Green Tips for Controlling House Flies This Summer

As warmer weather approaches, we can expect those pesky flies to begin driving us crazy in our homes and yards again. This season leave those commercial insecticides, and the toxic chemicals they contain, on the shelf and use these green tips for reducing that annoying fly population. The best way to keep flies from becoming a problem in the first place is to keep your garbage cans covered so flies can’t get to it and lay their eggs. Keep dairy and meat products out of your compost heap; produce may still draw gnats but you won’t have those pesky house flies hanging around. Empty any mouse traps to keep flies from feeding on the decaying critters. Then go green with your fly control efforts, to keep from adding toxic chemicals to our environment.

Choose Pyrethrins, Not Synthetic Pyrethroids

Fly sprays contain chemicals that affect the central nervous system of not only insects, but other living creatures as well. These chemicals end up in our soil and water supply, and are highly toxic to aquatic life and moderately toxic to birds. If you like the convenience of a spray, choose one that contains natural, organic pyrethrins instead of synthetic pyrethroids or other highly toxic poisons.

Pyrethrins are organic compounds found in chrysanthemum plants, and while they are still mildly toxic, they are one of the least poisonous insecticides. Although some people may be sensitive to pyrethrins, exhibiting respiratory symptoms or skin reactions, the compounds are rapidly excreted and don’t build up to toxic levels in the human body. Pyrethrins degrade rapidly in sunlight, and any pyrethrins on top of the soil or in the water supply are quickly neutralized.

Use Flowers and Herbs To Deter Flies

Citronella is another natural fly repellant, and works for mosquitos, too. Citronella is the essential oil of a variety of cymbopogon plants, and is non-toxic. To deter flies and mosquitos from joining in your backyard barbecue or picnic in the park, burn several small citronella candles around the area.

You can grow your own organic fly-repellants to discourage flies from hanging around your yard. Lemon balm, catnip, mint, chrysanthemums, eucalytpus, and marigolds are repulsive to flies. Crushed bay leaves and cloves can be wrapped in small squares of muslin and hung in open doorways and windows to discourage flies. Essential oil of eucalyptus can be dropped on an absorbent cloth and placed wherever flies are a problem.

Go Batty To Eliminate Flies

Engage the natural predators of flies in your fight. Encourage bats to live around your home by providing them with bat houses. Bats have gained an undeserved reputation as scary, nasty critters, but they really don’t go out of their way to bother us. They have been known to carry rabies, but you’re actually in more danger of contracting rabies from the neighborhood squirrels. Bats are very clean animals, and a single brown bat can eat hundreds of flying insects in an hour. You can build your own bat house, or buy them ready made. The bats will sleep in their little home during the day, never disturbing your family, and come out at night to dine on flies and other flying insects during the night.

Fly Strips and Fly Paper

Although fly strips and fly paper are not terribly attractive they are quite efficient at trapping flies, and a non-toxic alternative to fly sprays. These sticky strips and papers are embedded with a sweetener to attract flies, and when they land for a meal, they’re stuck! Just throw the whole thing away when it becomes covered with flies.

You can make your own fly strips, if you’re one who likes to avoid buying manufactured products, by using items that you probably already have in your home. Make a concoction of 1/4 cup pancake syrup, 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar. Cut a brown paper grocery bag into strips and soak it in the sticky mixture. Lay the strips on wax paper and let them dry overnight. The next day, poke a small hole in one end and hang your homemade fly strips wherever flies are a problem.

A Few More Ideas

Don’t forget the old-fashioned fly swatter! If you have good hand-eye coordination, you can eliminate them one at a time. Somehow, though, flies always seem to know when the swatter is about and do a disappearing act. Better yet, give the fly swatter to the kids and challenge them to see how many they can kill.

Mountain folk will hang plastic bags filled with water on their doorways and patios to keep flies away. No one really seems to know why this works, but apparently it does. The theory is that flies see their reflections in the bag, which they don’t like. Who knows why it works, but it’s cheap, so give it a try!