They are coming in the door in my kitchen to annoy me.I have a automatic fly spray thing but not in the kitchen so can anyone suggest anything I could do or plant around the door to try to keep them away. I read once about boiling vinegar on the stove when roasting and I did that a few weeks ago and it worked quite well - I guess the smell of the vinegar over-rode the cooking smell of the lamb roast. But I don't want to continue doing that everytime I am cooking :) Thanks very much
mottly,
Nov 27, 3:09am
they don't like dill plants
kaddiew,
Nov 27, 3:29am
I've got them here too, the little buggers. Can't stand chemical sprays so am getting exercise with a fly swat.
mottly,
Nov 27, 3:31am
we've got the strong smelling allysum growing - which they seem to love, perhaps plant to encourage them further from your house!You can buy a shoofly herb.
kinna54,
Nov 27, 9:29am
Try putting a mint plant (or is it sprigs of cut mint in a vase!)on your windowsill.the smell of fresh mint is supposed to deter them.
karakagranny,
Nov 27, 10:31am
I bought some of those sticky cockroach mats from from the cheap dollar shops. I think they were $3 for 2 mats and put them on top of the cupboards. They worked amazingly well. No smell and its out of the way and I just throw away. After a week the mat was covered in flies. We have horses next door and when the wind blows a certain way, in come the flies.
raewyn64,
Nov 27, 7:57pm
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. kinna54 I have a mint plant in a pot so maybe I could put that on the doorstep - I shall try that. karakagranny - yes we are rural too - don't have horses next door but do have cows occassionally. I might try those as well - at least if I can't keep them out then they will get stuck and won't be able to keep flying around to annoy me :)
Get a few of these and hang them up at about eye level close to the house (not to close though because they stink) they really work we use them and they catch thousands of flies and when they are full you can just chuck them in the rubbish.
venna2,
Nov 27, 10:24pm
I'm doing that but the blowflies still come in, blast them. I swat them with the latest Listener, which I guess is exercise if nothing else - it ruins the Listener cover, though.
hmck,
Nov 28, 6:43pm
Do they work hung on a fence do you know!My neighbours have a "compost" area that they don;t really use for compost, just chucking grass clippings and foodstuffs into - you can imagine the flies.
vomo2,
Nov 28, 7:41pm
This is how we do it on the farm where blowflies can be a real pest. Hide a jar (old flagon size if you can get one)in the garden ( away from human eyes) and put a piece of meat in the jar. Pierce a hole in the lid big enough for the flie to get in. They get confused and cant find the hole to escape again. Then a week later be prepared to dump a jar full of dead blow flies. Its yuk but very effective to keep them outside!
raewyn64,
Nov 28, 8:08pm
vomo2 - how far away from the house can you do that so you don't end up with the rotting meat smell but manage to stop the flies from entering the house! I would like to do that but don't want to have to have the jar too close to smell it Lol
bigsneak,
Nov 28, 8:40pm
Yes I think it would work we have several round the place including one hung on the suround of the compost bin.
wheelz,
Nov 28, 9:06pm
Easy fix.shut the door! They stream in my kitchen door if it is open, so I keep it closed, open my windows instead!
vomo2,
Nov 28, 9:17pm
The jar can be quite close to the house, if the hole in the lid is small enough very l;ittle smell escapes. The good thing is its free!
raewyn64,
Nov 28, 10:31pm
Thanks vomo2 might give that a try. wheelz would love to but I am in an old bungalow and the back door opens into the kitchen. I have one small window which is right beside the door and if I open that the flies just come in there instead of the door. The window alone in summer does not give me enough air in the kitchen plus with the door being the main door to go outside people are going in and out it and so the flies follow.
hmck,
Nov 29, 2:06am
Thank you!Definately going to try one this summer.
venna2,
Nov 29, 3:51am
But then they fly in the windows.
imagine4,
Nov 30, 8:38am
not in my house they dont.i get my house sprayed by a professional.if they do come in they DIE
bigsneak,
Nov 30, 5:41pm
We spray inside ours to but still have the fly traps to try and reduce the number of flys coming in we are semi rural everyone including us has hens they don't help with the fly numbers saw this sort of thing advertised on tv last night http://www.amazon.com/Bug-Off-Instant-Screen-32-Inch/dp/B002DR0DMS
Wondered what it would be like thought it might stop my free range hens from wandering through the house to.
venna2,
Dec 11, 3:13am
I would hate to be in your house - there must be spray residue around all the time!
I was in a $2 Shop yesterday and looked for the mats mentioned above. I couldn't see any but did buy a packet of things similar to those fly strips we used to hang from ceilings years ago. I think they had another name but I forget it. Very sticky. They haven't caught any flies yet, though admittedly not many have flown in today.
macandrosie,
Dec 11, 7:19am
I burn incense near a slightly open window, since the flies hang about the window, they don't like the smell & go outside. I've tried a variety of fragrances as well.
hmck,
Dec 11, 6:59pm
I bought 2 of these and I must say - so far - no good - not one single fly in either of them.There are still plenty of flies around though but they just seem to be totally uninterested in this stuff.Back to saving madly for fly screens.
bigsneak,
Dec 11, 7:37pm
They can take a couple of days to work sometimes moving them helps hanging them at least waist height if not eye height works best and not having them to exposed ie in a tree or sheltered area.
hmck,
Dec 12, 2:07am
Yep - they've been up since Monday evening, one at eye level, one a little lower and both sheltered.I can't even smell them and usually I have a good sense of smell.Any more ideas - I would love to get them working.
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