How To Make A Fruit Fly Trap

Preventing a fruit fly infestation in your home is relatively easy. Just a few minutes will save you some grief in the long run.

Whenever you buy any fresh produce and bring it into your home WASH IT IMMEDIATELY!!

I got lazy last weekend and did not wash my produce. I will never make that mistake again!!

Bananas, grapes, melons, tomatoes, potatoes- wash it all! You don't need soap. All you need is the hottest water your hands can stand and some friction. Hold that bunch of bananas under the running tap and rub them like you're expecting 3 wishes. You need to rub them to break up any bonds that the fruit fly eggs or larvae have made to hold on to the fruit or vegetable. Then the eggs and larvae will be washed down the drain.

It's simple. Fruit flies love anything with a strong odor. I found a whole swarm of them in my nail polish bucket. You need 3 things:

1. Bait- vinegar, liquor, rotting fruit or moldy bread. I used Italian salad dressing.
2. Clear container- I used a flower vase. You can use an empty cola bottle or beer bottle.
3. Paper funnel- I used a piece of junk mail

Get your container and place your bait inside.

When you make your funnel, be sure it doesn't touch the bait. It should come close but not touch. Roll up your piece of paper and test it on the container until you get the right shape and circumference. Then tape it together and put it into your container.

As an extra precaution I taped my funnel to the edges of the container to prevent any fruit flies from escaping.

I put my new trap on the dining room table and within just a couple of minutes there were 2 flies walking around in there. My sons were amused and wanted to sit and watch the flies walk to their doom.

After I was satisfied with the progress in the dining room I moved my trap to the bathroom and then to any other room that needed it. My infestation was pretty bad as they were in every room in the house. It took me 2 days to totally get rid of them all.

You can build more than one trap to get things done faster but my boys took the trap as their project and moved it around for me. They just wanted to see bugs die anyway. Boys.

If you're a super humane individual you can take the trap outdoors far away from your house and remove the cone. The flies will just go away and infest someone else's home. Thanks, neighbor.

I'm not so humane. I put my trap in the kitchen sink, added a couple drops of dishwashing liquid, and filled it to the rim with hot water.

THE END