Message 20612 of 39188 in General Discussion

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> A good scrubdown seems to have nearly eliminated the problem.  I 
> don't know what the exact attractant was, but the infestation is 
> essentially gone.  As for using vermouth, cider vinegar is much 
> cheaper and was more effective at trapping the flies than the 
> commercial products we had used.
> 
> Thanks for everyone's tips on the subject.

Fruit flies are attracted by the same three things that attract ants (well, 
pretty close):

- They come along with extended decay of foods (this is why a lot of places 
bragging fresh veggies tend to have problems)

- Sugar that has dried onto surfaces.  This is the most likely cause in bars 
as alcohol is chemically similar to sugar (and your body even turns it 
directly into sugar when it's processed).  There was a problem at our place 
when a goldschlagger (sp) bottle somehow cracked just enough to have an 
imperceptable leak.  There was a large buildup of sugar and cinnamon on the 
wooden shelf and about a week later (we didn't pour much of this stuff) during 
a cleaning I picked up the bottle and saw ants crawling on the sugar buildup.  
Fortunately chipping away that one mess was enough to get rid of them.

- The smell of fruit.  Yeah, the name is kind of a hint :)  This is also a 
pretty common reason for them to head for bars.  After all, everybody has 
midori, chambord, and a shelf full of other fruit-flavored treats.  This is 
why some states even have laws about using spouts with flip-lids or screens on 
them.

-- 
Cody