Does anyone else have a fruit fly problem? It’s not as if we have decomposing fruit on our counter. I don’t know what keeps them looking for non-existent food sources but there they are, three of them, annoying us from the kitchen window. And then suddenly there’s one in the bathroom in a – ahem – fruitless search for something to eat.
I don’t remember what I was looking for but I stumbled upon a blog about this very issue. A woman was writing about how she thought her husband’s idea for getting rid of the tiny fliers was silly…until it worked like a charm. So I tried it myself. In less than a day I trapped one of the little guys in what he apparently thought was either a small bowl of liquid sustenance or a teeny indoor swimming pool. Today there’s a second body. Believe me, I don’t normally get gleeful over anything’s demise but we are quite happy to be rid of these flies.
The fruit-fly bowl sits next to the apple bowl under the watchful eyes of my ceramic chickens. It contains water, one dissolved sugar cube (a teaspoonful in other words) and a couple of drops of dish detergent. Why add the detergent? I have no idea, but I’m not going to mess with the inventor’s genius. As I set the bowl out, a couple of flies buzzed at the window, intrigued, and I immediately knew I was onto something. So it’s two down and one to go. I’m not sure where the third fly has gone but I hope he has only left to fetch his swim trunks and plans to come back for a dip.