Hi Guys, Have any of you had an infestation of fruitflies lately? It's been totally gross but all of the sudden, I had so many. I couldn't swat them since a flyswatter was too large and I couldn't maneuver fast enough with a magazine, etc.

I was preparing food this evening when a swarm of them surrounded my face. I felt a bite on my cheek. One of those pesky creatures bit me! They had been trying to fly into my mouth on and off when I've had one or two in the past. Lately with the swarm of them, I've been totally grossed out. I thought of giving up raw fruits but that's not possible, either. So, after I was bitten today, I got out my vacuum and tried to vacuum them up. I've got many of them but not all. They're fast and the wand only vacuums a small area to overpower their flying strength.

At least, I've got most of them gone. I cannot imagine how many I swallowed when sleeping. Ewww.

Any other ideas? I've been taking the garbage out every night and covering the sink disposal with a stopper. Those seem to help. Also, I've been putting the fruit in the refrigerator to keep the bugs out. What else can I do?

Thanks. Therese

One of my daycare kids got a fruit fly in his eye..and I had to fish it out..ewwww..

Maybe try putting domes of some kind over your fruit bowls. I place towels over mine and have cut down on keeping fruits outside of fridge.

Love,
Prism

*giggle* least ya got some b12

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Prism, How frightful for both you and the child. What a brave one you are!

Jodi, You make me laugh.

-Keeping refuse in a sealed container will work. A good idea is to spray your refuse with bleach.......that'll pretty much keep away 99% of the baddies. I'm lazy....so I would often keep refuse for a couple of weeks this way before hauling it away. (I didn't like to carry the garbage can down the stairs!) LOL.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Try putting apple cider vinegar in a bottle and storing near your fruit. They fly in (can't fly back out) and drown.

Sunflower
Raw Food Chef and Writer
Comfortably Raw
[www.comfortablyraw.com]

wow life 101

a SWARM of them?

r u in the south?

life101 Wrote:
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> Prism, How frightful for both you and the child.
> What a brave one you are!
>
> Jodi, You make me laugh.

hehe good mission accomplished !

i keep most of my stuff in the fridge as i dont like warm fruits but anything on the counters i keep in containers or covered with a couple layers of cheese cloth and the fly count has gone down considerably all compost goes out daily or into the worm bin in the basement

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

You guys are all wonderful! Thanks so much for your support and ideas.

Dave, I'm lazy, too. I understand about the stairs. I finally reconciled myself into believing that it's good exercise to take the trash down the stairs and to the dumpster. At least, it's a positive outlook on something not very exciting.
Sort of scared of the bleach, though. I get headaches when I'm near the cleaning aisle. I can use boiling water or hydrogen peroxide. Those might work.

Sunflower, ACV sounds like a good idea. If I buy some, I will try it.

La_Veronique, I am in Ohio. Yes, a swarm. All of the sudden, they appeared overnight. Couldn't figure out how to get rid of them and maybe they bred while I wasn't looking.

Jodi, I second that motion!

I usually vacuum them because nothing else will work. As far as the bitig goes, some small flies look like fruit flies but are not. You should be careful about that as we had the same problem. The solution? Keep a vacuum cleaner handy until the all bugs are gone!

life 101

dang
that's tough !

VL, Thanks! It's comforting to know that someone else came up with the same solution that I have. Interesting about regular flies looking like fruit flies. Thanks.