Flies, I swat. And repeat my mantra like a broken record, "Please pull the door all the way shut!" every time a child goes in or out the back door.
Ants, I poison. I use the liquid TERRO ant bait. A couple drops on a piece of cardboard (placed out of reach of all children, of course) attracts and then kills them.
Fruit flies, I drown. I've tried several other methods of trapping these little buggers in the past and this way works best hands down. I learned this little trick from this smart lady.
Put a couple drops of dish soap in the bottom of a small glass or jar. Pour in some apple cider vinegar (just a couple tablespoons). Stir it around gently without sloshing it up the sides. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and a rubber band and poke a few holes in the top with a pen point. Set in the area they are worst. Within a couple hours, you'll see the results. The solution needs to be replaced every couple days to keep the potency up but usually that's not necessary. Just make sure all your bruised fruit is put in the fridge. You don't want there to be any competition. You want the fruit flies to take a swim not chow down.
Happy canning, lovelies!
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I needed this. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post! I brought some fruit flies in with some peaches I purchased at a local orchard. They are driving me nuts! Can't wait to put this plan into action when I get home from work!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this helpful hint
ReplyDeleteYou don't even need the wrap, at least I don't use it and they still drown, the soap changes the surface of the vinegar so they can't sit on top of it.
ReplyDeleteI am going to try the fruit-fly death trap. They annoy me so much, and we end up with them every year no matter how hard we try to avoid them. I think our only solution would be to stop eating fresh fruit and vegetables (not going to happen). Thanks for the advice!
ReplyDeleteI have been having the same problem over the past couple of weeks each time we bring produce in to can. I have been using a trap just like this, and it works like a charm! I also made one with a paper funnel in the mouth of the jar to see which worked best, but I found them to be about the same. The plastic wrap is so much easier to assemble, so we continued using it when needed. You're right, it only takes a short time and the fruit flies are gone (assuming you put away the fruit too).
ReplyDeleteMade one of these as soon as I got home and it started working right away! Thanks again for the post!
ReplyDeleteIf it makes you feel any better, we came home from Canada to ants in the dishwasher. Disgusting.
ReplyDeleteNo need to cover the top as long as there's dishsoap in the vinegar! It changes the surface tension so the fruit flies fall right in. Nothing tickles me more than this easy-peasy trap!!
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