Flies, Damned Flies!

Several of us have noticed that house flies seem to be much more aggressive these days. They have always been an irritant but never as many and as persistent.  I wonder if a new strain is emerging or if climate change; whatever, causes them to be such a damned nuisance. What next; the kind of head-netting used by bee-keepers?

 They also seem to be a super breed this year.  Have sprayed them and swatted them but they just seem to get up, shake their heads a bit and walk off.  Got one the other day with a spray and it came over and settled on the arm of my chair.  Whacked it with a rolled up paper and it hit the opposite wall before falling to the ground.  A minute later, it seemed to shake its head and simply walked to the front door where it gave another shake before flying off!  I think one of those electric tennis bats from the market might be in order.

And i thought i was the only one that had noticed!

All night last night one was flying around, i nearly intoxicated myself with the fly spray trying to kill it yet the more i sprayed the more lively it got! Have they become immune?

I hate the damn flies with a vengeance, however, we already had mosquito blinds fitted and recently had a flyscreen door fitted.

Shangrila!! Indoors is virtually fly free!!

Outside is another matter, however!

 Having the same problem here with fly sprays including Raid which always seemed to work in the past

Some of our Spanish neighbours hang a plastic bag outside the door full of water. They swear it works but I've not tried it

Hi All

Looking on the internet I found these solutions...

- Fan. This ended up being my favorite way to deter flies from getting anywhere near you, indoors or out. Get a big box fan and place it by the screened window, so the cooled air is directed towards you. To a fly, this is basically a wind tunnel. This, combined with the soap traps, effectively solved the fly problem.Bottom line: Works wonderfully to get rid of flies.

-Dish soap trap. Instead of sugar, pour an inch of liquid dish soap directly into the jar, then add another inch of water. This worked nicely to trap flies. However, not all liquid dish soap fared well. A floral scent didn't attract flies to the trap, but a green apple scent beckoned the flies to their doom. Definitely go for a fruit scent. Bottom line: This works. Be sure to use a fruit-scented dish soap.

- Lavender-scented candles. This sounded like the loveliest idea for repelling flies. I had a few lavender candles that had been given to me as gifts, so I placed them on the back stairs, a picnic table and in the kitchen. The results are mixed: The candle on the picnic table adequately kept the flies away, while the ones on the stairs and in the kitchen didn't do much. However, all the candles were not the same. The one on the picnic table was a three-wick candle that had a high concentration of scented oil. The rest were smaller single-wick candles with a fainter fragrance. So I think the key here is that the extra heat generated by three flames distributed the fragrance further than a standard candle. Bottom line: This works. Just be sure to use a big, highly-fragranced candle.
 

 Plastic bags filled with water. Though it always looks like a practical joke in progress, the local cafe swears by the fly-disorienting powers of the clear plastic bags of water suspended next to the doorways. I rarely see flies there, so I hang a plastic bag of water next to the back door (outside). In direct sunlight, the bag appeared to work in its immediate vicinity. But come twilight, the flies paid no mind to the obvious bag-of-water. Bottom line: This works if you use it during the day. (Readers suggest that adding a penny to the bag will make it work at night.)
 

Maybe somebody can post their results !

Garry

 

 Good ideas Garry but don't think it would work with these super flies.  They are immune to everything.  Mind you, SWMBO got the hang of using the Raid.  She hits the flies with the can.

 There was a big problem with flies in this area earlier on in the year, but just the normal ones. It was down to the sloppy farming techniques applied locally. Rotting fruit was left unploughed and dung was left in areas it would not be normally tolerated. A local lady did a lot of campaigning on local radio, and denounced some local farmers, but the town hall weren't interested. Eventually, good old fashioned "persuasion" encouraged some of the farmers to plough in the spoil.

Mark