Had fruit flies for 2 months, couldn’t get rid of ‘em. Kept all wet towels outside, mop outside, cleaned out the drains religiously. Thats also 2 months of Orkin visits, with little to no improvement. I tried their fly strip, insect spray, floor cleaner, Raid, everything. Thursday picked up 3 Hot Shotz Flying insect pest strips at Home Depot, $7 each. Friday and Saturday, fruit flies gone! I’m just sayin’…
I had them in my house, the were attracted to a small compost bin we had on the counter next to the sink. We got this trap, some natural oils in a plastic cartridge that they would go in and die, seemed to work well.
Okay…after years of trying every extermination company…finally a customer told me that he was a VP of a local extermination company and can get rid of them…and did with a proprietary product and enzyme cleaning of the drains.
The only simple way is to fill small portion cups with red wine vinegar with a penny sized hole in the lid. The flies are attracted to the wine and crawl in a never come out.
HOWEVER this does not cure the problem…it is most likely the drain and simple cleaning them is not the solution. As for an enzyme cleaner. Lets think of the drains as a septic tank…there is food residue and particles hanging out in there that the larvae feed on and then breed. I thought that by putting degreaser or bleach in there with hot water would kill them…NOPE.
So…your exterminator MUST be experienced with restaurants and DO NOT waste your money on those little orange cups with the holes in the top…or fly strips…the cups are only filled with wine and the strips DO NOT attract this type of fleas.
I only have one question to ask. Are you an approved, certified and licensed pestiscide applicator?
If not, I didn’s see that can of Raid insect spray.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
BTW: Are those pest strips approved for use in a food manufacturing facility?
Just curious.
Thanks for that perspective Tom. I think I got lost in my frustration with the insects. I never would put my food safety at risk, but always better safe than sorry.
I know all too well the feeling of that fustration. If you have the fly problem pretty well under control, remove the strips and see if the problem comes back, if so, you have a wet area where they are breeding that needs to be discovered and corrected. As you know, floor drains are always highly suspect, pour a little sanitizer down them regularly, also check up behind your sink to see if there is any wetness behind the sink (faucet area). Don’t forget to check out the mop closet if you have one too. Outside, make sure there are no lights near the doors, and any trash should be as far away from the building as you can get it without trespassing. If you have any bug lights, make sure they cannot be seen from outside of the building. What we’re trying to do here is not to give the flies an invitation to come visit us.
If you should want to discuss, please feel free to give me a call at 800-633-5137 (ext. 165)
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor