Summer's great, don't get me wrong. But for all the warm weather and beach days, it seems there's also an unhealthy preponderance of flies. Like so. many. flies. You can't get the good without the bad, right?
It's real. It's a thing. And it's annoying. Last night I sat in my living room as a fruit fly buzzed around my head. I didn't, of course, do anything about it. I just kind of stared at it. Which was weird and boring and put me in a bad mood. There has to be a way to get rid of this dude, I thought.
Well, imagine my luck when I came into work today to hear this suggestion from our cofounder Merrill Stubbs. Turns out, she found the best way to take care of pesky pests. And all she had to do was pour herself a drink. Here she is in her own words:
"We had a sudden infestation of fruit flies and set out a couple of the standard DIY traps (apple cider vinegar/overripe fruit with dish soap). Then, we left in a hurry to go get some ice cream after dinner and I left the last few sips of my Aperol Spritz out on the counter without thinking. We came back and it was teeming with fruit flies—much more so than the traps. So I created a new trap by putting a few chunks of overripe cantaloupe in a bowl, adding the rest of the the Spritz, a few squirts of dish soap, and a blast of hot water to create a thick layer of suds. The flies flocked to it, got trapped in the suds, and our fruit fly problem was gone in a matter of hours. I think we must have caught 50 to 75 fruit flies this way. Not the cheapest solution, but very effective!"
So there you have it. Maybe the solution I've been waiting for is just an Aperol Spritz away. Next time, I just have to make sure I don't drink all of it first.
How do you handle fruit flies? Tell us in the comment section.
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Written by: Valerio Farris
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1 Comment
That said, French fruit flies seem to have little interest in either Belgian beer or vinegar traps. I've found both to be highly effective in both Belgium and the US, but I guess your mileage may vary depending on your local fruit flies....
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