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Posted by Billy on August 15, 2008, 2:09 am
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> paghat wrote:
> >
> Snip
> >
> > The main thing is to stop feeding them. Keep all table surfaces
> > scrupulously clean. Don't leave wet dog or catfood out. Clean out the sink
> > drains with bleach. Take the trash out a couple times a day; if you use an
> > indoor trash can sterilze the interior bottom. Keep fruit in tightly
> > sealing freezer-baggies or rubbermaid lidded containers. Don't keep any
> > flower bouquets for a while. If you have a potato bin, move the taters to
> > a sealable can for a while. Keep all the fruit in the refrigerator for the
> > time being. They only live a couple days, so unless you're still providing
> > a medium for them to reproduce, they should be gone quite soon.
> >
> > Baited fruitfly traps are available at the hardware store but I've never
> > needed them. Whenever I've had an outbreak of fruitflies the cause was
> > obvious, either not wiping up well after cutting fruits, or not doing the
> > dishes often enough, it's usually pretty easy to figure out and quickly
> > repairable.
> >
> > You can make a trap with a jar, put a quarter-inch of red wine in the jar,
> > and tape a funnel for a lid pointed down. The flies find their way in
> > easily, but not so easily out, and drown in the wine instead of making
> > maggots. Alternatively, use a paper cup with banana chunk or banana skin
> > or grossly overripe nectarine in the bottom, make a paper cone to fit over
> > the top. When the cup is full of flies, wrap it in a baggy and toss it in
> > the outdoor trash. Repeat until flies are gone. Best baits have a bit of
> > mold or nasty stuff on them as the fruitflies don't actually go for the
> > fruit, they go for live yeast growing on rotting fruit.
> >
> > Since they started on the watermelon you can be pretty sure what they are,
> > but sometimes what seems to be fruitflies turns out to be some other tiny
> > fly and what gets rid of fruitflies won't work; they won't go away until
> > you figure out which indoor flower pot they're breeding either in the
> > potting soil or on some houseplant.
> >
> > -paghat the ratgirl
>
> Thanks for the trap idea. I'll give it a try. We don't have indoor pets
> and all the feed for the livestock stays in the barn! lol! I've
> cleaned the drains several times since returning home and generally try
> to keep the table clear of the kids "stickinesses". The only thing
> potato bin wise is what I keep my onions in. The taters are all in the
> storage shed outside. No indoor plants here either as I figure they
> wouldn't fare so well with two toddlers. I've tried sticky fly traps (
> the kind that hang from the ceiling...we generally keep some placed
> around the barn) and also have kept a dish of cider vinegar out in hopes
> that would attract them. Between the sticky paper traps and vinegar, we
> caught quite a few, but it still doesn't seem to have put a dent in
> them. I have to do some grocery shopping tomorrow, so I'll try to pick
> up some red wine then...unless you think using the vinegar with a top
> that way might would work also?
>
> ~Rae
You can reduce their numbers but until you have a frost, you are
gong to be in a constant battle. They are probably being attracted by
ripe fruit outside.
--
Billy
Bush and Pelosi Behind Bars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTfcAyYGg&ref=patrick.net
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1009916.html
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