A few weeks ago I wrote about my battle with fruit flies and how I managed to get them under control. Today Valerie is sharing the methods that work for her, enjoy!
-Meg
More Ideas to Get Rid of Fruit Flies
The Battle of the Fruit Flies, Part Deux
So, this is kind of a second part to Meg’s on fruit flies. Only this has been my battle. Every time I go through this with them, a song goes through my mind….♫The battle belongs to the Lord!♫ How I wish he’d rain down some fire on the little buggars.
I’ve had bad infestations of fruit flies in the past, but this summer it got to an all-time bad…it was starting to look like the Amityville Horror in both my kitchen and bathroom. Remember Meg said any organic matter can be a breeding ground? Our plunger in the bathroom seemed to be a local hangout for male fruit flies to try and pick up a nice looking female fruit fly. The idea of fruit flies copulating in my bathroom, well, it’s just gross. Heathens!
So, how have I combated them in my household? I’ve come at them with a variety of weaponry, pulling out all the stops. This is out and out war!
These are the usual natural ways to capture the creepy varmints: a homemade trap, a cup left out with liquid in it, and my favorite, my own Ambush Trap.
I’ll talk more about the homemade trap soon, but first, any cup with just about any liquid in it will attract them and send them off to a watery grave as reward for their greed. However, I’ve found that they especially like coffee and tea. I know they do like wine, but I’ve never left an unfinished glass of my white Merlot out for them. Waste not, want not. ;)
My Ambush Trap is simple. A used take out container from the local Chinese restaurant and a watermelon rind. They converge on it like monkeys on a cupcake, and I spray them with flying insect spray. The start dropping like tipped cows within seconds.
Here we have a few more weapons in my arsenal that I use at the same time as the others for a complete assault to wipe them off the face of the earth. Well, the earth inside my home, at least. Some are natural and one is obviously not.
The fly strips, which are labeled as Fly Ribbons, do not contain anything poisonous anymore; it’s just adhesive on there. Believe it or not, in the olden days fly strips used to be coated with metallic arsenic. And as unbelievable as it sounds, there were actually two murders committed by soaking the fly strips in water and poisoning the victim.
I hang them in several places of high fruit fly traffic, also known as the HOV lane of the Fruit Fly Airways. They work great–the one in the photo was in my bathroom, hanging around, just attracting flies. Did ya see what I did there? Not one, but *two* puns wrapped up tidily in that sentence. It’s a gift. ;)
The middle one, the plastic apple, is a fruit fly trap sold in most stores; mine was a buck ninety-nine. It’s non-toxic and refillable. It works, but not that great. Seriously, save your money and make one yourself; the homemade ones work way better.
And lastly, the flying insect spray, which is very much toxic. But like I said before, the little monstrosities drop within seconds. When I do use it, I don’t let anyone in the room where I sprayed for 15 minutes or so.
Now for the homemade fruit fly trap. It’s easy as pie to make. Well, maybe I shouldn’t use that expression; I can’t make a decent pie crust to save my life.
Anyhoo, get yourself a glass. Using glass means you don’t need a rubber band to hold the plastic wrap on. Put some fruit in along with some water halfway up the fruit, or use some sweet liquid. I’ve found that they love pineapple juice and watermelon juice especially.
Place a piece of plastic wrap on top, pulling tightly but carefully so the top is as smooth and wrinkle free as a Marine’s bed. Press the rest onto the glass in a tight seal.
Poke a small hole in the top with a toothpick. I usually do 3 holes. The point of making a small hole with a toothpick is to allow them to enter, but it’s very difficult for them to get out. I have no idea why, maybe they’re just not very bright. I mean, they did get themselves through the hole to get in there, you know? ;)
Set it out where they seem to be congregating the most. Which should be their little love nest. Like I said, heathens!
So anyhoo, this is my Battle of the Fruit Fly Plan. I hope you never have an infestation as bad as I did this summer, but if you do, you have plenty of options for your attack.
