How to Kill Fruit Flies

Fruit flies seem to appear from nowhere and multiply overnight — because they do. A single female lays hundreds of eggs on anything fermenting, and those eggs hatch in about a day. Killing the few you can see does nothing; you have to out-pace the breeding. Here is the fastest way to shut it down.

The fastest way to kill fruit flies

Set a trap that works while you sleep. Sweet Surrender, our countertop-ready fruit fly trap, uses a plant-based liquid lure that draws adults in and holds them — no fumes, nothing you would mind next to the fruit bowl. Place it where activity is heaviest (counter, near the bin, by the sink) and let it pull the population down day and night. For stragglers on the wing, a quick mist of Six Feet Under drops them on contact and dries clean. (Why they are so persistent: Why are fruit flies so hard to get rid of?)

Why the DIY vinegar bowl lets you down

The apple-cider-vinegar-and-dish-soap trick catches a few flies, but it is slow, it looks messy, and it dries out in a day — so it quits right as the next generation hatches. A purpose-built lure keeps working for weeks — in Dr. Killigan's side-by-side testing, Sweet Surrender pulls up to 10x the catch of an apple-cider-vinegar bowl, which is what breaks the cycle. It also helps to know exactly what you are dealing with, since look-alikes need a different fix: Phorid flies vs fruit flies.

Kill what's feeding them, not just the adults

• Trap first: keep Sweet Surrender running until you go days without a sighting.
• Starve them: take out the trash, refrigerate ripe produce, and wipe up juice and spills.
• Check the drain: scrub any slow drain with hot water and a brush to clear the fermenting gunk flies feed on.
• Clear stragglers: mist Six Feet Under on fliers and around problem windows.

Related: Natural fruit flies control and How to get rid of fruit flies in the kitchen.

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