A couple of weeks ago, the produce market sent me home with a bag of apples containing an unadvertised and undesirable “Free Gift with Purchase”: fruit flies! Unfortunately, this happened at a time when I was traveling a bit, and I didn’t realize I had new roommates until a full-blown infestation was underway.
From the depths of my memory, I recalled a tip advising the use of apple cider vinegar and a jar with holes in the lid to trap fruit flies. Something about the apple cider aspect attracting the fruit flies and tiny holes preventing their escape from the jar.
Since this seemed like an incredibly easy and inexpensive possibility, I gave it a try, but with a slightly different take on it:
Not wanting to desecrate any of my jar lids, I put plastic wrap under the jar ring and used a toothpick to poke a few holes in the plastic.
Within minutes I had one fruit fly in the trap and an hour later, there were four or five. By morning, the jar looked like the aftermath of the Great Fruit Fly Massacre of 2013:
Fruit Fly Graveyard
So easy, so frugal, and (so far) so very effective.
On the downside, there is a residual amount of guilt from killing semi-innocent fruit flies, but I suspect I’ll get over it.
If you have any effective ways to deal with fruit flies, I’d love to hear them!