Nothing says summer like an overflowing bowl of ripe summer fruit. Such a bowl, beckoning from the dining table or kitchen counter, is irresistible to just about everyone, including fruit flies. Along with the summer heat, and the fruiting bounty, comes a hazy and erratic cloud of fruit flies occupying the immediate space above your collection of summer fruit. We spend wasted energy trying to shoo them away, or furiously clapping in front of our own faces in hopes of smashing one between our palms (to no avail), but fruit flies are maddening and difficult to eradicate; however, it's not impossible.
There are a number of things you could do to prevent fruit fly infestations, like keeping rotting or overripe fruit out of your living space, but once they are in your house...well they just seem to never go away. Chow.com recently posted a tip video showing how to effectively, without nasty chemicals, trap flies with a jar, a piece of paper, and a bit of bait (what this video doesn't reveal is that, once you trap the flies, you could bring your jar of flies outside for a humane release). See this video.
My personal favorite non-chemical, non-toxic, (but not humane) technique for trapping (and thusly killing) a scourge of fruit flies involves a similar method, this time using a bit of red wine and/or cider vinegar, a tall glass and some snug plastic wrap. Simply fill up your receptacle with about 1/3 cup of wine and/or vinegar. Then cover the glass with a bit of plastic wrap and poke a few small holes (large enough for a small fly to venture in) in the top of the plastic wrap. Leave the trap in an area where fruit flies like to hang out and just wait a few days for your trap to become populated with flies attracted by the smell of wine/vinegar. The flies wander in, but are not quite smart enough to exit from where they came. The result is a lot of dead drunk (or just dead) flies, which can be conveniently poured down your drain.
Do you have any other ingenious ways to rid your house of fruit flies, or any other summer pests?
Related:
6 Natural Mosquito Repellants
Get Rid of Maggots & Flies in Your Trash
7 Tips for Chemical-Free Pest Control
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