I went into our kitchen to prepare some food and it was filled with flies. On the floor there was probably a couple of hundred alone! OK, we have a fly or 12 most of the summer and I realise all it takes is a nook in which a single pair copulate and there are eggs galore, thus the larvae then adult flies. It is a kitchen where we also eat, so chemicals are clearly out. Anybody have any kind of idea.
Despite having spent years working in tropical countries I have never seen such an infestation before, so it is a solution on the scale of 'war' required.
I've Googled life cycle of flies and find that since we lit our stove we have had more or less the right time for eggs to hatch, larvae to mature and the metamorphosis into flies to happen. It has been cooler in general and given the amount of rain it is humid indoors as outside. Your description in more or less a nutshell.
I grow loads of lavender, rosemary and citronella for this reason plus we have a cedar tree to cut off a couple of bits. I shall be doing that in a moment.
Hi Brian, we've experienced this fly explosion from having worked in the houses of other people. One place is a holiday rental and mainly closed up over winter. Somehow some flies remained inside, or found their way in, and they multiplied big time. As soon as it became warmer they all hatched and flew around the house, but because they couldn't escape they all died in the house - it was a huge mess.
The other house was an empty one where we were painting - there was a large black spot on a high ceiling, so we took a photo and zoomed in on it to see it was a load of flies. Next time we went along we sprayed with a normal supermarket fly spray. Within minutes there were hundreds of the flies dead on the floor. So we tried to figure out what happened.
The weather had been cold and damp, and the flies had taken refuge underneath a ceiling beam - they were all huddled together, completely on top of each other, and didn't really look like flies at all from the ground. It could be that yours found a nice hidden corner and when it was the right temperature just started flying about a bit - it has been cold last week and then Sunday and Monday were definitely warmer (at least in our region).
To get rid - close all the doors leading to other parts of the house, open the window and let them out. Swirl a tea towel around in the air to discourage them landing anywhere. You could try some pyrethrum spray (garden centres should have this) - this is a natural anti-insect product. There is a slight smell (but not unpleasant) in the air for a couple of days after using this, but you'll find it can last up to 6 months - insects fly in and do a U turn because they don't like it. There have been reports (not sure of the accuracy but best to err on the side of caution) about some pets being affected by pyrethrum, so it would pay to have them out of the room while you spray. Otherwise you could try some fresh lavender or rosemary, crush the leaves and leave it on a tray in the kitchen to deter the flies. Good luck!
Uncannily, Ben Mongoose has put in a post saying flies invade houses before bad winters on the predictions of a bad winter thread. Hmmmm! So yes, perhaps too true.
There was no window open for them to come in. Whatever, they seem to have hatched there rather than come in since other rooms were no worse than usual. We have bunches of lavender hanging from beams permanently and give it a bash to make the perfume stronger every now and again. We went down the road to take eucalyptus branches from a neighbour's tree. Plus lots of citronella oil burning everywhere. We are cleaning all surfaces with kitchen cleaners and following through with a wipe down with surgical spirit to sterilise everything. It seems like one of those apocryphal situations - "a plague of flies be on you" said the witch as the fire began to consume her...
To Holly, widow was opened and cleared some. Big monsters, namely our dogs, do not appear to worry them. Given the amount of fly sh** on a mirror I would not bank on the bags.
Both of you. Fly tapes. The first one up was as close to solid black as they can get, into a paper bag and thence to the stove - in about 40 minutes. We filled 4 yesterday.
No floorboards, we had floors replaced and they are now tiled. Appeared all of a sudden just before 1300. I know larvae become flies in daylight, so no surprise.
I did actually try the bag method as the hoax report did leave a "well maybe" in my mind. It did nothing. Apart from the hanging glue things which I can't stand, the only solution I've ever found is opening the window at sunset. They all seem to want to go out at that time of day. Of course there's always the eejit one that decides to come straight back in.
The only other thing really if you don't mind the little dead bodies is the inverted plastic bottle with the sugary liquid in the bottle so they can go in and have trouble getting back out. It works with the frelons etc so perhaps flies too. At least it's chemical free.
I have researched this and apparently the bags work, as holly suggests. The added ingredient is pennies or cent coins in the bag also. No idea why this is suggested.
The infestation you currently have - Hoover and disinfect the floor. See if you can find a source. Flies copulate for ages, I had the unfortunate experience of this happening beside me and a third hopped on. Disgusting things
It’s the fly shits everywhere as a reminder that grosses me out too.
Sorry Brian, I’m not much help. Vacuum them and burn or dump the bag!
We get them breeding in the edges of our PVC windows. They hatch out every now & then & invade the house. I find the best trick is :- early in the morning at first light, keep the room dark & open the window. They tend to fly outside to the light. This time of year it works well & one doesn't have to get up too early :-)
All I can suggest is to open a window to the exterior and to put clear plastic bags filled with water near any doors/windows to the rest of the interior of the house. From what I've heard, and I haven't tried this myself so don't really know, the flies are intimidated by the bags of water. They see their huge reflections in the water and think a gigantic monster is after them and so fly as far away as possible. I've heard that this is very effective and just did not (thankfully) have the occasion to try it out. Then, there is always fly tape hanging from the ceiling. Good luck Brian!