Cluster Flies!!! 2 October 2016 at 8:41AM edited 2 October 2016 at 8:45AM in House buying, renting & selling 20 replies 13.8K views

abillybob94

Hi All

So we've had a lot of problems, we're buying this recently converted barn and so far have had all sorts of legal problems with the documentation. We have finally got to the point 6 months on where we can exchange and we have sorted it all out from a legal point of view.

We went back and visited the barn yesterday and found 2 issues, one was that there was damp showing near the front door of the property and the other was cluster flies, thousands of them. A lot of them had died in the upstairs bedrooms but I went to investigate in the loft and there was thousands of the things... Makes my skin crawl just thinking about them now!!!

Me and my partner are very worried this could become a huge problem and are unsure whether or not to go ahead with the purchase. We have contacted the seller directly and listed some of these issues but he hasn't bothered getting back to us as usual.

We were wondering if we should really be this worried, is there a simple tried and tested way to get rid of them and keep them out? We've looked at fumigation from products that apparently initially kill them and send them running away and then using an automatic dispenser to prevent them coming in like this one but we're unsure to how well these work and if they are at all effective?

We're really gutted and upset about the whole thing and hopefully you guys can give us some guidance!?

Thank you everyone!! :j

Here's some pictures...

Here, Here and Here

The pictures don't show it all unfortunately but trust me when I say there's thousands of them!!

Davesnave

It's part and parcel of living in the country. Every autumn they find places to overwinter, like attics, the interior of vans and in window frames. There can easily be a few hundred inside the frame of a sash window.

Last year, I had to stop my van 3 times in 20 miles, just to clear them from the cab, after they emerged from the heating vents. C'est la vie.

Some people aren't suited to life in the country, so it's as well to decide if that cap fits before purchase. We don't want to be told next that the farmer is spreading smelly ordure all over the field next door, or that he has had the temerity to drive his huge tractor within feet of your barn to get there, shaking it to the foundations.

No, I'm not kidding; that's an example of a real complaint lodged by a near neighbour in a barn conversion.

What I'm saying is that many people have an unrealistic idea of what country living is like, because it's frequently not all peace and tranquility. There are barking dogs, cockerels (guilty as charged!) tractors, odd smells and small irritations like these flies, which I've never encountered in towns.

I suspect that you can just bump them off with a standard fly spray like I do in my van. It's no biggie.

Just don't have bats!!!

Apoorwoman

As Davesnave so rightly points out the joys of living in the country. We live in a barn conversion and also get cluster flies, but only in two of the bedrooms which face west. They seem to like the window frames as do the ladybirds which overwinter there. At times, in the Spring, we also get a certain type of small bee, most are dead or dying by the time we discover them, sad as they are rather cute and we have no idea how they get into these bedrooms.

And he mentioned bats!!! We have had periods of one bat a night. They come down the stairs and race round the kitchen. Bit like a Harry Potter movie and getting them out is a challenge.

You'll get used to it, but possibly not the spiders .... enjoy, you will love living there, as we do .

TheGardener

Cluster flies; scarf round face - bennie hat pulled down over ears - work goggles - can of fly spray in each hand and go in like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I honestly thought there was a dead body in my loft when I had this problem...farmer in the pub explained about them. :rotfl:

Took 10 mins to empty the cans - opened all the windows - problem solved. They don't come every year - maybe 2 in 5.
(don't forget to cover up the fish tank if you have one)

downshifter

........yes flies etc are real pain but no-one's mentioned mice. They're coming back from their summer hols in droves, moving straight into the loft, behind kitchen units, between kitchen ceiling and upper floor, under the bath etc etc. The cat is anticipating a fat winter!

Plagued by wasps at the moment as I'm trying to peel a mountain of windfalls.

They're all reasonably harmless if you're not phobic and take sensible hygiene precautions and all part and parcel of living in the country I suppose. My hoover bag is full of hopefully by now dead flies!!

troubleinparadise

Apoorwoman wrote: »

As Davesnave so rightly points out the joys of living in the country. We live in a barn conversion and also get cluster flies, but only in two of the bedrooms which face west. They seem to like the window frames as do the ladybirds which overwinter there. At times, in the Spring, we also get a certain type of small bee, most are dead or dying by the time we discover them, sad as they are rather cute and we have no idea how they get into these bedrooms.

And he mentioned bats!!! We have had periods of one bat a night. They come down the stairs and race round the kitchen. Bit like a Harry Potter movie and getting them out is a challenge.

You'll get used to it, but possibly not the spiders .... enjoy, you will love living there, as we do .

I wonder if your small bees are mason or mortar bees? We have them in the soft mortar between the brick and flint on our house, and I see them mainly in the spring time. Try googling that - they're not a problem, they just have a slightly different lifestyle to honey bees!

Apoorwoman

troubleinparadise wrote: »

I wonder if your small bees are mason or mortar bees? We have them in the soft mortar between the brick and flint on our house, and I see them mainly in the spring time. Try googling that - they're not a problem, they just have a slightly different lifestyle to honey bees!

Yes, have looked them up and you may well be right, but it states they are solitary bees, whilst we have dozens of them over the course of several days. They are not a problem, it just saddens me that I have not got to the room in time to open the windows for them to make their escape. We don't have any lofts so can't work out where they come from.

alumende27

The house I bought this time last year had a similar infestation. The were falling through the recessed lights in the bathrooms from the attic, there was a loud swarming noise from the loft every time the loft hatch was opened and the yellow insulation was black with dead ones.

I spoke to a local pest exterminator, they said there was little point treating for them until after first frost had killed them off outside otherwise they'd just keep coming in.

I ended up spraying several cans of fly killer in the loft, and tossing a few of those Vapona fly killing blocks up there. That seemed to the job, no similar infestation this year. It helps that the kittens manage to kill any flies that make it into the house.

I agree it's part and parcel of living in the country though.

Lord_Baltimore

Flies, spiders, tractors, bats, mice, dogs, cockrels, bees, smells...they don't mention this stuff in Escape to the Country.

I hope there are no cows, geese, farmers, sheep, and slurry. *Shudders* It sounds torture .

GrahamJeffs

We had cluster flies in our attic in our last house. Try Agropharm Fortefog P mini fumers...they work. I got my last lot from Pest Control Direct Ltd...pestcontroldirect.co.uk

We got these after the local council did a fumigation and their expert recommended them.

Graham

G_M

A victory of townies over ignorant country-folk:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/10535524/Complaints-silence-church-bells-for-first-time-in-117-years.html

I also recall reading of a new house-owner who complained to the fire station next door about the sirens that went off - sometimes even at night!