City folks just use spray borne xyzethrin compounds that kill the flies that ingest the spray. The doors and screens close and problem solved.
Those that look a bit deeper go to fly behavior. Desert Dwellers Fly Repellent actually works and the active ingredients are rosemary oil and cedar oil. These substances do not kill flies. why would you want to when the objective is to define an environment where they aren't happy and hence depart.
The annoying behavior of flies in our dwellings seems to be them staking out a territory where they roost and gaze upon each other before mating on the wing. They will find 3 roosts and go from one to the next roboticly. If one is on your head that will be repeated till you kill them.
Flies are not feeding. they just like a wind break and a cooler perch.
If we could find a substance that they dont like perhaps we could use those substances to make them feel unwelcome.
I bought a 200 ml bottle of ceder oil and same with rosemary to try some experiments with the behavior of flies. The results were inconclusive.
I experimented with a fly swatter over summer. Great results were found.
Sorry Hanna, couldn't help myself.
-- Edited by Dougwe on Thursday 28th of February 2019 06:48:23 PM
I thought the smoke from the signal fire would have been enough. (couldn't resist that either).
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@biggles2 I mentioned Desert Dwellers and AFAIK Natures Botanical packs same punch.
I have worked Earth Science and know the difference between wishful and useful. You are completely correct in what you say. My question is can we step it up a notch to keep flies out of our homes?
Extraordinary Rendition thankyou for your post on flies. It brings back memories of a time when I was on a hunting trip in NZ. We were camped in a deer stalkers hut on the edge of a lake, and it had an outside long drop lu. Now because this outside long drop had no door, one had a wonderful view of the lake when one sat there and contemplated. The fact that a hikers trail also passed in front of it, and could when hikers went by at the wrong moments, did bring about some giggles.
The major problem though was the fact that the flies loved the substance piled way down there, so you would be sitting there and "Bombs away". Now I wonder how many of you have experienced the scenario of 25,000 blow flies roaring up between your legs, flying around and wondering what the hell the commotion was about, then returning back the same way.
Yes it does leave one with memories!
I know this is an old thread BUT i think using a fly swot is bloody messy when you whack them on a hard surface, specially your forehead, so i thought a serious flea killer like you wash your dog with ( they don't live as long as we hope too so the manufacturers put the good stuff in ) would be good if you could buy a slightly milder version in a spray can at your local IGA. I have to say i could be wrong but el cheapo black and gold surface spray drops blowies nearly instantly and their plain old flyspray smells very nice though never ever seems to shoo the flys away, about as useful as that men's aussie tennis player nick kyropracter.
Would b interested to know how that works for you. flys are annoying in caravan. I wait until they go into the ensuite then shut door. Then i go in with the fly swat. job done.
Well I reckon flies are pretty amazing. They have the ability to turn people into whirling dervish's and to reduce a normal persons vocabulary to two words. "Bloody Flies".
Without flies we'd be up to our knees (at least) in rotting organic matter.
Flies do a lot of good but they are lacking the concept of personal space so an education programme is called for but how do you educate something with such a small brain ? My preferred educational tool is Bushmans in the brown can.