Bloody flies!

Bug zappers work outside . We have fly screens so we don’t get many in the house but we do get moths who seem to be able to dodge the screens. The scourge of Australia, rotten things.

There are a lot more flies this year as they are predated by wasps normally and they are having a terrible year. One or two I’ve seen are very undersized.

The battery fly zappers are very effective if you can get them. They smell pretty bad as they are being fried (electrocuted) though.

The cedar vinegar trap hasn't caught any flies but seems to be deterring them. Any flies seem to be attracted by the new food waste bin supplied by the council. I will still continue to put peelings in the compost bin in the garden , which the council supplied several years ago.

Every single time I open a door, we get 6-12 flying in and buzzing loudly around. It has never been so bad since our butcher neighbour moved; been going on for weeks now. I do try to shoo them out, but they often will not go.

I bought a really cheap fly trap that lets them in but not out again. Once the poison stopped working, I put a plum in the bottom and when it catches some, I open it outside if I am in a good mood, or leave them if not.

This year, they seem to avoid the fly papers that were successful last year.

I use a fly screen in my Conservatory door. It stops the flies coming in but let's the air in and the dog can go in and out of the garden.

my problem is bluebottles, having my veranda door open, they keep coming in, i hate the buzzing near my ear, my son took me out a few weeks ago, we went to home bargains, i stocked up and got 6 cans of fly spray.

I use apple cider vinegar with a piece of banana peel for fruit flies, or a beer bottle with a little bit of beer in the bottom. Apparently they are attracted to yeasty smells.
Christmas before last I gave my husband a Bug A Salt gun, which he uses to despatch the bigger flies and crane flies.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/16/the-fascinating-lives-of-flies?

I'm likely to get lambasted for this but we really need to remember that all winged insects are pollinators and we should try not to kill them. I hate fruit flies but try to just waft them away. The idea of drowning them or using fly sprays and swatters is utterly repugnant to me. Why can't you catch bigger flies or bluebottles in a jar and release them outside? I do make an exception for mosquitoes although we don't really suffer from them in England.

A cider vinegar trap for the fruit flies has been very effective. Most larger flies come in from front open windows and head for the living room where if cooperative they are ushered out through the conservatory, if not cooperative out comes the fly swat.

My trusty plastic fly swatter works well, and is always put near my bed at night , to get that wretched mozzie or bluebottle that hides away until you have the light off and it dive bombs you!

My mystery happening is in the bathroom. I leave it at night, with the shower looking clean and no signs of moths or flies, yet in the morning over the last few days , I walk in and each time see a small dead moth or butterfly. Dont see them arrive, and they dont disturb me if I go into the bathroom in the night. Just another unexplained happening. Ah well , so long as no ants decide to descend I shall be fine. Oh for a little cool wind or some rain, but dont think I will be lucky tonight

Those sticky fly papers might not be pretty but at least they are chemical free
Have meant to try cider vinegar for fruit flys

I have just done the cider vinegar trap, just hope it works, I don’t know where they are coming from yet.
Oh those sticky fly traps make me shudder.
I remember the long sticky things covered in dead bodies hanging in people’s kitchen when I was a child .

I use sticky yellow fly traps.

Thanks Grandma atty🤣 just did it and 6 of the little buggers drowned already 😀 sorry autocorrect took the B away

For fruit flies, cut a lemon in half, then press cloves into the flesh. Place in or near your fruit bowl.

They fly in from the patio through to the living room where they batter themselves on the window, one of us lets them out. I swear they then fly back round and do it again

I get rid of fruit flies with cider vinegar and a splash of washing up liquid in a ramekin

Theres one that just does not leave me alone - I’ve got a fly spray but I’m waiting for him to rest on the window , before I zap him 😂

Fly Swatter if you can get them to land on something ? My cheap two quid plastic one is very effective.