Dealing with the Plague of Flies
July 1, 2008 by Marye Audet
Filed under Home & Living
If you are feeling oddly like a certain Egyptian Pharaoh this summer and cursed with a plague of flies…there are things that you can do. Kadi at Guerilla Parenting was asking about the scourge of the constantly open screen door the other day. You know what I mean, kids that open the door lean in and holler
“MOOOOOOOM!”
“Shut the door.”
“I am going right back out”
“Shut the door!”
“But will you hand me a drink?”
“Come in and SHUT THE DOOR”
“I am going right back out!”
By this time every fly in the neighborhood has decided that the delectable smells from your kitchen are the best. They are hovering in a black cloud above the cake you are trying to mix up and…
well you know.
We live on two acres and just behind our house are a chicken coop and goat barn. These types of places are basically adult type clubs for flies. Red light district. Fly porn. So how do I keep my kitchen free of the nasty creatures?
Basil planted near doorways gives a sweet scent when the door is opened and best of all, flies hate it with a purple passion. Added benefit:You can pick fresh basil for cooking anytime you want.
You can hand the kids fly swatters and pay them a kill fee of a penny a fly. This one is good because it keeps them occupied, too.
An old southern tradition that works is to hang a baggie of water from the porch ceiling; several if you have a big porch. The reflections from the water disoriented the flies and they…uh…fly away.
You can buy the fly sticky tape stuff for about 60 cents at almost any feed store. These are, admittedly gross. BUT they work. I keep them in the barns.
Borax in the bottom of your garbage pail will keep them from ..uh…breeding and hatching there. And don’t leave wet dishcloths around the sink, if you know what I mean.
Some people say that a little dish soap and water poured into a spray bottle will kill them when you spray them. I have not tried this.
Common sense things like keeping the trash taken out, taking care of food promptly, and keeping the compost container covered will help too.
One of the best ways, and I have used this with great results is to get a fly predator. It is a type of wasp that is harmless to humans that feeds on house fly larvae. I did this a few years ago and I know it has made a huge difference. You just sprinkle the wasp eggs around areas like your compost pile, manure piles and other places that flies breed. Pretty soon no more flies…and I have never seen the wasps.
If none of that works…try ducks. They are amazingly good at catching and eating flies. 
Image:Morguefile
i am going to have to try something because they are finding all kinds of ways into the house. Thanks for the suggestions.
I understand Kisha! I detest flies!
Hi, Marye ~ I’m glad to hear a testimonial for the fly predators! We’ve known for years that our old barns are major breeding grounds, but haven’t had any luck making our unwelcome tenants (to say the least!) move on. THIS sounds like it may help a lot! We’ll definitely try this! (Btw: Fly swatting is a major sport at our house; our kids are swatting athletes of Olympic- caliber! &:o)
Give it a try..it cleaned my goat barns pretty well. You may have to do it regualrly for the firwt year but after that the wasps seem to know where to breed
Has anyone heard of or tried a fan? I’m not sure if I heard of this somewhere or made it up from years of desperation but I was thinking maybe the disturbed air would cause them to get disoriented when flying? I guess the logic is that maybe they cannot fly in wind? I’ll have to look it up. Or email me if you have an answer! I have the WORST problem with fly eggs in my cats food. I cannot keep them in during the day since we have an alarm system so I have to feed them outside. I dunno, any help is appreciated!
I dont know, Tech, maybe feed them dry food rather than canned? or feed them before they go outside?