Store trash in a covered bin. (Reasonable)
Do not toss food garbage into waste-paper baskets (Duh, but it happens.)
Cover your fruit bowl or store fruit you wish to keep in the refrigerator. Also, raisins, dates and prunes are favorite attractants (It happens to the best of us).
Use or discard all overripe fruit. (again, duh, but OK). Clean the seals of your refrigerator door, the top and under the fridge, especially clean the evaporation pan if it has one (believe it or not, I acutually do this when I clean).
As understandable as all of these little pitfalls are, we were not guilty of any of them.
- Clean opened containers of fruit juice, fermented or vinegar products, for example ketchup, siracha or cooking wine. Seal them well. Keep these in the refrigerator if possible. (Do people really leave open fruit containers and ketchup sitting out?)
- Wipe up crumbs and spills from your cabinets, counter and floor. (Crumbs maybe, but who leaves things spilled?)
- Take out all trash--do not re-use the plastic liner garbage bags. (WHO DOES THIS?)
- Dump mop water, clean the pail, launder the mop rag. (Maybe if you live in a janitor's closet.)
- Take out your compost and keep your collection bin covered and food additions to your pile buried beneath yard waste. (Who leaves their compost inside?)
- Do not use manure, beer or rank water for fertilizer near the house (I don't even understand this).
It turns out all you have to do is put some apple cider or balsamic vinegar in a cup with some dish soap. The vinegar smells like rotting fruit and attracts the flies, while the soap reduces the cohesion so the gnats, thinking they will be able to use the surface tension, sink to a vinegary death. We filled three with apple cider vinegar and I did a test cup with balsamic. It works pretty damn well, as you can tell from Lib's drawing from my Wednesday night note.
Next time you need to deal with Drosophila melanogaster, it would behoove you to consult with a professional. I might know one or two...
ReplyDeleteSyntaxin - are you serious? Who calles fruit flies by their scientific genus name?
ReplyDeleteEsoderica - I love Lib and I don't know her. She cracks me up!!!!! Oh and love you too of course.