Having wasps invade your backyard is one issue, but having flies (including fruit flies and gnats) is another. Once inside your home, these annoying pests never seem to leave. They hover over trash, buzz past your ears and try their best to taste sugary treats throughout your home. While you can always purchase a trap or bug repellant to catch these insects, a homemade fly trap is less expensive and just as effective.
You can easily lure and kill flies with bait and an empty container, like a soda bottle or mason jar. First, determine the best bait for your trap, whether it’s apple cider vinegar, old fruit, sugar water, old wine, bread yeast, honey or syrup (anything sweet, really!). Then, you can create a DIY solution with dish soap to easily trap and drown the flies.
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After following our steps, your home should be bug-free in no time, and once the flies are gone, prevention is key — so we’ve also included tips below to get rid of flies for good.
What is the best bait for my homemade fly trap?
The best homemade fly trap is one that can attract both house flies and fruit flies. To lure both outdoors, mix scraps of rotting meat, like fish or chicken, with sugar or honey. When indoors, the best bait is old fruit or honey.
Homemade fly trap bait options
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Sugar waterHoneyApple cider vinegarRotten or overripe fruitRotting meatSyrup
How to make a DIY fly trap from an empty soda bottle
Luring flies into a trap is the hardest part. Luckily, they’re attracted to anything sweet — simple syrup, honey and fruit — so you shouldn’t have to look too far to find something to entice them. The Country Chic Cottage uses honey as bait in their fly trap pictured above, but old fruit (apple chunks, for example), syrup and simple syrup work too.
The goal: Flies smell the bait and fly into the bottle to get to it. Once inside, they won’t be able to fly up the narrow opening. Once trapped, they’ll eventually die off.
What you’ll need
- Empty water or soda bottle
- Vinegar
- Dish soap
- Optional: Hole punch
- Wire or string
- Bait
Step-by-step instructions
- Cut a water or soda bottle, making the bottom half slightly taller than the top. Remove the bottle cap.
- Fill the bottom with water. Add a splash of vinegar to ward off bees. The Country Chic Cottage also recommends adding a few drops of dish soap to the water because it breaks the surface tension of the liquid, making it easier for flies to fall in.
- Stick the top half upside down in the bottom, so it looks like a funnel. Spread honey, syrup or sugar water around the mouth of the bottle, or fill it with decomposing fruit.
- To hang your trap, punch two holes at the top of the bottle. Then, thread a piece of wire or sturdy string through the holes, attach the ends and hang it wherever you please.
- As long as the problem persists, empty out dead flies and add fresh bait regularly.
Note: A mason jar can be used in place of the repurposed bottle.
This trap also works to lure and kill wasps. Most wasps are also attracted to sweets, so honey, syrup and sugar water will work for them as well. But as a last resort, you can always swap sweet bait for rotting meat or animal droppings (rabbit pellets or chicken litter) to complete the job.
Why are flies attracted to my home?
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According to Ehrlich Pest Control, flies are attracted to the heat in our homes. They also love light, garbage and damaged food. Warm and cluttered spots are their preferred breeding areas, so it’s recommended to remove garbage at least twice a week. Other helpful solutions include cleaning out drains and not allowing trash bins to overflow.
Flies also hate the smell of cinnamon and essential oils, such as lavender and lemongrass. Light candles with these scents in places you want to keep flies away.
What if I don’t have apple cider vinegar to make a fly trap?
If you don’t have apple cider vinegar at home, don’t fret! According to Clegg’s Pest Control, an effective alternative is adding “a piece of apple to a cup filled with water and dish soap.” With this idea, you’re tempting the flies with a delectable treat while creating the same “reduced surface tension to trap the flies,” the company notes. Other bait ideas include sugar water, honey and syrup.
What does liquid dish soap do to my trap’s mixture?
Liquid dish soap is exactly what you need to drown the flies. Sugar and vinegar attract them, while the soap breaks the surface tension of the liquid to trap the flies instead of keeping them sitting on the surface.
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Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Kitchens