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donnalynn
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| Posted: July 30 2009 at 10:22am | IP Logged
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This has been a very...very wet summer by us - I have never seen so many bugs of all kinds finding their way into the house - and we are used to bugs - we live in a very wooded area on a dirt road - bugs abound but this year we have FLIES!
I can handle spiders (up to a certain size mind you), mosquitoes, ants etc.. with relative calm but these flies are really just yuck! yuck! yuck!
Besides fly strips - any other thoughts on getting rid of them? I am cleaning like crazy - trying to find a possible source - I have never had them in the house this bad. Dh thinks it is a bad year and they are just coming in from outside - I have become a crazed person when the door is left open for even a second!
Oh and in case you ever need this tidbit - technu does wonders for getting fly strip goo out of the hair of small 7 year-old boys. Don't ask, please. 
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donnalynn
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Donna Marie
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| Posted: July 30 2009 at 12:35pm | IP Logged
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donnalynn wrote:
Oh and in case you ever need this tidbit - technu does wonders for getting fly strip goo out of the hair of small 7 year-old boys. Don't ask, please. |
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LOL  We have noticed a lot of flies down here too, Donna. We have taken to keeping one light on at night (inside) and making sure we exterminate by force  any intruders....
I wish there were some way of keeping the flies from coming in the back door. I swear, it would be easier if that was a swinging door there so that it would actually get CLOSED behind the children within a reasonable time frame! YKWIM??
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Donna Marie from NJ
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JennGM
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| Posted: July 30 2009 at 1:13pm | IP Logged
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It's just been war with the flies this year. We go into hand combat to get the major numbers down. I try not to postpone killing them -- if I see them, I'm on the hunt with magazine in hand. Last year it seemed they hatched in our house, so now we don't let flying flies fly.
I haven't found any trick to control them, but I will pass on a crazy tip.
If you fill up a plastic bag with water and suspend it high, like above your heads, the flies are attracted to the water, so stay out of your hair. I saw this being done at a bbq place, and it was amazing how they weren't zooming around. I HATE that zooming in my ears.
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KackyK
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| Posted: July 30 2009 at 1:44pm | IP Logged
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When we moved into our home and the doors were open all day, there was a huge amount of flies in the house.
My mom went out and bought several fly swatters and a bag of lollipops. All dc got a swatter and for every fly killed they got a dumdum.
I kid you not, within minutes.minutes! probably 20 flies were dead and one ds in particular had a huge handful of lollipops!
I think brute force works the best. We have sprayed before when some hatched in our garage and hung/hovered (whatever they do) by a side door. Raid worked very quickly.
Oh and friend says she sprays them with hairspray, they slow down (wings start to stick) and can wallop them then!
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KackyK
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jdostalik
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| Posted: July 30 2009 at 1:49pm | IP Logged
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I could lend you my dog; he eats flies! But, it is the only thing I like about the mangy mutt..Also, if you have animals, make sure you are keeping the yard picked up every day...You know where they love to hatch their eggs! Fly swatters and vigilance...that's what it takes....or you could try and find a dog...
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mcchatty
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| Posted: July 31 2009 at 8:49am | IP Logged
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I am so thankful I am not the only one. We have swarms of gnats just everywhere. I think they come in on produce(or the truth is we are filthy people, that's a distinct possiblity too)
I have banished all fruit from counters, brought up a big rubbermaid container to hold chips and bread(looks delightful on my table). I have even started rinsing veggies at the picnic table- from the garden, but also from the grocery or corner stand. I can only imagine what the neighbors think as I lug grocery sacks from the van, to the picnic table and hose off my vegetables.
"That poor woman has so many children she can't even afford a kitchen sink" 
mcchatty
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organiclilac
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| Posted: July 31 2009 at 12:07pm | IP Logged
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mcchatty, for the little fruit flies, I've had huge success making traps. I take a glass and put a splash of apple cider vinegar and maybe an inch of water. Then get a bit of dish soap on your finger and touch the surface of the water. (That breaks the surface tension of the water so that the flies can't get out.) Then, make a cone out of paper and snip off the tip. Put it pointy-end-down in the glass and tape all around the edge of the glass so that the cone is sealed to the glass. The flies will go down into the little hole at the tip of the cone, but almost never make it back out before falling in the water. I've gotten rid of lots of fruit flies in a couple of hours just by setting one of these out. 
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stacykay
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| Posted: July 31 2009 at 12:36pm | IP Logged
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I can't swing fast enought to hit those darn flies, but I get them, everytime, with Windex (maybe it is like the hairspray mentioned?) We have had beautifully clear windows for a year, since I discovered this! 
Our garage is the bad area for our flies. Even with trash in the cans and lids on, they are thick out there. Do the fly strips work?
Our poor old (12 1/2yo) dog tries to eat flies, but he is waaay too slow for them...
I will try the fruit fly catcher (Thanks Tracy,) because the windex doesn't seem to work on them.
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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rivendellmom
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| Posted: July 31 2009 at 3:38pm | IP Logged
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We had flies like crazy last Summer. I finally found that they had gone down a heating/cooling vent in one of the kids rooms and I guess were hatching from there. Yuck. So we put cheesecloth over the vent openings and after awhile we didn't have any new batches.
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donnalynn
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| Posted: Aug 03 2009 at 8:22am | IP Logged
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The fly strips, I think, are helping the most.
Apparently there is such sheer joy in the activity of swatting flies for the 7 year-old male psyche that rewards of lollies are completley unnecessary! 
I have also had some Windex handy that seems to slow them down so they are eaiser to swat - and you've got the cleaner right there ready to wipe up the remains!
Diligence does seem to be the key.
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donnalynn
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Flies!
