Apr 22, 2012 – Plenty of Flies, No Cooperation
QUESTION:
What product will be the best to use to eliminate fruit flies in a commercial kitchen? The owner will not clean up.
ANSWER:
Well, that is certainly putting the burden on you. If you have identified that the poor sanitation in this kitchen is the reason there are fruit flies, then clearly cleaning up the source must be key to eliminating the pest problem. If the owner simply refuses to do his part in this necessary program, but expects you to somehow eliminate the flies, it is important for him to recognize the limitations of what you can do. If he is led to believe that you and your chemicals can get rid of the last fly it is a mistake, and he is likely to be complaining to you that you are not doing what he is paying you to do. Fruit flies can breed in so many possible places in a commercial kitchen that for you to deal with all of them would be difficult.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
What product will be the best to use to eliminate fruit flies in a commercial kitchen? The owner will not clean up.
ANSWER:
Well, that is certainly putting the burden on you. If you have identified that the poor sanitation in this kitchen is the reason there are fruit flies, then clearly cleaning up the source must be key to eliminating the pest problem. If the owner simply refuses to do his part in this necessary program, but expects you to somehow eliminate the flies, it is important for him to recognize the limitations of what you can do. If he is led to believe that you and your chemicals can get rid of the last fly it is a mistake, and he is likely to be complaining to you that you are not doing what he is paying you to do. Fruit flies can breed in so many possible places in a commercial kitchen that for you to deal with all of them would be difficult.
If, on the other hand, he is just saying "do what you can" and only hopes for a reduction of the problem, then perhaps there are some possibilities. The first could be the placement of a lot of fruit fly traps, and Univar carries several different kinds. These are baited with some attractant to draw the adult flies. You could also install some UV light traps, and again these are only going to attract and kill adult flies. But, concentrating your efforts on only the adult flies is a poor way to control flies of any kind, as they quickly are replaced by new ones developing in the filth that may be present. On a side note, the kinds of micro-habitats that fruit flies breed in are also wonderful media for the growth of bacteria, and these simply should not exist in a commercial food service facility. The owner is acting in a negligent way if he is telling you he plans to ignore the poor sanitation.
If there are surfaces with a buildup of scum and other food resources for the flies you could treat them with one of the surface cleaners that we offer, such as the Invade products from Rockwell Labs. Perhaps it is poorly maintained grease traps, and these can be treated as well. Perhaps these are even Phorid flies along with vinegar flies, as the two are very similar in appearance. If drains are not clean they can produce phorids, black-eyed fruit flies, or drain flies, and you can offer the service of treating the drains to remove the organic buildup.
It may even be possible to treat surfaces with a residual contact insecticide to kill adult flies, but I hate this suggestion because it is so short lived and is an unnecessary use of pesticide. Even worse would be to attempt to resolve the problem with fogging, which quickly kills adult flies present at that moment but gives no relief from new flies.
I suggest doing a very thorough inspection of the entire kitchen, and in writing note all of those contributing conditions that you find that could be leading to these flies. You might be pleasantly surprised and find something simple that can be cleaned up or removed quickly and painlessly for the owner. But, at least then you know what the sanitation problems are and perhaps can work with the owner to create a timetable for fixing them. The long term control relies on eliminating breeding sources.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
