Everyone knows that fresh fruit is a welcome addition to anyone's kitchen, but those horrible little fruit flies that sometimes hitch a ride on your apples can become a disgusting sight. These house nuisances are naturally drawn to the decomposing produce and garbage. 

It is a beast to keep flies out of your home; however, do yourself a favor and try to help prevent fruit flies outright by keeping your windows and doors closed all the time, or make sure your window and door screens are secured in place. Don't leave these entryways open any longer than necessary.

These fruit flies aren't poisonous, but they're extremely annoying, especially inside the house. If you are enjoying a fantastic life living in a Branson apartment and are also experiencing annoyance with fruit flies, here are some simple tips on how to kick the fruit flies out of your apartment.

Attend to your compost food scraps

If you don't immediately take your food scraps out to the garbage, and instead decide you are going to compost, good for you. But unfortunately, do you know that along with saving the environment, you may be attracting more fruit flies into your home? Apartment living guidelines recommend refrigerating compost food scraps you've got stored in the kitchen, and it's a good idea to keep them in a tightly lidded container to avoid being infected by fruit flies.

Don't Leave Produce Out

Here is an excellent reminder to most apartment dwellers...all ripening or overripe fruits and produce like tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and other veggies, should be kept in the fridge to avoid attracting fruit flies. And remember that lady fruit flies lay eggs in ripe fruits and produce, and you can imagine how much they can multiply.

Watch Out for Damp Areas

Avoid creating damp areas in garbage bins, sinks, drains, and from leaky pipes, as fruit flies are easily attracted to these - keep these places in your home as dry as possible. Make sure to keep all kitchen food storage spots clean and dry, and throw away your garbage before they get full.

Clean Up Those Dirty Dishes

Food scraps lying around your kitchen are the ones to be blamed for attracting fruit flies, so make sure to wash your dishes as soon as you're finished eating. It may take a little while to get in this habit, but cleaning up those dishes right after eating can help you eliminate flies.

Use apple cider vinegar

Many experts swear that using apple cider vinegar is an effective way to get rid of fruit flies. Do this with the use of a bowl or glass. Fill it up with apple cider vinegar, cover it up with a plastic wrap, then secure it with the help of a rubber band. Make small holes in the top of the plastic wrap and leave it for a while. The fruit flies will sniff out the vinegar, make their way through the holes, and then be trapped.

Vinegar and dish soap

This is a homemade fly trap that you can do even easier. All you need is some vinegar, a bowl, and a drop of dishwashing liquid. Do this by filling the bowl with vinegar, add dish soap, and mix it up. Dish soap is purposely used to change the vinegar's consistency so that the fly becomes immediately trapped.

Beer and Wine Trap

This is a kind of fermented substance that most people have at home, and you can use it to trap flies. To do this, leave a small amount of the substance at the bottom of your bottle or can. Place it on a flat surface near the fruit fly problem. The flies won't resist the fermented goodness the alcohol has, and will quickly trap them in the bottle. You may also add a drop or two of dish soap to encourage even more trapping.

Ripe fruit trap

Trapping flies on a ripe fruit is one of the most effective solutions in getting rid of them. You only need to put a small amount of vinegar in a jar or cup and add some very ripe fruit or veggies that you haven't touched for days. Get a paper and roll it up into a cone with an opening below it. Place it in the cup with the wide side up, narrow side down. The rotten produce in it will attract flies, which are then trapped.

Whether you're a permanent resident in this favorite tourist spot in the Midwest or just visiting the Branson area for pleasure, chances are you are bound to enjoy a fantastic apartment life in Branson, after you have learned these simple tips to kick the fruit flies out of your apartment. 


Thousand Hills Realty is Branson’s premier property management company. If you are looking for a Branson apartment to call home, call us today at (417) 337-8081.