YOUR DRAIN, A FRUIT FLY’S PARADISE

I was in a home last week and marveled at the array of diy fruit fly traps on the owner’s kitchen counter top.  There was a half glass of wine, a plastic-wrap covered bowl with a decaying banana in it and two other similar home-made inventions.  The home-owner, while pleased with the rate of capture was daunted by the fact that they still seemed to keep coming.  Little did she know that the bigger problem was coming from her sink just a few feet away.  Inside the drain I found fresh doses of undisposed food and a lightl film-covered rubber drain stopper covering the drain hole.  Voila, a fruit fly’s breeding paradise.  Your sink and drain, if not cared for provides everything fruit flies need to reproduce in mass quantities, a food source, humidity and a soft porous surface to deposit their eggs.  You can capture all the fruit flies you want but if you give them a soft and humid place to breed, they will come faster than you can peel a banana.  In the months where fruit flies are most active (and year round for that matter), keep your sink, drain and disposal clean and clear.  More importantly, take out the rubber drain stopper and clean and sterilize it regularly.  Keep the drain covered when not in use. You may eventually need a professional but in the meantime, you’ll be more effective at keeping the situation under control.