Bye Bye Pesky Ants and Fruit Flies

Summer time calls for sun, beaches, and seasonal fruits and veggies. Along with the ripe fruits and veggies in the house comes some of our unwelcomed friends, ants and fruit flies. No matter how new, clean, or upkept your home is these little guys sneak right in. As much as I don’t mind seeing the little criiters on the side walk, I just don’t want them roaming around my kitchen. Some of these natural remedies will provent these bugs from getting in and others will end the growth of the colonies or swarm of flies.

For the ants:

1. Lemon juice 

Spray pure lemon juice around the openings of windows and doorways. The acid from the lemons interrupts the ants sense of tracking.

2. Cinnamon 

Use ground cinnamon around where the ants are coming in or their colony. It prevents the ants from traveling. Or if you don’t want to use dry cinnamon, spray cinnamon essential oils around entrances. It works really well.

3. Peppermint 

You can also use peppermint essential oil around windows and doors then your home will smell minty fresh too!

For the flies: 

1. Red wine 

Leave a little bit of red wine at the bottom of the bottle and let it sit out. The flies will flock to it, and die a very merry death. Putting a little red wine in a seperate container with plastic wrap ontop with small holes works too.

2. Lemongrass Spray

-10 drops of Lemongrass essential oil
-A clean spray bottle
-2 ounces of hot water

In a spray bottle add 10 drops of lemongrass essential oil to 2 ounces of hot water and shake well. Spray along windowsills and doorways or directly on flies. This spray will prevent them from coming in if they haven’t already and prevents them from flying around the fruits.  It leaves a nice refreshing scent as well.

3. Unfiltered apple cider vinegar
Remove the cap from the bottle (it doesn’t have to be full — nearly empty will also work). Cover the opening in plastic wrap and secure with a rubber band. Then, poke a hole for the fruit flies to enter. They can’t resist the scent of vinegar, and they won’t be able to exit once they’re inside.

Here’s to a less buggy summer…at least in our homes!