Getting rid of flies

filigree_2

Help, my house is revolting

For the last couple of days we have been infested with flies. They are the ordinary black houseflies, not bluebottles or midges. They mostly hang round the kitchen and living room, possibly because those rooms are the warmest/sunniest.

I can't tell you how disgusting this is. They gather on every flat surface, all the shelves in the kitchen, the bookshelves and pictures in here, just about everywhere. Not surprisingly the lampshades are a popular spot. If you pick up a book or the biscuit tin a fly buzzes around. They are very slow and dopey, thankfully Mr Filigree has managed to splat lots of them but I can't splat fast enough and I miss them. We even have to shoo them away when we're eating :mad:

I've got Raid spray but it says not to use it on any surfaces - but that's where the damn flies are! I try flapping at them to get them airborne so I can squirt them but they're so lazy they won't fly far. I got a Vapona "flower" that sticks to the kitchen window, that seems to be working but slowly - it only kills flies that land on it. I'm unhappy about spraying Raid all over the kitchen, it's a very small room and of course EVERYTHING in the kitchen is food related and you don't want poisonous insecticide sloshing around your cooking equipment!

I have got a basil plant, that's supposed to deter flies but they seem to like sitting on it. I've tried burning joss sticks, the flies avoided the smoke but it didn't drive them out of the house. I have emptied all the bins and washed them out, also the outside bins were collected yesterday so that's not the problem. All food is sealed in containers, inside cupboards or the fridge. I'm positive we don't have any forgotten dirty dishes growing mould anywhere.

Please, can anyone suggest something I can do to get rid of the infestation?

squeaky

Shut all doors and windows for a while and hoover them up. Use the hose and put it out in front of you and get to within about a foot (30cm) of a fly and then move very slowly in towards it.

Edit: Forgot to say: don't try to catch them in mid air, just wait until they land on something.

They can't tell, because of the breeze being sucked into the hoze, that you are getting closer. By the time they realise it and try to fly away it's too late - in they go.

Doesn't take long to become a real expert, honest

More to the point - no yukky splatt marks to clean up!

Loadsabob

Good idea, Squeaky. I had tons of flies one day last year. I don't know what had happened, but there were DOZENS of them, mostly in the bedroom. Quite small. My boyfriend hoovered them all up, and it really worked - I didn't see any more for ages; now just the odd one. I guess they just move in occasionally! Horrid things! And I don't kill ANYTHING usually, but flies do spread disease, so I always think you can't be too careful.

Pooky

If you're going to hoover them up then make sure you empty the hoover afterwards.... I remember a friend doing that once and then going away for the weekend...came back to a hoover full of maggots .......blugh. Surprisingly hardy little things, flys.

Ticklemouse

May be a horrible thought - but do you have a dead animal anywhere? Not really a stupid question, I don't mean a dead dog on the rug - I'm thinking of say a mouse in the cavity wall etc. A couple of winters ago we had rats in our attic and the only way we could rid ourselves of them was to poison them. We couldn't find the body - only the smell told us it had died up there After the small had gone, we thought no more about it - until the dopey flies appeared. I'm talking huge great things that were obviously doped up on rat-poison infested meat. They were really slow, but every day I could go into the attic bedroom and find 30+ flies. Occasionally one got into the house, but not too bad really. We could find exactly where they were - after about 3-4 weeks, they disappeared of their own accord, but it was horrible while it lasted.

Baby_A

Its not moneysaving old style but definately a good buy. Vapona fly stickers, you simply stick to your window. The flies are attracted by the design and once they have touched it, die. It really has worked for me and lasts up to 4 months.

Hope this helps!!!

owey

Pooky wrote:

If you're going to hoover them up then make sure you empty the hoover afterwards.... I remember a friend doing that once and then going away for the weekend...came back to a hoover full of maggots .......blugh. Surprisingly hardy little things, flys.

I thought maggots turn into flies .

filigree_2

Oh dear, I think the dead animal option might be the explanation. There were scuffling noises in the blocked up chimney breast a week or so ago, which was probably a trapped squirrel. There is no smell of dead squirrel (the computer is next to the chimney breast and I can't smell anything from here) but I suppose there could be something dead in the chimney. Ewwwww!

I'll shut the little ventilator grille in case the flies are emerging from the chimney.

The Vapona flower is doing a good job, there was a little pile of dead flies just under the kitchen window. It was a twin-pack so I'll stick the other one on the living room window next to the dining table.

They seem to have subsided at the moment, but I'll certainly tackle the little baskets with the hoover if I spot them! I can't believe I didn't think of that, I use the hoover to get rid of moths and wasps - you can probably tell I don't like insects *ick* In the meantime the hoover has been very useful for sucking up the little corpses because I don't want to collect them by hand _pale_ . I will definitely chuck out the hoover bag soon, I don't want Son of Fly rising from the grave!

Thanks to everyone for the tips.

Debt_Free_Chick

We've had them for weeks now .... IMHO, not a lot you can do. I'm having to change the dog's water 5 or 6 times a day (dead flies on top) - euch! Poor puppy!

Debt_Free_Chick

owey wrote:

I thought maggots turn into flies .

They do. Then the flies have a bit of "how's yer father", the female lays eggs, maggots emerge, turn into flies ....... you get the picture

greenlogo

horrible little things. (((filigree)))

we had a very similar "infestation" in a student flat I had - they were there for about 3 day and then they vanished as mysteriously as they came... just our flat, none of the others in the block were affected and we were (being the only "girl" flat) by far the cleanest there!

Anyway, we found the hanging strips of stick brown paper stuff were a godsend as they're non toxic - and you could also get them in one-sided stick which meant they were good for surfaces too.

good luck!