House flies

[Reynard]

Time flies like an arrow.
Fruit flies like a banana.

Someone's noticed my sig. Finally.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Someone's noticed my sig. Finally.

Well I knew you used it, obviously(!), but I remember it as a Groucho Marx line.

 

[Reynard]

Well I knew you used it, obviously(!), but I remember it as a Groucho Marx line.

I remember Terry Wogan using it in a trailer for his radio show... Been using it as my internet / email sig for the last 20 years or so LOL

 

[classic33]

Someone's noticed my sig. Finally.

Not the first time.

Put the force through the centre of the banana. It should then fly straight and true.

 

[ColinJ]

Someone's noticed my sig. Finally.

Probably because many people are browsing on phones in portrait mode and therefore don't see it?!

 

[YMFB]

Flies seem particularly bad this year, the dreaded fly paper is in the kitchen

 

[MontyVeda]

I have a high voltage tennis racket-like flying pest zapper. The only problem is that flies have very quick reactions so it is hard to sneak up on them with it.

I've got one of those. Useless. I'm sure the flies can hear it charging and hide somewhere, then the moment i put it down they start flying around again

Bees and wasps are easy to catch in a glass and get put out of the window. Don't kill the pollinators!
Horse flies are hard to catch but if i ignore them and open a door, they eventually find their way out, which is less frustrating than trying to get them with the zapper racket

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Flies seem particularly bad this year, the dreaded fly paper is in the kitchen

Probably the dead body in your larder this year ?

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

We just put a sign on the door saying no flies. Seems to work.

How to your trousers work then??

 

[Psamathe]

Very effective way to reduce numbers of flies are "Red-Top Fly Trap" except has limitations, mainly only for use outside and away from windows (it smells) and lots of "knock-offs" that don't work well (bait is the crucial factor.

They catch vast numbers of flies which doesn't stop them getting in the house but does reduce the numbers around.

Ian

 

[Psamathe]

Wasps are my job at home

I generally get a glass or something similar and wait until it settles
Then just slowly move the glass over it
Then slide a sheet of cardboard or paper under it and trap it

then outside and release it

Wasps are useful and important. It's only late in the summer when they become pests. Earlier in year they are after protein which means they are hunting other insects most of which are "garden pests" - hence useful. Later in summer they've done their breeding, no longer need the protein so are after sugar when they seem to damage loads of fruit crop and pester people having picnics.

Don't squash them as they communicate using pheromones and squash them and it releases a warning pheromone putting other wasps in the area on alert and making them more aggressive. At least that's what I was taught.

I generally find leave them alone and they'll leave you alone. Same with hornets.

Ian

 

[presta]

Don't buy these, they don't work.

You just have to hope they haven’t been sitting on a dog poo all day!

That reminds me of Michael Buerk talking on the radio this morning about his report from Ethiopia that started Band Aid. He said there were people rummaging through donkey droppings looking for undigested seeds they could eat.

 

[HLaB]

We've had a tennis racquet shaped fly zapper for a couple of years (from Aldi, I think, though they are commonly available). Runs on 2 AA batteries. The idea is to get a fly to touch the electric grid which replaces the racquet strings while you keep the button on the handle pressed. It kills them instantly, then you can flick them outside or down the loo. The hard bit is actually catching up with them but if they're in the window it's easier. It makes a high pitched whine which I can just about hear. Mrs T can't hear it, but my 4 year old grandson can hear it and says he doesn't like the sound.

It does work on wasps, though I'm more likely to try to get them to leave as they're beneficial for the garden. It's a bit brutal as they're pretty tough but at least if you can stun one you can get it outside and let it fly away. It seems that if you're that way inclined you can zap them until they're trailing smoke and they'll still try to get back to base.

I felt bad after zapping a hoverfly recently as you almost never see them in the house. Silhouetted against the window it just looked like an ordinary fly.

Ive got a similar tennis racquet shaped zapper but its USB C, it's head also rotates, came in handy the other night when a mosquito was buzzing around!