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Flies! ? ? ?

(71 Posts)
MayBeMaw Wed 08-Sept-21 14:30:14

I thought we had seen the last of them for this year, but this week’s Indian Summer seems to have resulted in a final fly fling!
I was working upstairs in the study for a couple of hours and when I came down the kitchen (door left open to the garden for the dog) was heaving so much I thought I must have left food out or that something had died in a corner.
Then I went through to the sitting room where the bay window looked like a fly fest too.
I have given up swatting them and (reluctantly) have now got out the fly spray.
I have never seen them as bad all summer . angry

Craftycat Mon 20-Sept-21 11:37:27

Really bad year for flies. I bought a fly curtain to put over back door & that kept them out very well.

Magrithea Mon 13-Sept-21 09:58:16

We have been plagued too! It may be cluster flies that congregate in lofts for the winter - we have our loft treated every winter (it has to be after the weather gets colder so the flies stay in) but it was so mild last year we didn't!

Rosina Sat 11-Sept-21 08:19:03

Hellogirl1 I'm sorry if I have given you a nightmare. I was intending to buy one of those gadgets - I've seen them in shops - and mentioned it in front of a friend who warned me of the way they work. It's a pretty revolting thought, isn't it? Sorry ... sorry ... sorry!

Hellogirl1 Fri 10-Sept-21 22:50:50

Rosina you`ve just given me food for a nightmare! I`ve got one of the electric blue light zappers. There`s a loud cracking noise when a fly gets killed, I wondered why the tray was empty, because it says to empty it weekly.

Teacheranne Fri 10-Sept-21 22:34:39

I’m reading in bed at the moment, bedside light on but window closed - will open it again when light goes off.

A few seconds ago I was startled when a daddy long legs flew down the gaping neck of my nightie and whirred around between my somewhat ginormous boobs! As you can imagine, I leapt out of bed swearing like a trooper to flick it out. I suspect it’s dead, squashed by either my boobs or my hands but I’ve got my spider catcher at the ready in case I see it again.

Bloody flying things! But better a daddy long legs than a spider getting intimate with me!

Pittcity Fri 10-Sept-21 22:22:05

I bought a carnivorous plant from Lidl but the flies are just teasing it at the moment. I think it needs to grow a bit!

Smurf52 Fri 10-Sept-21 19:53:04

Jaylucy would these be any good?

www.amazon.co.uk/Transparent-Reusable-Seamless-Waterproof-Oilproof/dp/B07KG8T5W8/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&psc=1&crid=2ONKHQ3UG5JOT&keywords=adhesive+hooks&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUE1UkdVMjRWM0hPTzImZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAwMjYyNDkxVUhNWTZTVjdDOUNJJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA3MjY0OTkzRTRQODk0SVFRQTdYJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==&tag=gransnetforum-21&qid=1631299842&sr=8-1-spons

Shropshirelass Fri 10-Sept-21 08:04:06

We have had a problem with flies this year too and have resorted to using fly spray, I don’t like using it but we had no choice!

justwokeup Thu 09-Sept-21 20:47:00

So many little flies in this area this year, public health is looking into the cause. I second fly paper Rosina - over a couple of days the newly-purchased 'zapper' got 6 of them, the flypapers got at least 60! Fly spray is a no no as we have fish, and the fly paper collects them for us. I feel a lot less squeamish about fly paper than flies buzzing around looking for any surface, or food, to land on.

Rosina Thu 09-Sept-21 19:05:55

I am quite rattled to read of how many people are spraying insecticide around the house - that stuff is pretty horrifying. If a fly finishes up dead on the floor....I also read that the 'blue light' gadgets that kill flies actually explode them and a miasma of fly mist is then distributed over everything in range. What is wrong with a good old fashioned flypaper? They are clean and chemical free - the paper is treated with a very sticky fruit glue, and last week when I suspended one in my dining room it trapped six horrible flies in about two hours. Paper was then quickly unhooked and dropped into the bin. They seem to be the cleanest and safest option - I certainly wouldn't leave them hanging there for a week as used to happen in shops in my childhood; once they have done the job they are thrown away.

Silvertwigs Thu 09-Sept-21 19:05:54

All the mint in my garden must be fake! Mint everywhere and fecking flies everywhere!

glammagran Thu 09-Sept-21 17:58:46

We had lots of spider webs in outer conservatory and their webs caught a great many flies. Unfortunately they all died in the heatwave in July - they literally fried. I saw this joke

Theoddbird Thu 09-Sept-21 17:41:51

The eggs laid on something dead have all hatched. Could be anywhere. If you have a cat they could of brought something I or it could be in a chimney...something fallen and caught.

Camelotclub Thu 09-Sept-21 17:23:46

Our problem is spiders. Every spider in Oxfordshire has set up home here.

Secondwind Thu 09-Sept-21 16:48:34

Flies.
I always think back to a hot summer many years ago. The clinic I worked in suddenly became absolutely plagued with enormous flies. We couldn’t have any windows open for a couple of days. We realised why it was happening with the sad discovery of the body of an unfortunate soul at the back of some little used buildings close to where we worked. You can imagine how we all felt.
(Natural causes).

Shelbel Thu 09-Sept-21 16:11:16

We live just across from a farm and get a lot of flies in the summer also we get many mosquitoes from the dyke around the field, so we have a fly screen door and every room has one window with a screen on it.

Bazza Thu 09-Sept-21 15:56:40

I leave a clean tea towel over the fruit bowl to deter fruit flies. Loath the big ones but happily don’t have that many in the house.

Hetty58 Thu 09-Sept-21 15:24:23

Flies everywhere here just lately. I'd assumed it was related to the stink in the air - as farmers are being allowed to do lots of autumn muck spreading (the rules have been temporarily relaxed).

(JaneJudge, pour loads of salt in your infested bin and that will stop the maggot problem until you can clean it.)

I've used the old trick of a clear plastic bag, half filled with water - and a penny - hung outside just above the back door. In theory, flies see it as a big spider in a web and avoid it. I have no idea whether it's made a difference, though!

JaneJudge Thu 09-Sept-21 15:13:39

omg 4well shock confused

It's being emptied next Wednesday and is cleaned afterwards so I am hoping that gets rid of them sad they really make my skin crawl

4allweknow Thu 09-Sept-21 14:09:19

JaneJudge That happened to me a few years ago . Maggots started crawling out the bin. Only way to get rid if then was to burn themselves with a blow lamp. Had the bin been metal would have set the thing on fire.

SusieFlo Thu 09-Sept-21 13:51:51

We have one of those netting door coverings now which is a massive help but they still come in via the windows.

SusieFlo Thu 09-Sept-21 13:50:10

What is it about a conservatory overnight? We have to collect bodies every morning!

Milliedog Thu 09-Sept-21 13:31:17

We had cluster flies for a number of years. They like pale coloured houses in sunny positions. They used to gather in the attic and escape into the rest of the house. We used an electric fly thing like you see in butchers' shops to attract and electrocute them at first. Now my husband sprays huge amounts of fly spray in the attic every autumn and it's getting rid of them. They are attracted to the pheromones left by their predecessors, so perhaps the stink of the fly spray is covering the smell of the pheromones.

MayBeMaw Thu 09-Sept-21 13:27:01

I have found the culprits!
Not something dead in a corner but two incredibly overripe black and almost liquid bananas in the bottom of the fruit bowl.
Eurgh! ??

Libman Thu 09-Sept-21 12:40:20

I wanted to reply to Marydoll to say I have just ordered the fruit fly trap but I don’t know how to tag people. Can anyone tell me please?