Has this ever happened to you? You’re scrubbing a dish in the kitchen sink and see a small creature buzz up out of the drain. Was that a gnat? Then you watch more of them zooming around the kitchen. These aggravating little guys are actually fruit flies. And if you’re wondering how they got in there and what you can do about them, you’re in the right place.
Why Are They Here?
Fruit flies live all over the U.S., and mate quickly. According to WebMD, “An adult female fruit fly can lay up to 2,000 eggs on the surface of anything that's moist and rotting. Within 30 hours, tiny maggots hatch and start to eat the decayed food. Within two days, they're all grown up and ready to mate.” Since they’re lured by moisture and rotten food, they’ll head for your trash can, your old fruit and the kitchen drain, which is packed with moisture and tiny pieces of food. In some cases you’ll see them fly up out of the drain. This can be notably likely if you have a partly clogged sink or disposal that drains slowly. This retains more moisture and food debris that attracts these insects and allows them to thrive and reproduce.
How Bad Are They?
When fruit flies move from a dirty surface to a clean one, they bring germs with them. This can include listeria, salmonella and even E. coli. All of these bacteria can result in acute cases of food poisoning.
What Can I Do About Them?
Due to this bacterial risk, keep your surfaces clean at all times. Use a kitchen surface cleaner that eliminates bacteria. Don’t reuse sponges that can soak up, retain and transfer germs. It’s best to use paper towels and throw them away.
Bug sprays can kill off the adult fruit flies but won’t kill the eggs. And you most likely don’t want to spread insecticide all throughout your kitchen. Instead, put boiling water into your drain. Before bed, block off your drains with clear packing tape. Each morning, you should see some fruit flies stuck to it.
Here are other traps you can also try, all involving a jar:
- Wine—Add an ounce of wine into the jar. Make a hole in the lid so the fruit flies can enter. You can also utilize a funnel or paper cone instead of a lid.
- Spoiled fruit—Same as above, but with rotten fruit in place of wine.
- Apple cider vinegar—Same as above but you'll use apple cider vinegar.
- Apple cider vinegar and dish soap—Same as above with dish liquid as well, which makes it harder for flies to escape.
- Yeast—Pour in two or three ounces of water, one packet of activated dry yeast and a teaspoon of sugar.
To minimize encouraging fruit flies:
- Rinse your produce as soon you bring it home. Occasionally they can possess fruit fly eggs or larvae.
- Refrigerate as soon as you can.
- Avoid keeping old produce in your home. Buy only what you’re likely to eat.
- Empty your kitchen trash often, and keep it closed.
- Keep your surfaces clean and disinfected.
- If you like to keep windows raised, install well-fitted screens.
If the listed methods haven’t eliminated your fruit fly issue, there might be an issue with your p-trap. That’s the part of your drain pipe bent in a u shape to capture water and prevent foul air from drifting up into your home. It also stops flies from surviving in your pipes and flying up from the drain. If your pipe has a leak and lacks a water seal, this can produce a fruit fly infestation. Run the water and look below for a leak. If you see one, get it fixed right away. Leaky pipes can lead to mold and structural damage to your home.
You should also hire a plumber if your kitchen sink or garbage disposal is draining slower than usual. This problem not only helps encourage fruit flies, but over time the sink drain can fully clog and become useless. The Orangutan Home Services plumbing team has the equipment, experience and knowledge to diagnose the problem and fix it quickly. We utilize a video drain inspector to obviously see what’s occurring inside the pipes, and multiple methods to clean them, depending on the type and intensity of the blockage. If the problem is your garbage disposal, we can repair or replace it at a price you can afford. We also resolve leaky pipes.
If you are looking for any sort of plumbing service at all, call the professionals at Orangutan Home Services. Whether we’re warming, cooling or making the water run, we take great pride in keeping our customers happy. With more than 4,000 team members, we can deliver and innovate better than anyone. Our can-do family attitude helps us get the job done on time, and right—the first time.