mosquitoes, hornets and fruit flies... 3 summer pests, here's some traps that are easy to make and very effective.
Fruit Flies - ugh!
Most fruit flies arrive at your home from the grocery store - generally I soak my produce (fruits and most veggies (not lettuce)) in the sink with a tbls of baking soda to rinse off the people residue and other icks - this generally curbs the fruit fly population, but still they manage to invade.
Fruit Fly trap.
1 clean jar you will not want to use again ( I have a store of jam jars just for this)
a bit of fruit - they love bananas and raspberries, but oj works too
some plastic wrap
tape or an elastic
and something to poke tiny holes
put the fruit or juice in the jar, cover tightly with the plastic wrap and tape or glue it to secure well - poke about 4 or 5 tiny holes in the plastic wrap (if the holes are too big the trap won't work)
Place the trap away from the counter area and you can watch them swarm to the fruit, they get in but can't get out!
Mosquito and hornet trap is essentially the same but one has yeast in the mix.
2 liter plastic pop bottle cut in half with the mouth part turned upside down into the bottom half
punch holes on the side to string it for hanging
tape the top to secure the two halves
for hornets - add a mix of sugar water (or soda) and fruit bits
for the mosquitos, add sugar water and some yeast
about 1/4 cup is good - the top of the bottle needs to not touch the bottom to allow insect entry. (maybe an inch space)
hang the trap at least 8 feet from where you want to be - if you're making both of these traps, make sure to hang them in different areas.
the yeast in the mosquito trap releases C02 which is what we breathe out so the skeeters will go to the trap instead of us.
Enjoy summer!
Fruit Flies - ugh!
Most fruit flies arrive at your home from the grocery store - generally I soak my produce (fruits and most veggies (not lettuce)) in the sink with a tbls of baking soda to rinse off the people residue and other icks - this generally curbs the fruit fly population, but still they manage to invade.
Fruit Fly trap.
1 clean jar you will not want to use again ( I have a store of jam jars just for this)
a bit of fruit - they love bananas and raspberries, but oj works too
some plastic wrap
tape or an elastic
and something to poke tiny holes
put the fruit or juice in the jar, cover tightly with the plastic wrap and tape or glue it to secure well - poke about 4 or 5 tiny holes in the plastic wrap (if the holes are too big the trap won't work)
Place the trap away from the counter area and you can watch them swarm to the fruit, they get in but can't get out!
Mosquito and hornet trap is essentially the same but one has yeast in the mix.
2 liter plastic pop bottle cut in half with the mouth part turned upside down into the bottom half
punch holes on the side to string it for hanging
tape the top to secure the two halves
for hornets - add a mix of sugar water (or soda) and fruit bits
for the mosquitos, add sugar water and some yeast
about 1/4 cup is good - the top of the bottle needs to not touch the bottom to allow insect entry. (maybe an inch space)
hang the trap at least 8 feet from where you want to be - if you're making both of these traps, make sure to hang them in different areas.
the yeast in the mosquito trap releases C02 which is what we breathe out so the skeeters will go to the trap instead of us.
Enjoy summer!
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