Fruit flies can be a common problem all year long, but most often appear in the summer when temperatures increase. Fruit flies are attracted to overripe bananas, bruised fruits, potatoes, onions or other unrefrigerated produce left on your counter or in your pantry. Although overripe fruits and vegetables are their breeding ground of choice, they also breed in anything moist that has some fermenting material on it, such as drains, the foods scraps bin and even cleaning rags.
If you are experiencing ongoing issues with fruit flies, we recommend changing the compostable bag in your food scraps bin daily. Another option may be to consider storing fruits in the fridge in warmer months.
One option that can be used to remove fruit flies is to set a 'trap' on the bench top. Pour one or two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in a bowl, cup or glass jar. You can use other vinegars of a cider variety that you have on hand, such as red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, but not white vinegar. Cover the top tightly with plastic wrap. It may also help to place a rubber band around it to make sure the plastic wrap stays in place. Put some small holes in the plastic wrap and leave it on the kitchen bench top, near the affected area, for a couple of days. The flies will crawl in and they won't be able to crawl out.
As an ongoing deterrent, you could also try using some natural essential oils. This involves a few drops of tea tree oil or eucalyptus oil in water in a spray bottle and use around affected areas.