Thursday, October 8, 2009

Infested



Fall is really here. I know because this week the population of fruit flies in our kitchen has multiplied to desert sandstorm levels. I can’t approach the sink unless I have a kerchief tied around my face to keep from breathing the little devils. Denis is really aroused by them and has been trying to erect little killing stations. Last night he had an inch of red wine (why not since they’ve been diving in and drowning themselves in droves) in a wine glass covered with a piece of press and stick plastic wrap with a tiny hole punched in the top. On my last check before bed I noted they weren’t finding their way in so I set up a trap with an old kitchen funnel. That didn’t work either because the aluminum funnel was dinged and bent from years of banging around in the utensil drawer. Why do I keep it? Well, you never know when you might need to pour a bottle of almond extract into a teeny jar. Okay. I don’t know! I threw away three garlic presses last year. Anyway, the funnel didn’t fit tight to the rim of the jar and they flew in, drank and laid eggs and did whatever fruit flies do and then crawled out. This morning there was only one fly floating in wine. Denis was again, quite agitated and sensing I might be embarrassed if some important person stopped by and choked on flies. He doesn’t seem to be aware that every one I know and respect doesn’t take out the garbage every other second or pour bleach down the disposal ten times a day or keep a toothbrush from air drying in the bathroom (that’s where they hung out last year, and I agree it’s a little sick), well then if you’re like me in October you’re going to have fruit flies. But anyway, Denis was rigging up another system and this time he found a larger funnel made of plastic (no dings, still smooth, kept in case of need to siphon cider vinegar from bathtub to gallon jug) and decided he remembered I used mashed banana bait a long time ago. (I must have 20 frozen bananas in the freezer waiting for inspiration) So, banana mixed with red wine, a funnel, jar, plastic wrap. Last check: two drowned, one swimming, one crawling, one thousand sitting on sink, sill, and stove.

6 comments:

A. said...

Try about 1" of apple cider vinegar in jar with a little bit of liquid dish detergent mixed in. Then cover with plastic wrap and poke a few small holes (just big enough for them to climb through). Seemed to work for us a few years back; usually captured about a dozen a day.

Lindsey,Alyssa and Carly said...

LOL...I'm laughing as we have this exact same problem at our house! And 5 min. ago I just frantically shut the bag on my trap! Mine are so big, lately I've just been using my fly swatter and killing them in the kitchen window. But OK, this is my trick-trap, tricky trap :) (I just caught over 10 I suppose. I take a big plastic bag, like a bread bag- fill it with some left over fruit, or mashed banana and just leave it on the counter and check on it everyonce in awhile. When there's a good amount in there I quickly shut the bag up! Presto! Works pretty good- but there always there. Try have 4 kiddos and trying to keep garages emptied, high chair tray cleaned off in a timely manner and so on! I agree with Denis- they drive me nuts too!! Funny post though...

( jason ) said...

Wow, we've had fruit fly problems since mid-June.But, we always have several pounds of fruit around the kitchen. For us, they're starting to taper off.

We go after them with the vacuum cleaner hose. It helps control them when they get pretty thick, but it definitely follows the 80/20 rule.

Micah said...

Paige:"Ewwwww mom..what is that a picture of. Change it..I don't want to see it..that's an icky picture". Thankful we don't have the same problem as you since I've had a counter full of tomatoes for the last 2 weeks

Margie Haack said...

Paige-y, my dear granddaughter, as much as I'd like it to be otherwise, life is full of icky, stinky danger like poisonous spiders, e-coli, fungus, poop, baby sister spit-up, and things with lots of legs and big eyes. However, next time I see you I'll give you a pretty flower and a piece of candy.

Jake said...

We have the same problem at our place now, what's worked for us is just opening a can of old style (or similarly low-priced beer), putting in some dish soap to break the surface tension (I don't know what that means, that's just what my friend Tim told me to do) and then covering up the opening with a piece of wax paper with a couple holes poked in it.

Got about 30 of them the other day. Then again, that may be a commentary on the amount of flies we have rather than the effectiveness of the method.