think 10 times worse.were finally getting all new windows in our house.SAD part is contractor had to actually SAW the windows out as the previous owner had the WINDOWS GLUED IN..well 18windows are getting replaced 10 dwn & 8to go yet.boy the windows were rotted & bad..husband &i both disabled or windows & sideing wld been done a long time ago.as in summer we used c/a &winter either heat or we had to open a door for fresh air,thank goodness for programs that help others who cant afford a house make over.point being once roted windows removed,no more fruit fly like bugs.i sure how ever like to know a name for these pesty fruit fly like bugs,where now i wonder if not a wood type pesty vermit.. If any one would happen to be able to solve our MYSTERY & PERHAPS help others??AWARENESS OF THE FRUIT FLY LIKE INVASION..

willowmae38

What are these vermits???are they fruit flies,nats or what are these??we bought our house almost 4 yrs ago & the winters are cold real blasted cold.we are very clean people.we have honestly tried it all.i we thought summer lake flies were bad,as we think 10 times worse.were finally getting all new windows in our house.SAD part is contractor had to actually SAW the windows out as the previous owner had the WINDOWS GLUED IN..well 18windows are getting replaced 10 dwn & 8to go yet.boy the windows were rotted & bad..husband &i both disabled or windows & sideing wld been done a long time ago.as in summer we used c/a &winter either heat or we had to open a door for fresh air,thank goodness for programs that help others who cant afford a house make over.point being once roted windows removed,no more fruit fly like bugs.i sure how ever like to know a name for these pesty fruit fly like bugs,where now i wonder if not a wood type pesty vermit.. If any one would happen to be able to solve our MYSTERY & PERHAPS help others??AWARENESS OF THE FRUIT FLY LIKE INVASION..