Today I learned a good way to get rid of fruit flies from my co-worker James! He didn't mention this part, but obviously I would assume a good "first step" would be to put your fruit in an area the flies can't get to it... and clean your kitchen... but that's just a suggestion. If you put apple cider vinegar in a glass jar the flies will naturally be attracted to it because it has a slight odor similar to rotting fruit (and who's not attracted to that??) and then the trick is to add a drop of dish soap. Let this sit out over night. Normally fruit flies can feed off liquid surfaces so they could just touch down, have a nice apple-cider-vinegar cocktail and be on their sweet way. However, the detergent adds an interesting element to the mix because it actually cuts the surface tension and the little flies can't rest on the top of the liquid, causing them to drown. Hasta la vista, Fruit Flies!
I know there are plenty of other methods people use to catch fruit flies and feel free to share them below, but this is a new one to me and seems to work really well. I wish I would have known this BEFORE college.
I guess that saying "You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar" is not ALWAYS true :)
- Lizzie