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2L Summer / Alesus / picture of the day / Uptown Apartment

Unlikely Allies

One of the first things I noticed about my new apartment was the fruit flies. The apartment was clean, and there was no exposed food in the kitchen, but the fruit flies were everywhere.

There were even fruit flies in my bedroom closet! I don’t even want to think about why…

So I turned to my blackberry, googled fruit-fly trap concoctions, and set my trap.

The fruit-fly trap was a glass of pear juice with a plastic cover (with holes) stretched over it.

A few days later Alesus was over, and I told him about my trap. He noted that there were no fruit-flies in the kitchen, but there were also no flies in the trap. Hm.

I didn’t figure out what was going on until today:

organic fruit fly trap

Normally, a massive spider web in my kitchen would horrify me, but I left it alone. Fruit flies are unsanitary. Spraying pesticide in the kitchen is equally disgusting, but this spider web thing works.

So the kitchen spider stays. His name is Freddie. I have another spider named Bartholomew in my studio. He does a thorough job as well.

8 Comments

  • Ms. Basil E. Frankweiler
    July 24, 2010 at 4:43 pm

    Check this article out. http://www.diylife.com/2010/07/21/the-daily-fix-get-rid-of-fruit-flies/?icid=main|main|dl5|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.diylife.com%2F2010%2F07%2F21%2Fthe-daily-fix-get-rid-of-fruit-flies%2F

    Reply
    • Jansen
      July 25, 2010 at 9:38 am

      Meh that’s so involved! I’ll let the spiders do their work.

      Reply
  • Recent UMN Law Grad
    July 24, 2010 at 4:46 pm

    In case Freddie bites the dust, here’s another foolproof trick: Fill the bottom of a glass with apple cider vinegar, and then put a drop of dish soap in it. The fruit flies will flock to the liquid because of the scent, and then get stuck and drown due to the viscosity of the liquid. No need to cover the glass with any sort of cover.

    It really isn’t an old wives tail; I’m staring at a glass of vinegar with at least 10 dead fruit flies on the bottom right this minute.

    Anyway, back to bar exam studying. Thanks for the distraction!

    Reply
    • Jansen
      July 24, 2010 at 5:30 pm

      Muhaha, I’ll keep this in mind. Good luck on the bar!

      Reply
  • Martine
    July 25, 2010 at 8:52 am

    If you don’t have fruit sitting out, those “fruit flies” are probably “sink flies.” Happened in my relatively new apartment building last year. Might be worth investigating.

    Reply
    • Jansen
      July 25, 2010 at 9:37 am

      But they were also in the closet? I’m not sure of the difference between fruit/sink flies. This is all too complicated…

      Reply
  • Phone book Hoarder
    April 9, 2015 at 7:42 pm

    […] in Miami, land of the roaches, food is never, ever left out. The dogs and the threat of mice and fruit flies demand that all foodstuffs get zipped, sealed, and […]

    Reply
  • An outline of my 2L Summer
    August 8, 2017 at 12:05 pm

    […] getting permits and feeling homeless, drilling, clownery, shitkram, spiders, and the Molly […]

    Reply

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