Honey vs Vinegar

The old adage "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar", has been proven false.

Earlier this summer, we had the misfortune of some fruit going bad.  Before we realized that it was a problem, it attracted a much more annoying problem: fruit flies.  Disgusted at the flies, we went on a search to see why they were here, and that was when we found that the fruit was rotten.

After throwing it away, we assumed that the fruit flies would go away as well; but it would seem that once here, they did not want to leave.  Throughout the summer we have battled them, trying to keep up with the fruit and washing dishes.  But if ever we slipped and left the dishes or missed a peach gone bad, there they were again.

Finally, the problem reached a peak this last weekend and we could not stand it.  My nephew suggested leaving out some honey.  I thought this a good idea, after all, they say you can catch more that way, right?  Wrong.

I kid you not, there was not a single fly on that plate of honey.  Not one.  There were more flies on my poor plant in the kitchen than on that plate of honey.

So we did what any normal person would do--looked it up on the internet.  We found a site that had many suggestions for getting rid of the pesky creatures, one of which was to put some apple cider vinegar in a bowl, then cover it with saran wrap and poke a few holes in it with a fork.  The tiny flies will get in the holes, but will not be able to fly back out (provided the holes aren't too large).  I decided to try it--and it worked!  I couldn't believe it--we had actually caught more flies with vinegar than with honey!

I guess it just goes to show you can't always believe everything you hear.