Ah, the enlightening Drosophilidae.

Try using ammonia on the f****ers.

A small cup of vinegar will attract - and hopefully drown - the little buggers. They are a problem in the bar this time of year, especially around my fruit caddy. The vinegar helps.

The only way I've been able to get rid of them is to make sure there is absolutely no produce left out in the open. They drive me nuts.

We've noticed a bunch of them in the totally empty house I'm remodeling. What would attract them?

Get a Venus fly trap. Or two or three. I got rid of them last year that way. (and your kids will love it.)

Go talk to Jacob Farin and Jeff Dallas at Sarracenia Northwest and ask them for a sundew. Specifically, ask for either a Drosera adelae or a Drosera spatulata. Both of these are tropical sundews, meaning that they don't have to go into a winter dormancy period the way Venus flytraps do, and they're both great plants for taking care of fruit flies. The plants get fed and you don't throw out your back with insane gyrations: everybody wins.

(And if in case you're wondering why I'm recommending a specific carnivorous plant breeder, it's not just because Jacob and Jeff are good friends, and it's not just because they're local. It's because they'll make absolutely sure that you're set up and set up well when you buy one of their plants. I want to be just like them when I finally grow up.)

They are swarming around our place as well. This is the first year I've noticed them in such abundance around these parts. What gives?

Put a mix of 50/50 H2O and vinegar into a jar with some sugar in it. Cover with plastic wrap, secured by rubber bands, into which you've poked some small holes with a fork. (Don't make them too big!) Enjoy the Science Lab in your kitchen as the dummies get trapped inside and don't know how to get out.

You can also pick up a contraption that looks like a mesh hat to put over your fruit bowl at import stores like Cost Plus Imports that will effectively keep fruit flies at bay.

We just went through this. We used a few ounces of apple cider vinegar in an open glass with a couple drops of your average dish washing detergent in there. Killed nearly 20 in a couple of hours.

Many years ago my Japanese friend got me drinking vinegar on a regular basis for health reasons. We just piss on'em.

Pardon me.

Ours have been terrible the last couple of weeks as well. Strange pattern.

We do the fruit juice/wine/vinagar in a glass and then make a funnel out of sturdy paper. The funnel guides them down towards the attractor, and then they can't find the hole again. Same idea as the plastic wrap mentioned above.

Hand the dustbuster to the kids and tell them to have at it! Ours is permanently parked in the kitchen during fruit fly season each year.

Or, more boringly, an almost-empty wine bottle makes a good trap.

We use these - work great.

http://www.gardeners.com/Fruit-Fly-Traps/05-243,default,pd.html?SC=XNET8419

A small amount of bourbon in a glass works great also. Attracts them and they drown. Not a bad way to go...

Waste good bourbon on bugs? Never.

Hell, I wouldn't waste bad bourbon on bugs.

Well, so much for the adage that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Has anybody ever tried the honey routine? Take my word, don't. It doesn't work. Stick with the vinegar....it works like a charm.