There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and that goes double for insects. Come springtime, armies of hungry bugs invade every nook and cranny in your home to find a place to lay their eggs. And while they may not be able to smell the eggs from outside the house, they can smell the food source from inside the house.
Once they realize there’s an endless supply of food just waiting for them, there’s no getting rid of them. Luckily, there are ways to keep flies at bay without using harmful chemicals or traps that might hurt pets or children who use them. Here are some effective tips on how to get rid of flies naturally and prevent them from coming back again next season.
Keep Your Home Clean
First and foremost, you need to keep your house clean. This is an essential component of all fly control strategies. Cleaning your home will keep the food source from attracting flies. Cleaning the house regularly can be an incredibly frustrating task, but it is essential to maintaining a clean, healthy home for your family. If there are crumbs and dirty dishes left in the kitchen, that’s one-way flies find their way inside your home.
Keeping your home clean will not only keep the flies out, but it will also keep your family healthier and happier. Clean your fridge, clean your cupboards, clean your countertops, clean your lamps, clean your garbage cans and clean anything that has food in it.
Don’t just clean the surfaces, clean the insides of the items as well. Cleaning your stuff can seem like a huge task, but a bit of effort every day can keep your home free of bugs.
Dried Flowers And Leaves Are Nice To Flies
Flowers and leafy greens are a great treat for your pet and also very tasty to a fly. The best thing about this is that you can easily keep some in a jar or a bowl in your kitchen. Make sure to change these items frequently to avoid attracting too many flies.
Scrub The Stove And The Oven
Bread and crumbs are great for attracting flies, and they can also attract ants. Small holes in your bread and crumb stashes can allow the ants to escape and then be eaten by the flies instead. Clean the crumb tray and stovetops regularly to keep them free of crumbs. Clean the insides of the oven and the appliance as well, as small crumbs and other food bits can be left inside.
If you have a gas stove, turn the flame down a little to avoid the possibility of an explosion. Bread made of whole-grain flour and dark-coloured, dense bread are best for preventing flies. Crumbs made of white bread and light, fluffy bread can attract flies. Whole-grain bread contains more fibre, which makes it less tasty to flies and attracts fewer insects than other bread.
Get Rid Of Food Sources
Keep garbage cans tightly sealed at all times and keep your garbage inside them. Make sure to clean them often to avoid attracting flies. If you have outdoor garbage cans, keep them covered with a lid as well. Use drawer dividers or cabinet dividers instead of regular open drawers to keep the food source from attracting flies.
Don’t Feed The Flies!
While wiping down shelves and dusting every few days can prevent a lot of the fly problems, you can contribute to the problem by feeding the flies. This often happens when you’re cleaning and you accidentally knock over a bottle of something with a few drops of liquid inside.
When you clean up the mess, you’re feeding the flies. You can also feed flies with excess food in your house. When you make a meal, don’t just throw away the leftovers; put them in containers with lids until the next day.
Dryopteris species – Not Just For Fly Traps
Many of the strategies mentioned above can be used to get rid of flies, but they also work well to keep them away as well. Some many plants and flowers can be used to repel insects like flies while they’re at home. Many plants repel flies and mosquitoes.
These plants can be easily grown in pots indoors, or you can just bring them inside during the summer months. There are many species of ferns, Philodendrons, and other plants that can easily be grown indoors and are great for keeping flies away.
Conclusion
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and that goes double for insects. Come springtime, armies of hungry bugs invade every nook and cranny in your home to find a place to lay their eggs. And while they may not be able to smell the eggs from outside the house, they can smell the food source from inside the house. Once they realize there’s an endless supply of food just waiting for them, there’s no getting rid of them.
Luckily, there are ways to keep flies at bay without using harmful chemicals or traps that might hurt pets or children who use them. Here are some effective tips on how to get rid of flies naturally and prevent them from coming back again next season.