How to keep your home fly-free
It’s summertime which means the flies are coming. Get ready, Colleen Simpson warns.
The annual summer deluge of house flies and mosquitoes is here. That unmistakable drone, the buzzing in your face, around your head, in your ears, the itchy bites and that pesky fly poop.
This year, the forecast is for a warm and dry summer. Warm weather favours overall insect activity and experts are predicting lots of flies and mosquitoes, especially in the early part of summer. Blowflies, which feed on animal matter, in particular favour warm and dry conditions.
To get rid of these pests from our homes, we need to take a step back and think like the little bugs do. Flybusters AntiAnts operations manager Dr Paul Craddock says a multi-pronged approach alongside a professional pest controller would do wonders for getting rid of the fly population.
Craddock says flies are attracted to anything smelly and unhygienic. ‘‘If you have a compost bin, put it as far away from the house as possible. Clean up animal faeces and generally maintain good hygiene.’’
Flies aren’t only annoying, they are very effective at passing on pathogens and can cause food poisoning.
They not only land on food scraps but spend time visiting rotting plant and animal waste outside.
Craddock advised freezing smelly food scraps until rubbish collection day as one good way of minimising flies.
Mosquitoes liked to breed in small water pockets like pots, drains and sumps, said Craddock who also suggested cutting back bushy vegetation where adult mosquitoes like to hide during the day.
Kiwicare technical support manager David Brittain said flies almost all breed in decaying organic matter. ‘‘House flies on rotting vegetation and blow flies on rotting animal matter.’’
Brittain said it was vital to find any fly breeding sites both indoors and outdoors, and either remove them or treat them with residual insecticide.
Residual insecticides remain effective for a period of time after application so do be careful around food preparation areas. Flies hate being blown around. Craddock said turning on any fans in the house so that there was a good amount of air circulation would ‘‘blast them out of the house’’.
Mosquitoes were the same in their aversion to circulating air and having a pedestal or ceiling fan on in the bedroom at night works wonders, Craddock said.
The other thing about flies is that they aren’t that smart, and it isn’t hard to trick them into disliking the indoors.
Brittain said some flies mistook room interiors for their natural congregation areas of shaded, still air under tree canopies.
‘‘Changing the lighting in a room and having a fan running to disturb the air can make the room less attractive to the flies.’’ Investing in fly screens would go a long way towards keeping flies out of the house, Craddock said.
‘‘They are a little on the expensive side, and they might not be quite the aesthetic you are after for your home, but it really is the most effective way of being able to enjoy the summer breeze through open doors and windows, and not having to experience uninvited guests.’’
Fly screens would also keep the mosquitoes and their itchy bites outdoors. Closing windows and doors at dusk when mosquitoes were most active was key, Craddock said.
Brittain agreed with fly screens as well as using a long lasting residual insecticide. ‘‘Pay attention to sunny walls where flies would warm themselves in the morning.’’
Brittain said aerosol fly spray and treating surfaces with a residual surface insecticide would ‘‘encourage’’ flies to leave or control them. Personal repellents could help prevent mosquito bites.