Has anyone come up with a natural remedy to stop cluster flies coming inside?! I have had this problem for about 5 years now when we get a mild late autumn. They just keep coming! I recently read that a strong pyrethrum spray may help. I also wondered about Neem tree oil. I want something natural. We have resorted to borer bombs & it only kills the flies trapped inside. It doesn't stop more coming in!
tweake,
May 6, 7:39am
what do you have to stop them coming in? screens?
keeping the doors closed and windows shut keeps the flies out.
mr-treevers,
May 6, 7:54am
It doesn't keep cluster flies out. They will still find a way in.
trade_menow,
May 6, 8:22am
perhaps - but it does help reduce the numbers
shanreagh,
May 6, 5:53pm
Screen doors and windows used to be a fact of life when growing up in HB. they used to be removable. Even easier these days as they can come with magnetic strips and don't have to be laboriously removed undoing screws etc. These will cut down the numbers.
I have spoken to a person also in Southland, also with cluster flies and there seems to be some sort of resistance to using them. If you do use them it means that you can still have doors and windows open for ventilation.
Don't forget to borer bomb the ceiling/roof space. Also underneath the house if you can access this area. Go round the outside of the house and look for cracks and block them up.
tweake,
May 6, 10:58pm
must be a really crap house if it has gaps big enough for flies to come in through.
mr-treevers,
May 6, 11:16pm
Clearly you know nothing about cluster flies. They crawl in through the drainage holes in aluminium window frames. They come down from the roof space via the gaps around recessed lighting and flues. You don't need a "really crap house" to have a problem with cluster flies.
tweake,
May 6, 11:42pm
if you have holes in your windows from going to the inside of the house (there is window seals that meant to block that gap) or have gaps around the recessed lighting, then you have a crap house. yeah NZ is full of crap houses.
btw one of the reasons for nz's cold, damp, hard to heat homes is because of all those gaps.
mr-treevers,
May 6, 11:54pm
Get back to me when you've built a cluster fly proof house.
tweake,
May 7, 12:14am
no problem. there are some in NZ. any decent air tight house (such as passive house or high performance homes) will keep out flies.
even my own 80's bad performance house doesn't get flies inside unless i leave the doors or windows open. i left the ranch slider open the day and paid the price for that with flies.
mr-treevers,
May 7, 12:38am
Yes. they would be house flies. House flies don't crawl under your batts and wriggle through tiny gaps. And btw, my "crap house" is actually lovely and warm, and very easy to heat. so I'm not going to get myself in a lather over the fact that it isn't vacuum sealed.
oh_hunnihunni,
May 7, 12:41am
The thought of air tight houses gives me a bit of a conniption. The free exchange of air is so important for good health in our interior spaces.
mr-treevers,
May 7, 2:17am
Indeed. What happens after you've had a big feed of baked beans? Do the windows blow out?
tweake,
May 7, 2:49am
they are never truly air tight, your not going to suffocate. plus you have ventilation which is all nicely filtered and pumped in at the correct rate so you get enough fresh air but not to much. i find having consistent airflow is a lot better than random airflow due to the wind. its cleaner, healthier and big bonus is lack of gaps where bugs can get in.
so its a whole lot better than keeping windows open so flies and mosquitoes can come in which is something i really like.
bryalea,
May 7, 5:06am
We have a crap house, it has gaps everywhere and one of the things that happens when you have the wind literally blowing through at times is that it stops condensation and dampness. Yes it's a bit harder to heat, but given its only cold a few months of the year and we don't sit at home "feeling" it very often, and it's so easy to heat the one room you sleep in. I actually think a gappy crappy house is better for you than a sealed one that holds the dampness and condensation.
mr-treevers,
May 7, 5:34am
I dunno. but I'm pretty sure that the cluster flies would still find a way.
jezabell,
May 7, 5:44am
Same thing here thousands of the horrid things and we have sprayed and you name it we have tried it but they keep coming.
jezabell,
May 7, 5:49am
Not cluster flys they wont. Look it up mate, they are tiny little flys that invade every nook and cranny. I live in Southland and have friends with gorgeous brand new up market homes that have a real problem with the blimmen things You can spray, you can fumigate the entire house, you can spray the outside, you can block every door and screen every window and they just keep coming. Educate yourself as your sounding like a prat because you have never dealt with them before.
tweake,
May 7, 6:16am
thanks, but i'm well familiar with them. we have had them here before. while they are small flies they are not tiny like fruit flies. new upmarket homes are not air tight. very few homes are unless intentionally built to be air tight.
tweake,
May 7, 6:21am
while they are called air tight they technically are not. people even call our new homes air tight and i bet many would fail some of the overseas air tightness regulations. yeah its actually a building requirement in some places to have a certain level of air tightness.
the cost of pumping air is stuff all. i think mine is a 75 watt fan and it doesn't run full speed all that often. certainly a small price to pay for clean air, constant ventilation (which windows doesn't give you) and not having flies come in through the window.
tweake,
May 7, 6:27am
a well ventilated house is certainly better for you than one that is not. which is why all homes need to be ventilated. however the problem i had with keeping windows open is the air flow is not constant enough and when the wind is blowing you get to much. ventilation also brings in moisture with it. going to a ventilation system as turned out to be substantially better than open windows for my place.
woody89,
May 8, 2:05am
I've never hd to deal with them thankfully! I do sympathise as I encountered cluster flies for the first time a few years ago in Hawkes Bay. Having googled to find out about them, I wonder if it would help to save all the carcases that are swept up, with a view to setting up a fly trap arrangement outside that the pheromones would draw other to? Apparently they cluster where they are lured, ie flies = more flies. There are plenty of fly traps to make or buy, if I had the problem, I'd try it.
bryshaw,
May 8, 2:47am
We don't have flies anymore even though there is a farm at the back of us. A few years ago we had swarms so maybe people are spraying outside their houses more.
tweake,
May 8, 3:48am
more likely just the weather suited them and they bred up.
rainrain1,
May 16, 2:02am
They sure do!
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