A couple of months ago, I wrote about problems with bugs in the summertime. So I wanted to report two relative successes with fruit flies and chiggers.
Fruit fly trap
We’ve nearly eliminated the fruit flies with this trap. 
The solution consists of water, about a teaspoon of sugar, a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, and a couple of drops of dishwashing soap. The yellow color of the bowl helps, too. We put it on the windowsill where the light attracts the flies.
Chigger prevention
I’ve been using Avon Skin So Soft lotion before I go out in the yard. (Well, if you’ve been to my house, you know it’s more bush than yard.) I rub the lotion around my ankles, waist, arms, and neck every time I head out. I use the original lotion pictured here.
I got one chigger bite yesterday after wandering out under-lotioned. It made me realize that I’ve gone for weeks without any chiggers! And I’ve been outside a lot – tending the garden and hanging out with the fish and frogs in our new pond. I’m usually covered in them if I spend anytime sitting around outside in the summer.
Avon now sells Skin So Soft in all sorts of bug sprays, but who wants to put bug spray on every time you go out? It smells bad and goes everywhere. I bought some of that stuff last year, and I never liked using it. I’m much more consistent about putting on some not-too-smelly lotion.
One time I tried a different Skin So Soft fragrance I liked a little better, and it didn’t work so well. So I’m sticking with the original lotion from here on out.
Update: I’ve been bitten a few times recently, and I’ve noticed I don’t react nearly as badly. It’s more like a mosquito bite than the past insanity of itching. Maybe getting a bunch of chiggers primes the immune system to react more violently, and not getting any for a while chills it out. Either way, I’m a much happier camper this summer.
thoughtful consumption 
Ok, so I’m not a southerner and I don’t recall chiggers being an issue in Iowa. What is a chigger and what is the bite difference between them and a mosquito?
Chiggers like woodsy tall grass. They crawl up your ankles and bite where it’s snug. So I usually get bit on the backs of my knees and around my waist. The itching doesn’t start until half a day later. I used to wake up with bites and think I had bed bugs, but it was actually chiggers from the day before. The itch is bad. Liquid bandage or nail polish works best although I have no idea why. People say it suffocates the chigger, but the entomologists say the chigger’s long gone by the time you start to itch.
Wikipedia has some pictures of bites. But I react so badly that my bites are just large welts that don’t look like these pictures.
[…] June 7, 2010 by Susan We have our first fruit flies of the season, so I laid out a couple of the fruit fly traps that worked so well for us last year. […]
[…] In addition to the vacation timetable, I’m also eager to deal with the fruit quickly because we are currently overrun with fruit flies. They know the end is nigh, and they’re overwhelming our usual trap set-up. […]