One I found: get a bowl, put balsamic vinegar (or cider vinegar) in the bottom, cover the top with plastic, poke holes in the plastic so they can get in but not out.

Ooh, ooh, I know this one. I use this fruit fly trap from Gardeners Supply that really seems to do the trick. Just bought a second soapstone box (which is kinda pretty, actually, although you can just buy the plastic trap itself if you don't mind looking at it.) for the kitchen. We also have one in the sunroom (where all our potted plants are.

Alternately, you can go on a fly killing spree like my husband did. That worked too, but it was very distressing in the meanwhile.

Yeah, my expensive trap is pretty much the same thing as what they said.

Step 2: Drink wine (leaving about 1/2 an inch at the bottom of the bottle).

damn, guess I'll have to drink a bottle of wine. Good thing I went to TJ's today.

You can make a trap with a jar and a funnel (funnel in normal funneling position in the mouth of the jar), also. I used funnels made out of paper so as to have many traps when I had not so many funnels. In my empirical observations, caught more flies with honey, but I understand others have had different results.

damn, guess I'll have to drink a bottle of wine.

Do it for the children (of the fruit flies).

ETA: I have tried a number of methods, including plates and funnels, and ingredients, including honey and vinegar. The wine bottle worked far better than the other methods. I actually keep an empty bottle handy and add vinegar if I don't want to make the sacrifice of drinking wine.

I bought a pretty glass trap (they call it a bee trap, I think, but I don't want to catch bees, of course) that looks nice hanging from a hook, but it has yet to catch any flies. I have extremely dumb flies, though; they may not have found the sugary bait in their aimless circling around the middle of the patio where there is nothing to interest them, mere feet from the sugary treat-filled trap.

Vinegar was ineffective for me. I mean, fruit flies died in it, but just as many as drown if I just put water out.

But the traps have worked really well at keeping the numbers down. And an enterprising spider built its web at the edges of the trap, greatly increasing its efficiency.

Vinegar was ineffective for me. I mean, fruit flies died in it, but just as many as drown if I just put water out.

What sort of vinegar did you use?

Not that I know anything about this, Victoria is fruit-fly free.

Am I to believe that people are catching more flies with vinegar than with honey?

My world, she is shaken.