My wife returned to Idaho at about the same time as my son took us to his house. This turned out lucky, because she picked me up and took me home.
When we walked in the house, the swarm was back. The fruit flies had returned with a vengeance. I was feeling pretty smug about sealing my sourdough starter in a ziplock bag and the swarm disappeared. What brings them around once more is beyond my knowledge. Maybe there was a pineapple peel in the garbage or something.
My wife wanted to try one of the suggestions everyone left on my previous post. She also went to the store and bought two special glue sticks. These are like designer flypaper. If you knew my wife it would make perfect sense. These little sticks have a cup at the bottom and the instructions are to put some kind of bait in there. One squeeze of honey from the honey bear and we were all set.
She also grabbed two cereal bowls, poured in some apple cider vinegar, and wrapped them in Saran Wrap. Then we both poked holes in the wrapper to allow the flies inside.
My grandmother was a sweet, but uneducated woman. She loved to spout philosophy, but attributed it all to the Bible. Some of it was Greek in origin, much of it was from Shakespeare, but to her it was all from the bible.
The swarm is still with us, but the traps are working well. All except for the glue sticks, which hadn’t done a thing. It turns out you actually catch more flies with vinegar. (Sorry, Grandma.) It appears this myth is busted.
I added vinegar over the top of the honey, and the sticks are covered with fruit flies within a half hour.
I’m pushing to bring in some Shell No-Pest Strips, but my wife isn’t having it. They work well, but have a medicinal smell to them. There also isn’t a designer version.
I am with you on the vinegar traps! Also day old wine works a treat, if there is ever any about… they love the smell of fermentation! Bowls or jars with saran wrap are the best traps I know. 🙂 Speaking of the Bible, there was a swarm of gnats in Egypt, as you may recall… may your plague end soon!
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My wife is blaming the water trap on my sauerkraut crock. Ther were attracted to the sourdough too. It might not be potable, but it’s all fermentation. Hope boils and sores aren’t next.
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…or frogs. They like water too.
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Yes, frogs!!! They eat fruit flies.
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I’ve done what motherhendiaries above does with the wine and plastic wrap. It worked for me. Good luck!
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I may have to resort to chemical warfare.
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Hopefully the swarm is gone in a day or two. Amazing how a scrap of fruit can bring such chaos.
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Ha, ha! I never knew apple cider vinegar was good for catching flies. Wow! I just learned something knew. What you said about your grandma is hilarious. I have an aunt like that. Everything that sound good to her is in the bible. 😀
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That was her go to sales pitch. She was a sweet woman, but it was funny.
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Yeah, the vinegar is really effective.
Fruit flies have an awesome sense of smell, and are small enough to get through screens and locked windows. They also come in on our ripe fruit. We have them most once the first overripe apple falls from our tree.
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Interesting. I’ve never seen them swarm indoors like this. We’re slowly making headway.
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I’m wondering if I might be a fruit fly. I like fruit and vinegar but not that fond of honey…
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That’s funny.
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Wow, I’ll have to try that if we ever get rid of the snow. In the late spring and summer we get bombarded with fruit flies. Hate the little buggers. (see what I did there?) Thanks for the tip!
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Grannie’s only human too!
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Glue stick, eh? I’ll have to check those out. My son just can’t seem to put a banana peel into the covered trash can.
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They’re from the makers of Raid. They work.
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Yep, the ACV works for me every time, only I put a little sugar in it to help attract them faster. 🙂 Good luck!
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Worked great. They’re gone now.
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Yippie Skippy! 😀 I knew that would do the trick. 🙂
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We’ve tried vinegar with a bit of fruit in it. That works too. But if I remember right, vinegar with no fruit worked as well.
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