Making a DIY fruit fly trap is easier than you think. The ingredients for it can be found in pretty much every household, making it a great option for those who don’t want to spend on sprays or commercial traps.
For your typical fruit fly trap, you need a container and something that attracts those little pests. The most obvious one is ripe fruit, but you can use honey and vinegar as well. Creating a trap that actually works is all about making sure that flies can easily enter but it is nearly impossible for them to leave.
In this article, we are going to show you how to create highly effective traps at home.
How to Make a Homemade Fruit Fly Trap?
For the simplest homemade fruit fly trap, you need to find a plastic bottle, some vinegar and dish soap. Use a scissor or another sharp tool to cut the plastic bottle in half. Then, you need to pour the vinegar into the bottom part and add a few drops of dish soap as well.
- Related: How to Catch Fruit Flies?
Now the bait is there, you only need to guarantee that fruit flies can’t leave once they reach it. You are going to do this by placing the top quarter of the plastic bottle on top of the bottom part, upside down.
This way, it is going to be easy for the flies to enter but once they are in, the narrow opening is going to prevent them from leaving.
How to Make a Fruit Fly Trap with White Vinegar?
If you don’t have apple cider vinegar at home, white vinegar is also fine. For this version of the trap, you need to fill the bottom part of the bottle with a mix of water and melted sugar. Although this is the simplest solution, you can use any other liquid that is sweet and sticky.
Add a couple of teaspoons of white vinegar to the mix as well. This will ensure that other insects such as bees won’t get trapped, only fruit flies. It is not a problem if you end up with some of the sticky liquid on the tunnel surface. In fact, it makes it even harder for the flies to escape once they made their way in.
How to Make a Fruit Fly Trap for Fruit Trees?
It can be annoying to find out that fruit flies have invaded your orchard. Fortunately, we have a simple solution to this problem. You can save your fruit trees by setting up a simple fruit fly traps using empty plastic bottles.
First, drill or burn 4-5 holes slightly above the middle of the bottle. Make sure that the holes are only slightly bigger than the flies. You can use a solution of water, melted sugar and white vinegar to make sure that no bees end up caught in the trap, only fruit flies.
Using honey, sugar, vinegar, beer or fruit juices instead of sugar is also fine. This attractant or lure should also be mixed with a few drops of dish soap in order to reduce surface tension. Wrap a wire around the bottle’s neck and you can easily hang it on a branch.
Spraying the whole bottle with a bright colored paint will help the fruit flies to find the holes more easily. Close the bottles and let them hang in the orchard. There are also ready-made solutions specifically made for fruit flies available that are highly effective. Make sure the traps hang from at least 1.5 meters of height.
How to Make a Fruit Fly Trap Apple Cider Vinegar?
Apple cider vinegar is one of the most used attractants for fruit fly traps. You can mix it with some water and those little pests simply won’t be able to resist it. All you need is a container such as a bottle, bowl or jar and something to create a tunnel with.
The tunnel can either be the top part of a plastic bottle placed upside down on the opening of the container or a paper rolled into a cone. The point is to make it easy for fruit flies to enter but very hard to escape. Pour the vinegar into the container and place the tunnel on top of it.
Fruit flies usually just wander around in the trap once they get in, until they get exhausted and fall into the solution.
How to Make a Fruit Fly Trap with Dish Soap?
Dish soap can be used in pretty much any liquid attractant that people use against fruit flies. These include beer, apple cider vinegar, fruit juices, water-sugar mixes and such. Once you have set up the container with a tunnel as entry for the flies, pour in one of the mentioned liquids.
Then, add a couple drops of dish soap to reduce the surface tension. This will ensure that the fruit flies will drown, as they will sink into it quite easily.
How to Make a Fruit Fly Trap with Wine?
The thing about old wines is that they are made of fruit and also contain enough sugar to attract fruit flies. Therefore, wine can be as good as honey, ripe fruit or beer when it comes to attracting fruit flies. You can either set up a trap for this or just open the bottle of wine and leave it like that.
The narrow neck of the bottle is usually enough, as it makes it hard for the fruit flies to get out in any way. This works pretty well with a bottle of beer too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Use ripe fruit, beer, old wine, honey or water mixed with melted sugar. There are also ready-made solutions that you can buy specifically made for fruit fly traps.
Make a fruit fly trap using a plastic bottle, water and vinegar. Dish soap is optional but it is often used in order to reduce the surface tension of the fluid. Use a sharp tool to cut the plastic bottle in half, pour the solution into the bottom part and place the top third of the bottle upside down on top of the bottom part.
Take a jar, pour vinegar into it and place a ripe fruit in it as well. Then, take a piece of paper and roll it so that it forms a cone. The tip of the cone needs to form a narrow opening that has to point downwards when placed on the opening of the jar. Fruit flies will be attracted by the fluid and fall into the jar.
Make a good fruit fly trap using an attractant which can be honey, beer, old wine, vinegar, ripe fruit or fruit juice. Dish soap can be used with any of the mentioned fluids to reduce surface tension and trap fruit flies more easily. Pour either of the attractants in a container and create a tunnel by placing the top of a plastic bottle upside down or a paper rolled into a cone on top of it.
For a DIY fruit trap, take a container such as a plastic bottle, bowl or jar. Pour vinegar, honey, beer, water mixed with melted sugar or fruit juice into it. Add a couple of drops of dish soap as well. Create a narrow tunnel by placing the top of a half-cut plastic bottle on top of the container. The narrow end of the tunnel should point downwards.
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