Here's How The Pioneer Woman Gets Rid Of Pesky Fruit Flies

Fruit flies in your kitchen can be a real buzz kill when you are cooking or eating. Those pesky little dots that seem to hover around your fruit bowl, which you strategically placed so the kids would go for an apple or banana instead of other snacks, is just downright gross. But why do fruit flies choose your kitchen to take up residence? Terro.com notes, these bugs can appear no matter how clean you keep your home and eating area. They can follow you back to your house from the grocery store or even a farmer's market. And chances are, if they do and you have fruits and vegetables that are ripe setting out on countertops or tables, they are going to find it. These little flies are also fans of your wine and other sugary beverages; they like the aroma of your cleaning supplies and might enjoy hanging out around your damp sponges and mops.

But aside from being annoying, they are also dirty and can lay eggs that can make you sick. We said they were gross, right? So, how do you combat these tiny nuisances? Leave it to the Pioneer Woman to share her tips and tricks to keep fruit flies at bay and away from your prized produce. That's right, Ree Drummond knows a few things about fruit flies and we are so happy that her blog The Pioneer Woman is sharing that knowledge. 

Drummond's Pioneer Woman blog says that the first thing you want to do is practice prevention, and you can do this in several ways. First, they suggest washing your fruit first thing when you get home from the market and opting to store it properly in the refrigerator rather than out on a countertop. The Pioneer Woman also notes that practicing good garbage disposal hygiene is imperative, along with making sure the garbage gets taken out on a regular basis. If you do these things and still find those fruit flies buzzing around, Drummond offers several homemade traps, all of which involve attracting the fruit flies with their scent, and then trapping them so they can't get out. 

The first trap, and possibly the easiest, utilizes apple cider vinegar and a mason jar covered with plastic wrap with tiny holes all over. The scent will lure the flies and the plastic wrap makes it difficult for them to get out. The Pioneer Woman notes that you should not use white vinegar, but if you are fresh out of apple cider, you can try red wine vinegar or balsamic. You can do something similar with an uncovered bowl of apple cider vinegar and a little dish soap. The Pioneer Woman says the soap "breaks the surface tension" causing the fruit fly to drown. Whatever method you use, you need to be consistent and persistent to rid your home of these pests.