I Kill Fruit Flies With My Hands

Andy and I have a huge problem. Lately, it seems fruit flies have multiplied and replenished within the confines of our sweet home. GRrrrrRRrrr! Everywhere I look, there is a pesky little fruit fly, roaming around, jeering at me to catch it if I can see it. Problem is, they are so tiny and fleeting, that within a blink of an eye, I've lost them! I'll taunt them, saying you're going to die little one, but before I can do anything about it - they're gone! These days, more or less, I am telling them... oh, you are so lucky I can't catch you.. but I'm still going to try! I usually fail.

At first I thought it was because my half used bananas were being left out uncovered (I usually slice off the rotting part before using the other half for smoothies), so I began putting them in plastic ziploc bags. Take that you fruit fly! Fail. They came back.

Next, I thought maybe too many oranges are left out on the dining room table, so I put them all into the fridge in my fruit drawer (bottom right). They still lingered around. Repeat fail.

Finally, I decided, I need some help so I googled it. I learned that fruit flies breed in moist environments so any dishes left in the sink, wet sponges, old sponges, fruit peel or open lemons (uh-oh, I left some open to help the kitchen smell lemony fresh) or even eggs from grocery bags from the food brought home from the grocery that might not be that fresh. It was recommended that you keep all surfaces clean - wait, I think I already do that.. do I need to do even more?! Yikes! Stripes!

So the next thing I did was google, "home remedies for fruit flies." And now, I am on a mission to see which will work of the many options suggested by my friends on the worldwide web (see technology is actually good if you use it for the right things.. I also have learned how to chop an onion and sharpen a knife from Gordon Ramsey via youtube - thank you Gordon!)

1) Put some basil in between fruits and on the counter - apparently fruit flies do not like basil! You can even sprinkle some of the basil leaves on your fruit.

2) Bottle trap contraption - Fill a bottle with an inch of lemonade, juice, wine (they love alcohol or anything fermented!), or piece of fruit. Remove the lid and put a plastic wrap over the covered, but poke small holes with a toothpick... they can get in - but getting out is like finding a needle in a haystack! Take that you dumb fruit fly!

3) Put some cedar wood snips or balls in your kitchen, or in between your fruit... apparently, they also don't like that! Genius - I have some from my closet (because there was a funky smell and after putting some laundry sheets into the closet, the smell was still around and I thought .. maybe cedar wood would help?... hasn't thus far).

So I will try the above and report back. And until then, I will kill any fruit fly I see with my bare hands!! I KILL FRUIT FLIES WITH MY HANDS! And... Andy thought this might help... we'll see which works.