RSS Feed
How to Get Rid of Flies
Loading ...
Republish
2. Fly management
If the source of the flies cannot be effectively eliminated then you may want to take more direct countermeasures. This section will show you how to fly-proof your home and kill them off with traps.
Fly-proofing your home
The process of fly-proofing your home is pretty straight forward, the two major entry-points for flies are doorways and windows. Windows can be protected by adding screens that fit tightly into the opening, leaving no gaps for flies to enter around the edges. Repair damaged window screens with a dab of silicone caulk or screen patches (available in most places that sell screen windows). Doorways can be protected in a similar fashion with screen doors, or by keeping the door shut as much as possible.
Beaded curtains also work well for keeping flies out of an area. The better the beads interlock without gaps, the more effective they will be.
Fly repellents
Zip-lock water bags
Many people swear that a zip-lock bag filled half-way with water and attached over entry-ways will repel flies. No one yet knows how or why it works, but there is speculation that it has something to do with the way the moving water refracts light. If you have tried this please use the comments form at the bottom of the page to share your results with the rest of us.
Personal insect repellents
Repellents containing DEET (Diethyl-m-toluamide) work well at repelling all sorts of insects including flies. Use these rubs and sprays on your clothing rather than directly on the skin, and never on your pets.
Citronella torches and candles
Citronella oil is derived from citronella grass. It is used in perfumes, soaps, and insect repelling candles and tiki torches. These candles and torches are marketed mainly as mosquito repellents but also work to repel flies.
Fly traps
Fly traps have a dual purpose. If used intelligently they can dramatically cut down on the number of flies that you see by using them to strategically encircle your desired no-fly zones. They are also useful for monitoring the fly population as you work to eliminate environmental causes so you can get some feedback on the effectiveness of your actions.
Fly swatters
Not so much a trap as an offensive weapon, the common fly swatter is an effective tool for hunting down any particularly annoying flies that have made it through the perimeter. Find one at your local department store or supermarket.
Fly paper
Fly paper is efficient at catching flies, but is horrendously ugly. Use it in direct sunlight for the best results. Fly paper is also good for catching undamaged specimens for identification. The glue is very difficult to remove from hard surfaces and nearly impossible to remove from clothing so be very careful during setup and removal.
Fly traps
Most fly traps work by placing an attractive bait in a location from which the brightest light leads right into a trap. After feeding on the bait, flies will normally fly towards the brightest light source and get stuck inside of the trap. These can be purchased or made at home and work very well. Here are some things to keep in mind about these traps:
- The bait will need to be kept moist, so purchasing a trap that has a water reservoir can cut down on maintenance.
- These traps will also need to be periodically cleaned so look for one that opens easily.
- A mixture of molasses and cornmeal makes an effective bait that will not support fly eggs.
Place these traps up-wind of suspected areas of infestation.
UV Bug lights
Also known as bug zappers, these traps use an ultraviolet light to attract insects to an electrified grid where they are promptly charred out of existence by a high voltage current. They work excellently for reducing the overall insect populations when they’re habitually left on overnight but they have the drawback of also killing beneficial insects. Small and portable indoor versions are also available.
Predators
If you live in an area where the removal of environmental causes is next to impossible such as near an animal farm, zoo or dump then you may want to see if the local residents will all pitch in to purchase some predatory insects from an insectary. Capture a few intact pest-insects to have positively identified and then contact an insectary, describe to them your situation and they will be able to recommend an effective predatory solution.
Pages: 1 2
I need help badly. I own a photography studio and last week we had our first sign of a fly. It is only in the studio no other room, doors and windows are sealed, there is no garbage, and we are killing around 20-40 a day. We have got storage heaters in the room but they were turned off when we thought they were the cause of the problem. Freezing in there now.
Any ideas how to find where they are breeding ?
So I have just read all the comments. It seems all the comments relate to summer flies. It is November and when the temp warms up a little to about 60 degrees my house fills with flies. I don’t have them in the summer, just spring, autumn and winter…..?I live in Maryland horse country. When I returned home last night, there must have been 500 flies in the house. And this is after removal of all of them the day before! Are the zip lock bags a good autumn and winter repellant as well? I have no trash in the house whatsoever and the house staged and is for sale. Are they trying to come in for warmth? Do you put multiple bags up in the same areas? Over every window? Or just one bag per area? Why do they choose my house and not my neighbors’? Truly, there is no uncleanliness at all.
I did tried the ziplock bag and pennies this weekend. I have a horse trailer with full LQ. The flys were very bad this weekend while I was camping. I put the baggie with pennies above the door of the LQ. NOT ONE FLY came in the trailer. The horse trailer part had many. Not sure why it works but it does!!!!!!!
I will tell you what kills flies almost instantly…WINDEX!!!!!
I use the yellow antibact. kind of Windex. I spray them and they FALL RIGHT THERE!!!!
I have no idea why this works, but if I have nothing around, I grab the windex, spray them and they die. TRY IT!!!!
I followed a lot of tips on this page and some of the traps seemed to work, but it was never enough. Also, all that fly paper and bowls of dish soap and sugar filled with dead flies was ugly and disgusting to have around. Trying to impress friends is a lot easier when they aren’t constantly reminded of your horrendous infestation.
My solution? BUY A PITCHER PLANT!!!
Pitcher Plants work like a liquid trap. They entice the flies (all kinds, big small, fruit, house…) to enter and then they get trapped in the liquid and slowly digested. Within ONE NIGHT of owning the plant we were suddenly missing 90%+ of our pest problem. The plant is also attractive and a nice conversation piece you can be proud of.
Pitcher plants are not expensive (mine was less than $10 and will continue working and living for years) They are almost zero maintenance needing no fertilizer, a small pot, and minimal watering. The best part, they can be found almost anywhere! I found mine in the flowers section of my local Meijer! (Wal-Mart carries them too)
P.S. Don’t waste your time or money on the Venus Fly Traps (usually located near the Pitcher Plants). They can only catch one fly at a time in their “mouths” and sometimes the trip hairs are not sensitive enough for fruit flies. Pitcher Plants on the other hand will keep on filling up no matter what crawls in there.
P.P.S. Cat’s are not too much of a problem. Our felines showed little interest in the plant.
I have read here about people with “infestations” of flies and having to kill “20 to 30″ a day. That is not an infestation!!! I live in southern Spain and at this time of the year we will have literally hundreds of flies in the house. After a long hot, dry summer we will get a few days of quite heavy rain, but it the weather is till hot. The fly population just seems to explode at this time and we use a combination of probably all of the methods mentioned on this blog. The most effective immediately is fly spray. However, a really good way of preventing them comeing into your home is to install a misting system that runs around the perimeter of the house. This creates a curtain of fine spray through which the flies will not venture. It is not cheap but it is definitely the most effective system I have found.
Fill a ziplock bag with water and 5 or 6 pennies and hang it in the problem area. In my case it was a particular window in my home. It had a slight but significant passage way for insects.Every since I have done that, it has kept flies and wasps away. Some say, that wasps and flies mistake the bag for some sort of other insect nest and are threatened by this.
Close the Ziplock bag… it really works to keep us pests away!
I heard that a plastic shopping bag, filled with water and a coin in the bottom resemble a hornets nest. I guess hornets are a predator to the fly?
We live behind a Black Angus Farm. Needless to say, we have FLIES!! Some days are worse than others like very HOT days. We have been using those STINKY, SMELLY, GAWD AWFUL traps with the bait. They really do work and we have them in almost every tree on our peramiter of property. We also have them hanging just by the patio which really help but if you get just right and get a whiff of it, you gag. It really smells like something dead that is rotting.
the plastic bag trick DOES work to keep them out of the house. Sandwich size zip-lock half full of water tacked to the outer door frame.
With all of this we STILL get them however and some days we just cannot even eat out there even though we LOVE our patio and being outside.
Would anyone suggest a zapper? If so, what brand/type…
Thanks….signed bugged in Idaho
I have tried everything the only thing that seems to work the best is lime not the fruit but powered subtance that is purchased @ farm supply & hard ware stores.Just throw it in the yard it looks kinda weird cause your yard has a white powder covering it but it keeps the flies fleas&ticks away!!try it
so it never says are the bags open or closed and if closed like you assume then how do the flys get in
I TRIED THE WATER IN THE ZIPLOCK BAG OVER MY DOOR WAY AND IT DOSE NOT WORK AT ALL.I THINK A FAN OVER YOUR DOOR WOULD WORK.LIKE THE ONES THAT YOU GO UNDER AT WALMART.LIKE RIGHT UBOVE THE DOOR WAY.
what are you suppose to do when they are already inside????
btw ziplocks….i am guessing they take awhile.
OK, so many people have tried this, but as one poster asked:
Is the bag supposed to be open or closed?
I am wondering where you hang this — another question no one seemed to answer. Do I hang it directly in the middle, on the side of the latch and where the door opens, etc.?
Thank you.
Okay so I am going to try the ziplock thing but I am confused as well. Are the ziplocks open or closed?
Zip-lock!! So true!!! I remember seeing them at a mercado in Mexico and asked what was the story behind the water bags. So after returning home, I tried it! It really works, though my door ways look weird, their fly-free!!
Are the water baggies hung outside the door. And do you spray them with Raid?
We were killing at least 20 flies a day out here in Temecula California. I had all the windows and doors closed. I couldn’t for the life of me find out how they were getting in. Well I had an inkling about the Microwave that hangs over our oven because there was a fly inside the door of the microwave. Well, while I was killing flies I noticed a fly, fly through the ventilation part of the microwave. I put sliding screen door material on the vent and the fly’s could not get through and we have gone from killing 20 flies a day to killing none. That’s it.
OK I hung the water in the bag..and sprayed with RAID flying insect killer..within 10 min I have only seen 3 flies. DOWN FROM 1,092. The insect spray and the ziplock seem to have helped by at least 75%.