Monday, October 5, 2009

Getting the Bugs Out!

It's that time of year when I'm harvesting tons of food from my veggie garden. Every year we end up with an absolute flock (swarm?) of fruit flies too! Now I'm sure they only want to get in on some of the good stuff while they can. They also seem to have a high level of fascination with the human eye! What's up with that?! So when our indoor fruit fly population gets to be too high I set a little trap for them. We tend to have quite a bit of fruit and veggies around all year, so the fruit flies are inevitable!

This trapping method is the best thing! I won't use pesticides inside my house, so this is the perfect way to control them without resorting to chemicals. Best of all, the items you need are already in your house!




 

Here's what you need:

1 glass (clear is best so you can keep an eye on everything)
1 sandwich baggie (or a small piece of plastic wrap)
1 rubber band
1 toothpick
approximately 1 - 2 inches of fresh fruit in your glass (pineapple is the best, but most any other fruit will work well too)

You'll add the fruit to your glass, and then cover the top with the plastic. Stretch the plastic to fit tight like a drum, and use the rubber band to keep it in place. Poke little holes with the toothpick all around the top of the plastic. Make sure you keep the plastic tightly stretched after you're done poking the holes.  Those little buggers can go in, but aren't clever enough to actually figure out how to get out!


 

Just set your trap someplace in your house where you tend to see fruit flies.  Don't worry, they'll find it! When you have several trapped, you can return them to the wild, or dispose of them in whatever way you see fit. You can easily re-set the plastic on top of your glass. In a few days, you won't have any of those pesty little fruit flies left! Works every time!
~~Diana

2 comments:

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi. I wandered into here from 'My Little Acre' (I think!) and have had a lovely time reading all your posts - I'm even inspired to make my own laundry soap, so thanks for that - and for a great blog!

Diana said...

Thanks so much for your kind words. I'm happy you wandered in from across the pond. I'd love to hear how the laundry soap works out for you.