Fruit flies, be gone
Had you seen me earlier today, you might have thought me a little (more) crazy. Darting around the tasting room, waving a net through the air. It wasn’t my idea of a good time. Honestly–ever since I finished Girl Scouts, I have stopped purposefully acting like a lunatic in front of groups of people.
But the fruit flies have taken over, you see. The brevity of their lifespan is far outweighed by their insane ability to multiply. If the view is blocked by the black cloud hovering in the air and you find yourself swallowing the damn things along with your Diet Coke, pride disappears down the drain.
So when I came in from the back room to laugh at our winemaker hopping around with the net he brought over, I soon found I would be doing the same thing. Though I will say I tried to wait until the crowd thinned before commencing the dance. I’ll also say I got pretty good at flicking my fly catcher through the air with lightning speed. But for every 20 I caught, another swarm would take their place.
Thankfully, a lady who works in the St. Francis tasting room gave me a tip I plan to try out in the morning. She said if you put out a cup of apple cider vinegar, the flies will be drawn to the sweetness and dive in, never to return. Let’s hope it works.
p.s. If you visit any wineries in the next few weeks, please have patience. You may be annoyed dealing with the nuisance for half an hour, but imagine it all day long.
November 27th, 2006 at 3:29 pm
hi Farley - we’ve found a small fan set up at one end of the tasting room bar blowing down the length is sufficient to keep the little buggers out of the wine. The breeze is almost imperceptible to humans but the flies avoid it. Of course they will be everywhere else but at least the tasters will be happy!
Going to have to try the vinegar trick… thanks! - j