Fly Control
Do you live near a livestock farm? Do you own horses, cows, goats, rabbits, chickens or some other form of livestock? Then you might be seeing more flies than usual this year. Our early wet spring and elongated growing season has created outbreaks of all kinds of insects including flies.
Sanitation
If you have a farm, good sanitation is the first step to fly control. Keep horse stalls and other cattle enclosures free of manure. Clean up manure in pastures and compost the manure. Compost piles heat up and kill fly larvae.
If you are getting flies in your home be sure to keep the home clean. Do not leave out pet food, putting out just enough for the animal. Take out the trash regularly. Keep food preparation areas clean.
Mechanical Control
Traps are always recommended for a pest issue. Traps capture the insect. If you have a fly outbreak be sure to keep fresh fly paper up. Feed and seed stores sell traps of different types. Try several to see which works the best.
Exclude flies from the home by maintaining window screens. Screen in porches. Use a strong oscillating fan when spending time on porches and decks to stir the air.
There are organic oils that are reported to help repel flies. Supposedly flies do not like the smell of peppermint or lemongrass oils and are repelled.
You could treat the walls of your porch with an insecticide if you knew that you were going to be outside hanging out on the porch. Ortho Home defense spray with bifenthrin would last a couple of weeks. Spray it on the walls of porches and barns.
