Homemade Fly Traps

Okay, so summer is here and you can definitely tell by the flies that are buzzing inside and outside of my house.  All I have to say is Yuck!!  I want to get rid of the problem as quickly as I can, and I don't want to spend anything to do it!  So I started researching how to rid our house of the flies without having to go to the store and I was able to make everything with materials that I already had in the house.   I watched this really cool You-tube video and read about a dozen blog articles today and as a result I came up with my own concoction for two fly traps that I set outside and one trap that I set up in my kitchen.  

I took an old milk jug and filled it a 1/3 of the way with warm water.  I added about a tablespoon of Green Apple Dawn dish soup (but any green apple scented soap will work), a 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 cup of Apple Cider vinegar and an old banana peel (any old fruit or meat scrap will work to attract the flies).  Now I am attempting this both ways to see which way works best, 

The first option is to hang an open jug in a tree (I used a basketball hoop because it is close to the source of my problem; the garbage cans) or simply place where you are having the problem (this kills mosquitoes too!) 

The other option is to close the jug and cut holes around it, and place that where you seem to be having the issue.  

I set both of these traps because I am curious as to which one will work best.  I know that these jugs are not the prettiest to look at, but in my opinion, the flies are worse, so I hung one up in my drive-way.   

Now on to those pesky fruit flies that are taking over my kitchen.  I have small kids, so it is pretty obvious that we eat a lot of fruit, especially bananas.  Did you know that you can actually bring fruit flies home from the store?  Yuck!  Last year I set this trap and it works really well, so this year I set it again.  You take a small dish or canning jar...fill it with water, three tbsp of apple cider vinegar ( I am using raspberry because that is what I have in the house) and a tsp of dish soap.  Place where you keep your fruits and veggies.  It won't take long for your trap to fill up with these pesky little bugs!  Dump and refill every few days.  

The trick to keeping the flies at bay is to keep a clean house, inside and out.  Pick up after yourself and your children, sweep and vacuum your floors, wipe your counters down and clean your garbage can regularly.  In the yard, pick up after your dog and keep your garbage cans as far away from your house as you can.  The flies are particularly bad this year and if you live by a farm (which I do) it can be difficult to keep up with the flies.  So I am really hoping that by taking these steps I am eliminating the problem (to the best of my ability)

I will keep you posted on the results and when I have them, I will post the link the the video I watched.  

I will also post some pictures as soon as my phone charges (always when I need it, right!)  

Have a fly free day!