The Community for Catholic Moms

Fruit Fly Season

Let me say this straight out: I'm not a scrupulous housewife, or anything close. On a good day my house is cluttered, and I figure if you're a good enough friend to turn up unannounced to my house for a cup of tea you're a good enough friend to ignore the assorted clumps that gather on my living room floor, courtesy of the kids and pup, several times a day. (If you're foolish enough to ask to use the bathroom, all bets are off.)

But I do have one issue on which I am borderline obsessive: Fruit flies. Hate 'em. Hate 'em. Hate 'em. The fruit bowl on the counter goes away for two months out of the year, I hate them so much. Still, they come and camp out EVERY YEAR in my kitchen. I've tried vinegar wipes. I've tried scouring. I've tried sticky tape. Nothing works.

Any ideas? PLEASE?!

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Comment by Heidi Hess Saxton on July 14, 2009 at 6:14pm: P.S. I also wiped the counters and cabinates with a sponge moistened with vinegar water and dish detergent. The little pests just disappear!

Comment by Heidi Hess Saxton on July 14, 2009 at 6:14pm: I've tried Mary's suggestion, and here is the method that has worked best for me: Put about 1/2 inch vinegar in a small ramekin. Add a nickel-sized drop of dish detergent in the middle, but do not stir. I've caught dozens -- much better than when I had a larger amount of dish detergent, or tried stirring the two together.

I know this is a bit obsessive. I TOLD you I hate fruit flies!

Comment by Mary Perrydore on July 9, 2009 at 7:03pm: Here's an easy and effect solution. Place a small amount of dish soap in a bowl and add some apple cider vinegar. It attracts 'em and kills 'em. I do it at night because I'm not fond of the smell. My kids like to see how many we can "catch". Using a closed compost bucket on the counter has helped, too.

Comment by Sally Feller on July 8, 2009 at 9:15am: No ideas, but I can commiserate. They're everywhere in Boston. In fact, I was out with a girlfriend last night and we were both drinking cider and ended up just covering our glasses with coasters so none of those little buggers took a swan dive into our drinks. So gross.

In our office a couple of years ago, we made those cider "traps" by putting some cider vinegar in a water bottle and then making a cone-shaped thing out of a piece of paper and setting the cone (like a funnel) on top of the bottle. The idea is that they are attracted to the cider, go into the bottle and then can't figure out how to get back out, so they die. Lovely looking things, too, let me tell you. And they weren't all that successful. Sorry!