The price to pay for our abundant and delicious summer fruit is often an infestation of fruit flies. If you are like me and always keep a large bowl of fresh fruit on the counter, you know what I am talking about. Last night, after several of these pesky pests climbed into my red wine glass I decided to do something about it. Here are some tricks for getting rid of fruit flies:

Keep your fruit bowl clean

As fruit ripens it oozes little bits of juice that fruit flies LOVE. Make sure you regularly clean out your fruit bowl to get rid of this juice. This means not only disposing of overripe fruit, but carefully cleaning the bowl to remove any oozed juice. Even a little bit will attract fruit flies.

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Make apple cider vinegar traps

My friend Carol taught me this trick. Fill several small bowls with apple cider vinegar and cover them tightly with plastic wrap. Even better, secure the edges with a rubber band to create a secure seal. Use a toothpick to poke small holes in the plastic wrap. You want the holes to be big enough for the flies to climb in, but small enough so they can't get out.

Leave the bowls on the counter near your fruit bowl and near your garbage disposal. Leave the bowls out for about a week. You want to catch the adult flies and the next generation of unborn babies which will show up after a few days. If you don't have apple cider vinegar, any vinegar will do. You can add a little chum to the bowl by putting a piece of overly ripe fruit in it. I also find a glass of red wine covered in plastic wrap will attract these hard-partying varmints.

Clean your garbage disposal and dump your trash

Fruit flies like to check out your garbage disposal and trash cans for snacks. Keep disposals clean and dump trash every day.

What is your favorite way to get rid of fruit flies?