Life in progress

I mean, seriously

35 Comments

Who invented fruit flies? What are they good for except invading our kitchens and eating our fruit? Would they fill up the belly of a bird? No. And I refuse to let a bird into my kitchen to test the theory. How many tiny fruit fly bodies do I have to pick out of my wine? I get enough protein, thanks.

Every year it’s the same thing. You go into the grocery store and see them swarming around the onions and you think to yourself, the strawberries are far enough away from the onions that they shouldn’t have got into them, right?

Ha!

And so every year my kitchen is either on the wing, or littered with fruit fly traps. The home made ones are the best. A jar with a small piece of banana peel inside and cling wrap over top with a tiny hole. They can get in, but they can’t find their way out.

They are still and always will be a bloody nuisance though!

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Author: Linda G. Hill

There's a writer in here, clawing her way out.

35 thoughts on “I mean, seriously

  1. cagedunn's avatar

    There is one very important thing that fruit-flies do: they fertilise the vanilla flowers so we can get the pods! Not that I’d want them around here, ‘cos if we did get them, I’d have to rip out all my fruit trees. I may use the honey-cider vinegar just to test for them though …

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  2. frannystevenson's avatar

    I always asked myself the same question! Now I had an invasion in the food garbage been, I almost screamed when I opened the lid the other day!

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  3. mjspencer2013's avatar

    Hello friend. I have not nominated you for a WordPress Family Award…because I know someone else did. I still wanted to. http://clearlywriting.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/shine-on-you-crazy-sweet-family/

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  4. Marie A Bailey's avatar

    I agree with many people here that there are truly some insects that serve absolutely no purpose in life but to annoy and torment human beings. Mosquitoes are the bane of my existence, especially where I live currently. Damn things are vicious bloodsuckers and give me huge welts that itch for days. I like the idea of Pamela’s wine sippy cup (from the earlier post). That could be fun to have even without fruit flies 🙂

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  5. princessfairyzooboo's avatar

    Hi there!
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    http://zulekha71.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/the-versatile-blogging-award-smiles-uncontrollably/
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  6. pibbsdreamquest's avatar

    Wow…I hadn’t heard of the banana peel trap before, this looks very promising and I think I’ll set out a few before I go to bed tonight. I’ve only tried the apple cider vinegar trap–the one where you take an empty soda or water bottle and cut off the top (about 2 inches down so it makes a funnell shape) insert the funnell part into the remaining half of the bottle, seal the cut edges together with tape, add about an inch of apple cider vinegar (ACV) and set them around problem areas.

    one thing to note about the ACV traps that I accidentally discovered…I had used them in the past with success but this year when I went to make a trap I realized I was out of ACV and was trying to come up with a quick substitue. I noticed I had a gourmet bottle of pear infused vinegar and out of desperation (laziness really…didn’t want to run to the store) I poured about 1/3 inch into the bottle. I didn’t want to use too much for two reasons–1, it might not work and 2, the gourmet stuff is pricy.

    I was amazed at the results, apparently pear infused vinear is pure nectaronic bliss to fruit flies. In fact when I finally got some ACV and made a couple more traps, the fruit flies ignored the ACV and just kept going to the pear.

    Well..I’m off to eat a nanner so I can try your idea.
    thanks for the tip!
    k- of k&p Catalano
    http://pibbsdreamquest.com

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    • Linda G. Hill's avatar

      Funny the things you discover by accident. I’m sitting here in the dark with my laptop the only light in the house and I’ve killed three of them on my screen in the last five minutes. Haha!
      Thanks for the tip though. I’ll have to remember that one if ever I’m out of bananas. 🙂

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    • Myas's avatar

      There’s a saying, “you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar” – not in this case. I like both traps, pear infused vinegar and banana. I’m passing these on to my daughter. (I’ve got pomegranate infused… wonder how that would work…)

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      • Linda G. Hill's avatar

        I think most things acidic and sweet at the same time would do the trick.
        Glad my post was able to help 🙂

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        • Myas's avatar

          We were both wondering where the little buggers were coming from after buying fresh fruit that needed to ripen yet. The first thing is “what’s rotten” but that’s not necessarily so.

          Must be insect karma – we’d managed to get rid of the sweet ants all too easily this year…

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  7. donofalltrades's avatar

    The fruit fly is actually quite useful for scientific purposes because I believe it has a 24 hour life span and is easier to sedate than a rat. If my biology major serves me right (it’s been a long time) the name is drosophila melanogaster or something like that. Genetics peeps use them a lot. And now you know! Lol, but yes, I could do without them in an about my liquor bottles at the bar.

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  8. samokan's avatar

    The same one that created cockroaches.
    I don’t understand how they get into the house(apt) too.

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    • Linda G. Hill's avatar

      I once carried a cockroach from a friend’s house to my mother’s house… must have been in my purse. When I saw it I killed it, and since I never found another I assumed that was what happened. After that I never took my purse into my friend’s house again.

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  9. darsword's avatar

    These are the truths that could form world peace! Who wouldn’t agree with you? We use the homemade traps, too. Oh, and they smell yucky, too!

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  10. Ellespeth's avatar

    “A jar with a small piece of banana peel inside and cling wrap over top with a tiny hole. ” I’ll try this. Seeing them in the grocery makes me itch!
    Ellespeth

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  11. Charles Yallowitz's avatar

    I think the same person that created mosquitoes.

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