how to catch and get rid of fruit flies // homemade fruit fly trap

What you’ll need:

2-5 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (balsamic works well too)
Sheet of paper (or two)
Tape
Tall, clear glass jar or cup (use something with a mouth that isn’t too wide)

What to do:

1. Pour in the vinegar into a jar or cup. I used just enough to cover the bottom of the cup.
2. Roll the paper into a cone shape and place in a jar or cup. Use tape, if needed, to hold the paper cone together.
3. Wait for the flies to descend.
4. Empty out the jar by releasing the fruit flies outdoors periodically to once a day.

I always keep a lot of produce in the house, so there’s always a few fruit flies buzzing about. But last week I was faced with an unusually large amount of them, particularly swarming around my ripe grape tomatoes. There had to be about 20-ish fruit flies hanging out by this little package of tomatoes and it completely grossed me out. I’d remembered this tip I learned from Youtuber

Megan Elizabeth on how to get rid of them using just a few household items, so I decided to try it out. It worked! ALL of them were trapped in the cup within two days.

A few tips and notes:

1. The hole at the end of the cone should be narrow so that the flies can’t escape.
2. The flies will try to crawl out by the sides, so you’ll want to make sure this area is secure.
3. Place the cup next to your produce or by the sink (or wherever you find them hanging out the most). You’ll catch more of them quicker.
4. Although this is considered a humane technique, you’ll have some casualties aka flies that got drunk on vinegar and drowned.
5. Our exterminator told us you would even use wine in place of vinegar. But then again why waste perfectly good wine?