22 Jun 2023 | Trifecta Pest Solutions (UK) Ltd
You step into your conservatory or kitchen to enjoy the sun and relax with the doors open… as soon as you do, however, you hear an annoying buzz. Of course - it’s a fly! And soon enough, it brings its friends. Does this sound familiar?
Flies can be especially annoying and invade your house like no other insect. There are seemingly endless waves of these pests and without proper fly pest control, they can potentially cause health hazards too. Below, I take a look at how to get rid of flies outside and the potential problems they cause.
Understanding the Problem - Flies are Nuisances!
It’s first important to know why flies seemingly appear out of nowhere during the summer to invade your garden. Common houseflies or Musca Domestica are more active during warm temperatures - typically throughout the spring and summer.
Combine this with incredibly quick reproduction cycles and the ability to survive on virtually anything, and during these months, fly populations can quickly explode. For example, did you know that a female fly can lay up to 500 eggs within just a 15-25 day period?
So, we have an influx of flies due to warm weather, and this can lead to health and sanitation issues too. Flies are known to be the harbingers of disease and this is an apt name as they can carry around 65 different human-affecting illnesses including typhoid, salmonella, cholera, and TB.
Therefore, if you have flies buzzing around your garden and landing on your food, this can be a recipe for disaster.
Finding the Solution - 6 Methods to Get Rid of Flies in Your Garden
From the above, we can see why flies are a problem during the summer, and the need to get rid of them effectively. Luckily, there are a range of relatively effective methods but the key is always to act quickly and seek professional help if you feel the situation is getting out of control.
Natural Remedies
There are some simple natural remedies too such as hosting predators in your garden like birds and frogs and using natural scents that flies hate such as pine. Other items like cayenne pepper can act as a fly repellant too together with lemongrass, camphor, eucalyptus, and peppermint. Placing these strategically around your garden can make a difference.
DIY Traps
If you enjoy working on projects then you may find a DIY fly trap a great solution. These are relatively easy to make and have decent success rates.
The basic premise is that you create a funnel using the top of a plastic bottle and attach this to the other part of the bottle pointing inwards. At the bottom, you create a solution of water, sugar, and vinegar that the flies are attracted to. They then fly in, get stuck, and eventually drown in the solution.
The downside is that you will need to change the solution periodically and empty the dead flies which can be messy.
Commercial Solutions
There is a range of commercial fly-killing solutions and these are effective but are generally more expensive. An example is an LED fly killer. These devices use UV light which flies go mental for.
The flies are attracted to the UV light, fly into the grill, and are either electrocuted or simply fly into a glue board and get stuck and eventually die. The downside of these products is the installation process and the need for a continuous power supply.
Proper Waste Management
Where is the most common place you see flies? Around rubbish bins! This isn’t a coincidence. It’s because flies are incredibly low maintenance and can survive from essentially eating trash. A rubbish bin bursting with waste is the equivalent of an all-you-can-eat buffet to a fly!
Therefore, when looking at how to get rid of flies in garden areas, proper waste management is key. Make sure your bins are emptied regularly and are cleaned and this will greatly reduce the chance of a fly invasion.
Maintaining Outdoor Spaces
If your outdoor space is run down, dirty, and overgrown, you are going to have a higher concentration of flies. Poorly maintained areas are prime breeding grounds for flies as they can easily find food sources within the mess and rubbish. Always keep your garden tidy and neat and remove any waste material promptly.
Professional Assistance
If you do not feel capable of eliminating the fly problem yourself, it is best to enlist the services of a professional fly pest control company. These companies have years of experience and know how to get rid of flies completely without causing any damage to your garden.
Seeking professional assistance could be especially important for businesses that have premises with employees or a customer-facing storefront. When looking at how to get rid of flies outside, the company will not only provide a solution but also give advice on proper housekeeping and sanitation to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Flies Don’t Have to Be an Issue if You Know How to Deal With Them!
I hope you now have some renewed hope in dealing with your fly problem! Truly, these insects can be incredibly annoying and the potential health risks mean you have to take care of them effectively. If you are struggling using the above methods, seeking the help of a fly pest control company is the best solution to save you time and hassle.
