Fruit flies? In MY kitchen?

wasted pixels

It's more likely than you think.

About a month ago, I was out of the country for the better part of a month. I forgot to toss out a bag of potatoes before I left, and came home to a (relatively minor) fruit fly infestation. After disposing of the offending spuds and setting up some traps, the insurgency seemed to be mostly quelled, but I continued finding one or two a day. The fruit flies outnumbered me a paltry three-to-one -- good odds for any Greek -- but now they seem to be gaining numbers. There were four or five just chilling in my kitchen sink this morning, but only one side of it. A few minutes of observation seemed to indicate that they were coming out of the drain.

A quick googling revealed split opinions: One camp saying to use bleach in the drain, the other insisting that bleach does nothing (but not offering any alternative solutions). Unless these fuckers are willing to do my evil bidding (and they seem unresponsive to my demands that they fly down to Motomart and get me a Vanilla Coke), they have to go.

How do I kill 'em?

Septus

I've had one friend use Bleach down his kitchen drain and that definitely did not stop them. I wonder if there's some sort of side pocket or something in the drain pipes somewhere that could be missed by the bleach?

Fibretip

i used to get them breeding in the sink too, in the plug hole and all along the seam with the wall, where water gathered. I just used to pour lots of boiling hot water down there, and along the seam... seemed to do the trick for me

The Cat

drano the sink, it probably needs it anyway. Bleach won't cut it. wear gloves!

ppd1000

Boiling hot water from the kettle is an great idea, always works also good on ants and flying ants:P, also this site should help http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/fruit_fly.htm

Aridhol

I filled the sink half full (stock pot and kettle) with boiling water and let it rip down the drain. Never saw a fruit fly again after that.

aesir

There is a mixture that you can buy that you flush down drains that is made for killing fruit flies. The restaraunt I used to work at used it. I dont know what it was called.

MengerSponge

We have some fruit flies occasionally, and just put out homemade traps for them. Basically we take a bowl, put some fruit in it, cover in plastic wrap (tightly; secure it with a rubber band or something) and poke a few holes in it. The flies can smell the fruit, crawl in through the holes, but can't find their way out again. Empty the bowl every couple days (before they start breeding or the fruit gets too disgusting) and you should be good.

This is all assuming you have a limited number of the things though. If they're just pouring out of the sink, stopping them this way probably won't be enough.

Blake T

Just boil a couple of pots of water at the same time and bung the kettle on so you have a few litres going at once. If you have a plug on a chain or can get the plug out using a long spoon or something plug it up poor all the water into the sink then let her rip.

They'll be all dead no worries.

EggyToast

The reason that drano, as well as "a sink full of hot water" works is because of the trap on your sink. Most traps, from regular use, develop a sort of sludge at the bottom. This sludge is normally no problem, as it's in the trap, but it is stinky. As it's also dependent on what goes down your drain, stuff can get stuck in there, and if some flies find it, they'll potentially breed -- especially if you're gone during the day.

Using Drano or a basin full of water provides enough force to flush out most of that sludge, getting rid of flies as well as their "source" or at least attractant.

It's a good thing to flush the traps on your sinks every once in a while anyway, although usually just using a bunch of water is fine. However, just because they're at the sink doesn't mean they're coming from the sink. They're likely hanging out around your drain because of tiny water bits.