Houseflies can be annoying: buzzing around, perching on food, on your face, or flying right past your ear. They can also transmit diseases when they settle on droppings and dead animals, collecting bacteria that they then spread onto our food. Although the animals live only a few weeks, they reproduce extremely quickly. A housefly lays up to 1000 eggs in its lifetime, which is why they can quickly become a nuisance. It is much more pleasant to get rid of the little animals without having to resort to chemical insecticides.
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Scents against houseflies
- Plants against house flies
Flies do not like the smell of geraniums, lavender, basil or tomato plants. Therefore, plant your garden or balcony with these natural scents. Alternatively, you can also grow basil and lavender pots on the window sill. - Essential oils against flies
You can also use essential oils instead of plants. Add a few drops of eucalyptus or lavender oil to a scented sachet or fragrance lamp. With other essential oils you also repel wasps and fruit flies .
Build a natural flytrap
For a natural fly trap, you will need several strips of newspaper about an inch wide, honey, a brush, and string.
Here’s how it works:
Tie the newspaper strips together at the end with a piece of string to create a kind of frond. Apply a thin layer of honey to the newspaper strips with the brush. If you heat the honey briefly beforehand, it spreads more easily. Just don’t let it drip off the paper.
You can hang the newspaper strips from the ceiling using the string, for example with a thumbtack. The flies are attracted by the sweet honey scent and stick to the paper. However, the animals die in the process. Otherwise flies can also be caught with a jar and released outside again.
Prevent houseflies
- Removing
leftover food Do not leave unwrapped or cut food lying around in the kitchen. Because these attract the flies. It is better to store food in the refrigerator or cover it well. - Empty and clean
garbage cans regularly Garbage cans and those without lids are a real paradise for flies. Therefore, take out the trash regularly and clean the trash can more often. Airtight buckets are also a solution. - Attach fly screens
They not only help against flies, but also against all other insects and arachnids. Fly screens are available as nets or even as an intermediate door for the balcony or terrace. Fly screens are available in hardware stores. Simply clean the window frame, peel off the tape, press onto the frame and press the mesh to the Velcro side. - Pay attention to
fruit and vegetables Fruits and vegetables are ideal breeding grounds for house flies, which is why they can quickly be infested with fly larvae. New fly larvae hatch after just eight hours at room temperature. To prevent this, only save as much fruit as you need, use it quickly, or keep it in the fridge.
