Friday, April 22, 2011

Fruit Fly Buggers

Ben's family comes tonight! So, this week I've been trying to get as unpacked as possible. I think it's been good to have this deadline so that I'll actually get it done. Even though I have been working hard in the past, this way Ben has to help me too, hehe ;)
At least I need him to move boxes since I hurt too much when I do it.

So, on another note, I was telling Laura the other day about how we have these nasty fruit flies. I HATE THEM! I've been trying to keep the sink clear of dishes, and still they're there. I put the only fruit I have in the fridge...and they're still there.
The worst thing about them is that they always fly up in my face like they have no control where they're going, but they really have awesome reflexes 'cause I can never kill them they're so fast! AND they're just these tiny little buggers, how do they keep living when I swat at them so much?? It's like they're indestructible.

Where was the culprit?? The trash is taken out almost every other day, if not sooner. There was no fruit, no dishes...what were they eating, where were they coming from???

So, back to the unpacking side of things. As I helped supervised Ben moving the boxes out of the guest room I noticed one open tub that I had some wrapping paper, a couple bags, and various stuff in. I thought I had gone through it, but I didn't.
Ben took a box out of the room, and I then took one of the rolls of wrapping paper out......

FLIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everywhere FRUIT FLIES!!!!

Tons of them flew up in my face...oh yuck!
Once they weren't in a frenzy anymore I took a peek what was at the bottom of that tub.
Well, when my Dad helped us move he had a bag of grapefruits he was gonna take back to Utah with him. Grapefruit. Probably about 6 grapefruit were misplaced and put in this bin, then forgotten. I have no idea why there was no stench to let us know, but oh well. The bag of decaying fruit had leaked all over one of my purses which absorbed it. You should see the look on my face right now, complete nasty grimace, and I can't help it. And the bugs were EVERYWHERE all over the purse/bag/fruit. They were just breeding and breeding. UHG!!!
Completely disgusted I took the bin out to the trash can outside and threw most of it's contents right in. I took what wasn't touched/effected in the house. 

What happened to the rest of the fruit flies in the house? 
Wanna know a secret? 
I found the solution to trapping fruit flies on a blog probably a year ago, but for the life of me I can't remember what blog it was, nor can I find the entry anywhere online. Luckily I remember how to do it.

Fruit Fly Trap!

Here's what you need if you're gonna make one:

- A Mason Jar
- 1-2 sheets of paper
- Tape
- Pieces of fruit

I rolled up my 2 sheets of paper so that they made a funnel that was wide enough for the flies to go into, but hard for them to find their way back out (probably 4-5 millimeters wide). Then I taped the paper to keep the funnel shape.
Cut up a little piece of banana and some citrus and put them in the mason jar. We even microwaved it a little bit so that it would be good and gross, ya know, the way they like it. Stuck the paper funnel in the jar and let it sit for several hours.


You can see a bunch of them gathered at the top trying to get out. There were a whole ton in there.
Ben was talking to them saying "What? Too much food for ya? Gettin' stuffed and want out?" Lol! I got a good laugh from that.
We released those ones outside, then put it back in it's spot and caught probably 8 more. Guess what? I haven't seen one since. YAY!!!

Now I have the jitters just from writing about these nasty buggers. I keep feeling like something is crawling on me. You know the feeling?

Anyway, flies be-gone. May they never return!