# Blowfly problem?



## EricaM (Aug 2, 2016)

Let me give some background here. Two years ago, my husband and I moved into an older house that had been converted into a duplex. Come summer, we were invaded by blowflies! I talked to the landlord then, and he acted like it was no big deal, so no help there. Since then, every time warm weather comes around, we get what adds up to hundreds of them in the house each summer.

I keep the house clean, and take the garbage out regularly. I also clean the litter boxes twice a day. Since this is an ongoing thing and not a one-time occurrence, I assume nothing has died in our walls. The houses around us do not have this problem. I've tried a number of different sprays: Raid, Black Flag (which does kill them, but not right away, which means that during the day, they're still flying around the house), and even Off. Off seemed to be working, until today. I have non-smelly fly traps outside that do draw them in, but just as many get inside. (I don't want to use the smelly fly traps because we live right next to the funeral home-I doubt the mourners would appreciate the smell.) I have tried a number of essential oils: lavender, citronella, lemon, and cedar. None of them have an effect. The flies seem to be coming in around the back door to the kitchen. We have a storm door but they still get in.

I have found that black curtains are helping; they don't come in through those windows, and they don't come past the curtain over the stairway anymore. However, we can't really put black curtains up over the back door. I considered the bag of water trick, but supposedly it only works in sunlight, and the flies come around even on cloudy days.

Does anyone have any suggestions to keep them out in the first place? I'm tired of sweeping up dozens of dead flies every night, and they seem to like following me around when I'm downstairs, to the point that I can't get anything done for swatting at flies the whole time.


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## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

Have to figure out the origin. We had a fly problem like no one who was not there would ever believe and it turned out to be sewer grease getting dumped in a field nearby. Nothing makes a difference until the source of the flies is resolved.


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Their life cycle is pretty short so as ss said they are finding food and reproducing somewhere. Creeps me out that there is a funeral home next door. No further comment.

Have you used any Decon for mice? Is your home on a septic or city sewer? Any farm or fields with crops nearby?

Do you have a basement or crawlspace? Are the foundation walls stone, block, or concrete. If they are entering the basement they usually have easy access to got upstairs. When you say older, how old?

Bud


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

We had that problem and had so many, swatting was not an option. I used my shop vac and got rid of them that way. Be sure to dump your vac after a few days (to be sure they are dead) or it will stink really bad.

We got the pest strips that repel flying insects and they are working fine for us.


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## EricaM (Aug 2, 2016)

Bud9051 said:


> Their life cycle is pretty short so as ss said they are finding food and reproducing somewhere. Creeps me out that there is a funeral home next door. No further comment.
> 
> Have you used any Decon for mice? Is your home on a septic or city sewer? Any farm or fields with crops nearby?
> 
> ...


Thanks for the response.

Our landlord is also the funeral home director, and he said they weren't having the fly problem over there. I also asked a friend who works as a mortician and she said unless they weren't taking care of the bodies correctly, that wouldn't be the source of the flies. I'm not sure about the age of the house; probably about 50 years old. My husband has checked the basement several times, and they don't appear to be down there.

We put Ortho Max around the house for spiders and ants, but that's all our pest control. We have plenty of cornfields around and there is also a turkey factory down the road. I thought the turkey factory was the source but as I said other houses don't seem to have this problem.

I'm also going to ask the previous renter if he had the same problem when he was here.


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## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

Keep at it, fly problems suck. I bet it took us two (miserable) months to figure out where they were coming from but the relief once we finally realized they were gone was just as incredible.

Nothing says class like having fly strips hanging from the living room light....


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

The turkey factory may still be the source, it just boils down to why they like your home over others.

Not in the basement is good as that can be a hidden area for them to reproduce.

So there are two problems. One, where are they coming from and two why are they visiting you.

Just thinking out loud, but there are natural repellents like marigolds, that may help. I have no idea as to IF marigolds repel flies, just an example. But I'm thinking you need to make your house smell different from current. Not that it is bad, but it currently is attractive to those flies.

If you have a farm center near you you could talk to them as they certainly deal with a lot of flies.

Not being skeptical, but if the funeral home is the source it is logical your landlord would deny it. Do they have or are there any dumpsters nearby?

One more. When they have a fruit fly problem in an orchard region they set up traps to attract and catch some to identify the problem. I'm sure they are simple and you could probably find out how to make them and then set them around the perimeter of your home. The ones that catch the most flies might indicate the direction they are coming from.

Bud


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

When I posted about the fly problem, I was told the flies could be coming from the plumbing traps.


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## EricaM (Aug 2, 2016)

Thanks for the responses everyone. I'm going to talk to the local feed store and see if they have ideas for any repellent I can use.

I also found out my husband has left beer bottles on the porch again, so I suspect that's at least half the problem right there. I plan on having a stern but loving talk with him. :wink2:


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

You can compromise. Offer to buy him a cooler for a keg of beer so he won't have to deal with the bottles .

My thoughts for an outside fly trap was a two foot long 4" or 6" tube of some sorts with a sticky no pest strip secured down the middle. Then hand something half way down that attracts them. Just a thought.

Bud


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## EricaM (Aug 2, 2016)

Well everyone, I figured out the solution. After all this, the real problem is having the garbage container on the porch. Last week the garbage guys forgot to pick ours up, so I left the can out by the curb. I saw maybe two flies all week. I brought it back to the porch this morning once the garbage was gone, and even though I sprayed the container down with a Farm and Dairy fly repellent spray (along with the entire porch), I now have about two dozen flies in the house right now. 

So I think the landlord is just going to have put up with our container being on the curb as long as summer lasts. But at least I know the source, or at least what's drawing them in from elsewhere.


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