Flies & other bugs

What about those plug-in sonic fly-killers, yogagran and a see through fly-screen on open doors. That should cut the numbers down.

Scented geraniums are supposed to work. I find the scent a bit sickly. A pet toad at the door might be good. Abroad you see fly screens and dangly bobbly thing that you buy in hardware shops. Save all your corks and thread them and hang across the doorway is a lunatic idea but you could have hours of fun drinking the stuff and trying to thread them and if DH joins you in the drinking he might not notice the flies. I am neurotic about flies and I have a hand held vac which sucks them to death.

Lavender oil is good as a deterent .

have you tried googling ?

DD uses the traditional bead/plastic strip curtains over the doors. They let the air in but keep the flys out. Net curtains might do a similar job on windows, cannot guarantee this because I have never tried it.

During warm weather I like the door open, so a piece of net curtain size of door frame and doubled, make a hem along bottom and fill with anything for weight ie beans[from beanbag, not tin] , wire through the top and jobs a goodun.
Use piece of cord to tie back at night, else cat has trouble getting in cat flap.

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We bought a stick on with velcro fly screen for the back door which I have open all the time in Summer and we haven't had a fly in the house since we put it up, they don't seem to come in the windows just the door .. OH is paranoid about flying things too..

DD uses the old fashioned sticky strips which seem to work very well although a bit unsightly.
She tried strip curtains but stupid large dog wouldn't go through it and 18mth old thought it was his new toy

Stans you lead an interesting life! But would your hand be steady enough to do the threading?

DS bought one of those things that look like a tennis raquet which electrocute them.

As for spiders, I was recently told that if you put a conker in every corner it will deter them. In a month or so I will be the little lady under the tree with a big bag!

I have used conkers in previous years. They are either very effective or it's a coincidence.
SIL has one of those zappers. It's hilarious watching him trying to actually hit a fly/bug.

Some wasps came into my kitchen yesterday through the open door. I opened a window as well. They flew out. Flies do the same. Once in a while I catch a bumble bee in a jar, make a lid with a postcard and carry it outside. That works for spiders too, though mostly I just leave them to get on with life in the corners.

If a bumble bee is a sleepy one I don't mind picking it up and carrying it out.

yogagran, like you we live in the country surrounded by fields and do accept a certain number of flies and buzzing things as being part of the deal. However, on certain days I do find one too many buzzing around the kitchen whilst I'm preparing food a tad annoying, and un-hygienic. I am trying out something made by Vapona - they are sunflower design stickers that you put on a window and are activated by the sunshine. They are supposed to last for 4 months and you might need 2 in larger rooms. I put them up a couple of days ago. Just to be annoying it suddenly gone all cool and rainy so the flies have reduced anyway, but I think its making a difference and they are certainly discrete.

I have to admit to killing a bee the other week. It was huge and it came into the kitchen in a very angry mode. My dog nearly died when she was stung by a wasp the other year, so I got the dog out of the room and tried to catch the bee using all sorts of ways but it just got madder and madder. I still feel bad about it now. I'm not scared of bees usually but this one freaked me out. My daughter was stung the other day by something that flew straight at her and stung her on the had; she's still in pain from it. She thought it was a wasp but I'm wondering if it could have been a hornet?

You can buy domestic versions of those blue light insect zappers you see in food outlets. The blue light attracts the flies in and then they get zapped.

We had hornets having a party around one of the outside lights the other evening. They are HUGE....you cannot mistake them for a wasp. Also they are a lot more docile....only supposed to attack if you more or less tread on them. We just stood and watched them from no more that a yard away and they were fascinating to see. None of them showed any interest in us. I googled Hornet and found a clip on the BBC wildlife website that showed them to be pretty calm around humans.
However, I do admit to ushering one out of the house last night when we had small children spending the night....I say 'usher' I more or less batted it over the head with a large feather duster and flicked it out the back door....don't think it survived.