There is plenty to love about the summer, but unwanted pests buzzing around our homes and outdoor dining areas are one element we’d rather not have to deal with, particularly fruit flies.
Small in stature, the maligned fruit fly can be a big annoyance all summer long – whether circling the fruit bowl, lingering around food in search of sweet summer treats or climbing all over our freshly grown herbs. They are a persistent pest.
But, as it turns out, there's an easy, harmless way to deal with the small blighters. And all you need to get rid of fruit flies is a handful of leftover lemon peels and a couple of empty jars or containers.
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Trying the lemon peel fruit fly trap
Patrick Vernuccio, better known to his 1.4M followers as The Frenchie Gardener, is full of organic ideas, whether it’s gardening and food recipes or regenerative living. Recently, he shared a savvy chemical-free method for trapping fruit flies on his Instagram @thefrenchiegardener.
All you need to do is take an empty jar and place leftover lemon peels inside. Next, take a baking sheet or piece of sturdy paper and place it over the top, securing it in place using an elastic band.
Then poke a few tiny holes in it with a toothpick, or anything similar that does the job. You don't want the holes to be too big.
The flies are attracted to the scent of the lemon peel and can easily fly inside the jar, where they’ll stay put. They fly in, but they can't fly out as easily. What’s great is you can make as many traps as you want, as this green method for catching fruit flies works just as well indoors as it does outside.
This hack requires no chemicals and, unlike other methods for catching flies, this one is less deadly, too. For example, attracting them to little dishes of apple cider vinegar or dish soap, where they’ll fly in and drown.
Best of all, with this friendly, chemical-free approach, you can wait for the jars to catch plenty of fruit flies and then release them somewhere far away from your kitchen, outdoor soirees or fruit crops. We're also fairly confident this harmless trick might work for keeping bluebottle flies out of the house.
With your spaces now free from fruit flies, you might be encouraged to enjoy these final weeks of summer, organising a picnic or even setting up an outdoor cinema for a magical night under the stars - free from unwanted guests trying to swarm over your snacks.
