Fruit Flies

Any idea how to get rid of them naturally? I litterally have thousands around my compost and many in my house. I am getting tired of random clapping around here

Welp,
    If you have them in your compost then, you mostly have a pile of garbage rather than compost.  you need to turn the compost when it cools down to about 90 degrees.  When it cools it's because it's used up the oxygen and needs to be stirred up so the supply is replenished.  If the problem persists, you might need to add some dryer material like leaves or straw to the mix. Fruit flies can'tlive in a hot pile with moderate moisture content.
  In the house, I find just getting the source of food out of the house for a few days does the trick.  Adding diatomaceous earth to the compost inside and out helps too.

To keep the fruit fly somewhat under control in my house I use cheap whiskey. They love hard alcohol.
Just a little of the liquor in a bottle with a pourer on top attracts them inside the bottle. I think they drown happy.
I also read on this site about sourdough. The starter if left out on a counter {prefered method} will most definately attract fruit flies. If useing this method be sure to cover with a double layer of cheese cloth. Jim

when they get really out of hand I find that vacuuming them up helps significantly 

Apparently, some apple cider vinegar and a drop of dish soap will "slay a horde of fruit flies overnight."



source

I can vouch for the apple cider and soap technique.

I'll put it in a jar and make a funnel out of paper to top it off. they fly in the funnel but cant quite figure how to get out 

Another pic:

Friends in the apple orchard business will take one or two apples on a branch and coat it with a sticky vinegar solution (vinegar/detergent). Almost all of the fruit flies will go to the treated apples, and leave the rest of the crop alone.

When I bar tended, one of the bar tenders the night before had left an open bottle on the bar. When I opened up for lunch, I looked at the bottle, and there was a layer of dead fruit flies on the surface of the booze. Both vinegar and alcohol do attract them.

if you make a small funnel to go in the bottle then the flies go in and can't get back out since they can't find the opening to the funnel. Make the opening so that they have to fold their wings and crawl into the bottle They'll never get out. I use a wine bottle with a little vinegar or a piece of banana peel inside. Usually clears a room pretty quick as long as there is no other food around.

I've also put a dish of vinegar in the microwave with the door open. Turn the lights off and go to bed. In the AM shut the door and zapp them for a minute. DONE. Serve warm to chickens.

Has any tried using a venus fly trap to fight this fruit fly battle?



A commentor on this article said it worked wonders for her.

I have heard all about these funnels and such for use with fruit in a bottle but i have found with vinegar or distilled spirits (plus a drop of detergent) there is no need to cover it at all, the fruit flies happily die right there and do not try to fly away. I had the oddest experience, they didnt like the dry red wine i left them....shrug i went back to cider vinegar. I put it in a wine glass to keep evaporation down...any of the other methods seem right to me I will save a liquor bottle.

I wouldnt use the funnel method because I have a worm bin and need constant fruit fly control so I dont want what I leave out for them to look bad. A glass of vinegar near the worm bin and another in the kitchen next to the container i collect compost in (on another floor) does a great job of keeping them down (I rarely see one alive outside the worm bin). nagging my kids to rinse their soda cans did not work.