Non-Toxic Fruit Fly and Ant Traps

Spring has sprung! As the outdoor landscape warms and wakes up once again, it sends along its seasonal greeting inviting unwelcome pests into our homes.

Avoid using toxic pesticides to rid your house of fruit flies and ants with these natural living remedies from Lindsay Edmonds at passionatehomaking.com.

Fruit Fly Trap

• 1 quart jar
• 1 piece of paper, rolled up into a funnel
• tape
• apple cider vinegar
• small slice of banana

Fill a quart jar with a 1/2 inch of apple cider vinegar and a small piece of banana. Roll up your paper into a funnel shape (larger at the top) and tape it in place. Place the funnel into your jar and make sure all the edges are secured shut with tape. You may have to adjust the size of your funnel to make sure it fits nicely into your jar. Place the jar where the fruit flies are flying around and let it go to work. You will be amazed at how well this trap works. The fruit flies will smell the fruit and climb inside, but for some odd reason they don’t fly back up the funnel to get out. When you have caught a good supply, place the entire jar in the freezer. After a short time the flies will die and you can remove the jar from the freezer and use it again without even removing the old contents. Use repeatedly until your fruit flies are eliminated. This easy trap is amazingly effective!

Ant Trap

We are often plagued with ants in the spring time as well around here. We have various sorts of carpenter and sugar ants. This little concoction does the trick! Last year we had huge carpenter ants all around our kitchen. Many were coming out of our electrical sockets in our kitchen. We were blown away by how quickly they were eradicated with this recipe.

• 1 tsp. borax (natural laundry boosting powder)
• 2 cups hot water
• 6 Tbsp sugar
• folded paper towel
• small shallow cup (like a creme brulee dish)

Disolve borax in hot water. Stir in sugar. Dip the folded paper towel, using tongs, in the solution till completely saturated with solution. Cram the paper towel in the dish. Place in location where you have seen the ants. This solution will be eaten by the ants and taken back to the nest to share with the other ants and thus eradicate the entire nest. Keep away from children by placing on a countertop or cupboard, if possible.

In a related holistic health news item, mushroom expert Paul Stamets recently received two groundbreaking patents on his fungal pest control solution for carpenter ants. Watch for news updates on how mushrooms could revolutionize the world of pest control by eliminating pesticide use.

Share these natural living tips with your friends and family to reduce pesticide use in your neck of the woods.

Carol Bedrosian is the publisher of Spirit of Change holistic magazine and can be reached at carol@spiritofchange.org.