Controlling Fruit Flies.
Once you remove breeding and food sources for fruit flies, adults die in a couple of weeks. To speed this up, use simple traps to collect fruit fly adults. Barb Ogg, UNL Extension Educator, suggests a new method to attract adult fruit flies to traps.
Use a one-pint glass jar. Add 1/4 - 1/3 cup of warm (not boiling) water. Sprinkle a package of activated dry yeast over the water. Add one teaspoon of sugar to activate the yeast. Swirl the yeast liquid. In a few minutes, the sugar will cause the yeast to foam and expand and start producing carbon dioxide.
Take a small plastic bag (like a sandwich Baggie®) and place it over the mouth of the jar with one corner extending down into the jar.
Poke a small hole (no more than 1/8-inch diameter) in the corner of the bag with a pencil.
Secure the bag around the rim with a rubber band or canning ring. The carbon dioxide will attract fruit flies to the trap.
Once a week dump out the contents of the trap and rinse out the container. If the flies you have don't seem to be interested in the trap, you may have a different species of fly and will need to consult with your local UNL Extension Educator to identify your flies.
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