I need your help with a murder.

[Jester]

No, not my sister, roommate, ex-girlfriend, or any SC. Actually, it's not one individual.

I need your help in a mass murder. Yes, I am serious.

My intended victims, the targets of my wrath? Fruit flies. Lots and lots of fruit flies. They are a menace at The Bar, and we are going nuts and trying everything to get rid of them.

The Bar is not a dirty place. Hell, it's one of the most sparkling clean places I have ever worked, and management is a stickler about such things. But around the downstairs service bar and beer taps, we can't keep the fuckers away. And they are driving all the bartenders and managers fucking nuts.

So, please, I beg of you....what suggestions do you have to help us totally annihilate these fuckers? Help me commit genocide!

[Dreamstalker]

Murder, huh? ...oh, of the non-human sort. Damn

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/03/03jul21b.cfm

[Eireann]

Pour wine in a glass and add one drop of dishwashing liquid (to break the surface tension). They'll be attracted to the wine, and then drown when they land.

Also, take an empty bottle, fill it halfway with something that the little bastards like, and put a funnel in it. They'll die in there because they can't get out.

[artifical sweetner]

google it, there's tons of ways to get them

[Kittish]

Find where they're breeding and eliminate their breeding grounds.

Look around the areas where you keep trash cans and make sure that no organic material has fallen behind or around that area. Check under the counter where your taps are and see if there are any leaks or puddles they could be breeding in. Also be sure to look on the underside of the counter. Also (if you can) move any refrigeration units and check underneath for standing water or garbage that may have gotten pushed under them. Same goes for any piece of equipment that has a space underneath it.

ETA: The fruit fly larvae may feed on the sides of the drain and in the drain trap if there is an accumulation of organic debris there. You can check it by placing some tape over the opening (leave some opening for air flow). If you find these flies stuck to the tape, you have discovered the source.
(from http://doyourownpestcontrol.com/fruit_fly.htm)

[PepperElf]

oo the wine idea sounds good

fruit flies are attracted to sugary things - such as any exposed alcohol

which is why they love your bar!

[sexiphatchick]

Do you cover the pour spouts on the bottles every night? A friend of mine used to work as a bartender and they did that every night to keep down the fruit flies. They also had to flush the tap drains every night. It helped.

[Jack T. Chance]

And if all else fails, try Orkin, Terminix, or another professional pest control assassination service!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Oscillating fans help. Aim them where you are trying to work and have them sweep over the bar. Words for mosquitoes, too, they are weak flyers.

Also, smoke. Sometimes when the bugs get too bad to work outside, I build a fire and throw some green leaves and pine on it to make smoke.

Not 100 percent effective, but works well enough. I am assuming your bar is an outdoor one?

One thing I do to keep them out of my face is spray my hat with Off (the Deep Woods kind). Concentrate on the brim. (I always wear a river guide's hat when I'm outside. Keeps sun out of my eyes, rain off my glasses, ticks out of my hair, and merciless summer heat off my dark hair. Yeah. Summers in South Carolina are brutal. I might as well live in the Amazon.) The repellant will at least keep the Little Dammits out of your eyes.

[crazylegs]

Remove the bananas...

[dalesys]

Remove the bananas...

That's a bit personal for the male staff

[It shouldn't]

Coffee/bagel shop next door had the same problem. Turns out them was drain flies (they breed on the sides of the drains). 1 cup of bleach down the drain at closing every evening and then flushing a bit with plain water when they came in did the trick

[Kogarashi]

Eireann's second tip was what helped us control the invasion last summer (dang bananas). Hubby and I don't drink alcohol at all, so we used balsamic vinegar instead (which they loved). The funnel kept them from finding their way out. We cleaned out the trap once a week or so. As a bonus, the liquid causes the fruit fly larvae to drown when they hatch, which solid-bait traps don't.

If you've got organic garbage, especially banana peels, it might be worth it to make a separate trash bin for those, which you have to make sure to empty out every 10 days or more frequently. The banana peels are how the nasty little things got into our house in the first place. Hubby and I now have a bucket on the counter specifically for food trash, which gets emptied frequently enough that the flies don't have time to breed on there.

[Gravekeeper]

3rd vote for the aquatic death pit. That's what I used when they invaded one summer. Bit of dish washing liquid + apple cider. Wiped them right out. Than just flush the drains.

[Amethyst Hunter]

Murder, huh? ...oh, of the non-human sort. Damn

Yeah, I got all excited up until the part where he mentioned non-humans.

Also voting in favor of death by baited alcohol.

There are also these hanging bait traps that unfurl to reveal a long UBERSTICKY strip from which there is no escape, but beware: these are very gunky and nigh-impossible to remove from anything else if their gunk gets on it.