Household remedy: Salad Dressing. Or: Not yo' cheese, flies.

[hearth_spirit]

Plagued by drosophila, as is properly befitting one who studies genetics

Comments

[inhumandecency]

However, the inside of your house smells more attractive to flies than the outside, so the osmotic pressure is not equal. This is also inadvisable in many parts of the world, since 50 flies << 1 mosquito.

Also, here is the obligatory XKCD strip, although I actually didn't think this one was very funny.

http://xkcd.com/357/

[tatternym]

I have tended to use vinegar or similar in a broad, shallow dish or lid-- three cheers for surface tension.

Also an acceptable use for any remaining splash of wine that's gone off.

[hearth_spirit]

A much better/cleaner version of this, which collects all the dead flies in the bottom without having to do the shaking step:

Apple cider vinegar with a single drop of hand dishwashing detergent. The detergent breaks the surface tension, sucking the flies to their doom when they touch the vinegar. Because there's no surface tension, the flies waterlog and sink rather than floating.