We are totally loving our new outdoor kitchen and patio, but we seem to have been overrun by houseflies. We tried buying the bait bags from Amazon which trapped a ton of them but them smelled like a dead body. Anyone have any tips for how to deter these pests? Looking at a Bugasalt gun but my fear is that the entire space will be covered in salt!
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That would be called "dry brined" decking.
We have some of those tent type things for covering the food....... but that's all I've got. -
Not sure if your flies are as dumb as the ones we have or the same breed.
I put apple cider vineger into a container with a drop of dishwashing liquid. Make a funnel to fit container so the thin end rests just above the liqiud. Works here but I don't have a whole flocking lot to deal with.Comment
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For some reason the flies have been crazy here compared to previous years. How to get rid of them? Not sure we have a good plan here.Comment
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I use the Rescue fly bags I buy at Tractor Supply. Yes they do smell bad, and boy do they work. We hang them about 75 - 100 feet away from where we normally occupy and they keep our entire backyard clear of flies without any smell where we are.Comment
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I will own some of those tomorrow. We are over run with flies. I took a brisket off about an hour ago. I threw it in an aluminum foil pan and covered it at once, flies were everywhere. -
+1 here. They work great. The smell is rank for sure but they do the job. I would position away from where you are to draw the flies away from you and they will work great. I put one near my chicken coop and it got so full the string broke! Chickens were pleased though.
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I wish I had a good solution. One thing I am sure of is that I need that apron!
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I used to put out Japanese Beetle traps and always caught a ton of them, but got no relief. Finally, I had an extension agent tell me that the traps attract the beetles and to put the traps a good distance away from whatever I wanted to protect to draw them away.
Do you have a neighbor you don't like? (Where's the Evil Grin emoji when I need it...)Last edited by RonB; August 14, 2021, 02:54 PM.Comment
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Use a 2 pronged approach. As others have mentioned, get these fly trap bags at Lowe’s, Home Depot and elsewhere. Keep them hanging at least 25-50 feet away. They work! Also get some of these fly tents to cover your food outside. I have these as well. Available on Amazon.Attached FilesComment
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I mean, all of those methods sound nice but why not go for something more in keeping with the whole grilling theme?
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On Sunday mornings I switch out my bags. Decided to take a photo of one after one week.
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DogFaced PonySoldier I do live next to large saltwater marshes so many of these are deer flies and other biting types in quantities most people wouldn’t have. I keep 2 going, each about 100 feet from where people are so we aren’t bothered with the smell. No wonder my favorite governmental agency is mosquito control which controls the mosquitos on our property and marshes. -
What he doesn't show us is the horse on the other end of that black rope.
DogFaced PonySoldier
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I found that setting out the bag traps just attach more bugs, IDK maybe the mosquitos and flies are smarter in MN. LOL.
I finally broke down and called a company to have them come out and spray, best decision I ever made. It helps a lot.
I have the Bug Assault, but that is more of a party gag than anything. I find that I use it to shoot people with more than flies. Although, it is fun to blast yellow jackets with it.Comment
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Yeah I agree on the Bug-A-Salt. I have one of those in my home office, and use it to kill the stray bugs that make it in here on occasion. More often I use it to pop the butt of one of the dogs as it comes by, and they jump and don't know what hit them.... Not point blank - I'm not that cruel!
. I've also been known to pop the kids with it...
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So this weekend we had some visitors from out of the country, we spent a significant amount of time out on the back patio, cooking, drinking, assembling my new griddle, etc.
The flies were ATROCIOUS. I haven't seen that many flies in ages, I don't know what the problem is. We do have a dog now (3rd summer) but it's never been that big of a problem, I do need to have The Boy go do some yard cleaning, I'm sure.
Anyways, I went and got 3 of those fly trap bags from Lowe's - at $5 each. Jeez. So they are the Black Flag brand, that's the only ones they had. It said on the instructions that they begin working in minutes. That wasn't true at all, I found. In fact, it didn't seem to work much at all the first couple of hours, then we went and shook it up a bit and hung up a second bag. I think that was the trick - the instructions don't say anything about shaking it up, and I assumed the little "clump" of powder in the bag would just easily dissolve in the water, but it didn't seem to do much until we really aggressively shook it up.
So the next day, both bags were getting a bunch of flies, but we had even more. We spent Sunday out back swatting flies and had dozens on the ground on the patio, but now here we are after Tuesday and those bags are full. Not bulging, but they need to be changed. Seriously.
So I thought, hell, if I'm going to be going through 2-4 a week, I need to find a cheaper source. So I look on Amazon and lo and behold, they're not any cheaper! In fact, lots of them are MORE expensive! About the cheapest I can find is buying in bulk of 8-12 at a time and they're still at least as expensive as I paid in the store. Who woulda thunk???
So is this what you guys are paying? $5/each and going through them once a week or more? I figure 2 for good coverage on my patio, but now I'm wondering just like someone said above, are they just attracting more from elsewhere?
Like I said, I gotta get the teenager to clean up some dog p00, but it's not bad - I mean, it's not like I can smell dog p00 on my patio from where she goes out in the yard. This is ridiculous, though, not only are they driving us off the patio, they inevitably get in the house going in and out and I ABSOLUTELY HATE FLIES! They drive me freaking batty.
So anyone got a better source than Amazon or Lowe's? We have TSC and Atwood's, do they have a "store brand" that actually works, or does WM or Dollar General carry something that is cheaper and actually works well?Last edited by DogFaced PonySoldier; August 25, 2021, 07:16 AM.Comment
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The Rescue brand beetle trap cost $7.50, but it's reusable, though I have to say that emptying it (which I've only done twice) is completely disgusting. Maybe you can find a fly trap that is reusable as well. (could you empty them out of the top?)
Seems like the flies have been a problem all over the country this year. On the other hand, the mosquitos have been down by me, which I assume is a result of it being such a dry year in the Midwest. Not sure why the flies would be up though.Last edited by Murdy; August 25, 2021, 08:11 AM.
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I find having. Few fans moving air by the table reduces the numbers down, not perfect, but Better then without fans.Comment
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DogFaced PonySoldier I have used the bags before and while they do work, there’s not much out there that is going to be 100% effective. You will still have occasional flies. They do not start working instantly as claimed on your bag. The granules inside the bag take some time to fully dissolve in the water, then create the odor that attracts them to their death by drowning. By shaking it up as you did, it did speed up the process. But, you have to look at this method as a long term project, just not something for the weekend. The longer you continue keeping bags out 24/7 the better they work. Over time you should see less and less flies.
There is no reason to change the bags weekly. I’ve left mine out for a month or more. As long as there is room for more flies in the bag, you’ll be good. I only changed mine when they were totally full of dead flies. Not sure of your setup on the patio, but if you’re using 2 bags, make sure you’re not in the middle of the 2 bags where they’re placed. If you’re directly between 2 bags, the flies will be going back and forth between them possibly, and then being attracted to your food. Unless you have a huge back yard, one bag will be sufficient. Flies can smell odors from a few miles away. I’d suggest using only one bag and place it at least 50 feet from your patio if possible. Remember this also, for every 1 dead fly in your bag, you’re preventing hundreds and hundreds of future flies.
I’d recommend to continue using these from spring thru the winter, or when they’re no longer active. If you’ll do this, I’m sure you can drastically reduce your problem. One more thing, any dog poop in the yard is gonna compete with the fly traps for their attention. So, keep as much of it picked up as you reasonably can.
EDIT: I’m changing my recommendation on how often to change the bags. I stated above that they don’t need changing weekly. I should have said change them whenever they’re full. Some people will have more flies than others, which might require weekly changing.Last edited by Panhead John; August 25, 2021, 04:23 PM.Comment
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Good tips. I have one bag sitting about 6 feet from our table, hoping it would draw the flies from our sitting/eating area. Another about 20 feet away on the corner of the house. Maybe I should move them out to the corners of the yard, well away from us. That would put them about 50 and 70 feet out, respectively, I guess. -
Yes definitely! 6’ was way too close. The flies won’t make a straight beeline to the bags. They’ll buzz around nearby and I think you’re main problem was having them that close. You want to draw the flies away from you and to the bag. It would definitely help moving them far away. Good luck! -
DogFaced PonySoldier from what I read on these bags with the attractant, you want them at least 50 feet from your patio area. 6 feet is attracting the flies to your table! Plus it will be stinking pretty bad...
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