I keep finding fruit flies in my cereal box, how do I get rid of them?

Question

It is so gross..big fruit fly problem in my kitchen..don't know how to get rid of them, every summer they are there!

Answer 1

Until you get rid of the put your food in an air tight container! They will keep coming back when they detect a food they like. It's just mother nature!

Answer 2

You must have some decomposing fruit/vegetables somewhere -outside perhaps?
I had this problem when I started composting - even though the bin was a good few metres away at the end of the garden.

The vinegar trap should work really well -even malt vinegar -they like vinegar - when I had a problem they even managed to squeeze in the top of my old fashioned vinegar bottle and my poor 5 year old daughter ended up with them on her food- mummy there's a fly on my chips -mummy there's another fly on my chips etc- at first I couldn't understand how they had managed to get there (yuck!)

They also love bananas - so if you have some around they might be attracting them (and it is not a good idea to store bananas in fridge) - you could try to store them in a sealed container. I used to do research using fruit flies and we used to make traps for escapees with a banana skin in alcohol - they worked really well - guess you could try banana skin in vinegar...We also had fly papers up but we never caught one with them.

They also like yeast...

They might be irritating - but at least they are not a health hazard like blue bottles and house flies.

Answer 3

hello,
first of all,
fruit flies breed on food that is decomposed
so is it possible that some food spoiled
if so get rid of them, and that should be the end of the
fruit flies. They come between every summer and fall.
These are the smallest flies.

Answer 4

Take a jar and put some apple cider vinegar in it. About 1 inch deep. Add 1 teaspoon full of dish soap. Cover jar with plastic wrap and secure it tightly to the jar with a rubber band.

Take a toothpick and Punch several tiny holes in the wrap.

This will trap and kill the fruit flies.

When full of flies, dump contents out and repeat process as needed.

Answer 5

Are you sure they are fruit flies. Because there are many other flies and bugs that attack our food. especially in the summer, its hot and humid in the house and out. First Check you Flour bag , Rice Cat & Dog food(dry) All Ceral boxes, Pasta, pancake mix, These are a few of the products that are under question. Mostly dry ingriedents. I had this one summer, and thought I was ready to burn the house down. it was so bad.

Answer 6

It could be that you have gnats , they look like fruit flies. They life off the fresh soil from household plants & the deed roots. If you have household plants leave them to dry out for a week, then they will leave , Also put the stopper of the sink in before going to bed at night , this way they will have no where to hide and place to drink, You could put your plants outside this way they will dry out quicker

Answer 7

Here's a page with a lot of tips for fruit flies.

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf000317.tip.html

For cereal, I would tranfer it to a tupperware or rubbernaid container rather than leaving it in the box which is tough to seal.

Answer 8

You put up with them every year and you do nothing about it? Try transferring open boxes into airtight containers. And close the lids tight. Put open boxes in zip lock gallon bags.

Use your head.

Answer 9

Clean everything out and throw away food with them in it. Don't leave fruit or vegis out, keep them in the fridge.

Answer 10

clean your kitchen and get rid of all old fruit.