Insects serve a purpose on this Earth, but they can also be extremely annoying (and unsanitary) when you’re working with food. Whether you’re preparing food in the kitchen or eating outside, bugs – especially fruit flies – are unwelcome visitors.
It’s even worse during the holidays because the presence of fruit flies is an inconvenience that affects a lot of people.
Battling fruit flies is inconvenient, but it doesn’t have to be a massive chore. Here’s a list of several ways you can prevent them from invading your holiday festivities.
1. Try natural remedies first
Before you reach for the nearest bug spray you can find, consider using natural remedies first. Not every product on the market is entirely safe, and it’s especially important to be cautious around food. Some insect repellents shouldn’t be breathed in, let alone ingested.
Thankfully, there are plenty of natural ways to manage fruit flies. For instance, you can open a bottle of apple cider vinegar and cover the opening with plastic wrap. Poke a small hole for the flies to get in, and they’ll naturally be attracted to the vinegar. They’ll fly into the hole and won’t be able to get out.
You could even make your own fly traps out of apple cider vinegar and place them around your kitchen or outdoor eating area.
Other natural methods to control fruit flies include:
· Using vinegar and dish soap to attract fruit flies
· Using red wine, overripe fruit, or milk and sugar to attract flies
There are also sticky strips you can hang from your ceiling or outdoor areas designed to attract and trap fruit flies.
2. Be extra mindful with bananas
Bananas are attractive to fruit flies, and if you have bananas in your house, you’re probably going to end up attracting some flies. However, you may not realize that bananas can actually carry fruit flies into your home.
You can’t see it, but bananas often have fruit fly eggs on the outside and inside. When you bring a bunch home, rinse them off right away and keep them in the refrigerator to prevent the eggs from hatching.
If the idea of fruit flies laying eggs inside of a ripe banana bothers you, then you may want to skip buying bananas altogether.
3. Keep your food covered
It’s important to keep your food covered at all times, especially the sweet stuff like fruit and sugary foods. The problem with any type of fly is that when they land on your food, they lay eggs. It takes days for those eggs to hatch, but you don’t want to be eating fruit fly eggs. Also, fruit flies carry germs, and just landing on your food can transmit bacteria like salmonella, E. coli, and listeria.
Sometimes, you can’t prevent fruit flies from coming around, but you can prevent them from landing on your food and laying their eggs. Keeping your food covered at all times will keep it safe.
Your guests may not want to cover their food, but at the very least you can cover your serving dishes full of food and let each individual make their own choice to cover their food or not.
4. Avoid serving fruit
Unfortunately, fruit flies were named ‘fruit’ flies for a reason – they love fruit. One of the easiest ways to prevent attracting fruit flies to your holiday meals is to avoid serving fruit. Skip the bananas, watermelon, and berries and serve other foods instead.
Fruit flies are most attracted to sweet and overripe fruit, which makes bananas and berries a prime target. Often, berries quickly become overripe in just a few days if not kept in the fridge, and this can create a problem. Fruit flies lay their eggs on berries just like bananas, and leaving berries out of the fridge can make those eggs hatch just in time for your holiday meals.
Instead of fresh fruit, try serving dried fruit, nuts, and non-sugary snacks like pretzels and chips. If you can’t avoid serving fruit at your holiday gatherings, buy it close to your gathering and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to lay it all out for your guests.
Don’t let fruit flies invade your holiday festivities
Fruit flies are annoying, but they don’t have to ruin your holiday meals. Try the tips outlined in this article to prevent fruit flies from invading your holiday gatherings.