Did you know that a house fly beats it’s wings 200 times per second and that they jump backwards when taking off? They taste food through there feet and are 10 million times more sensitive to the taste of sugar than the human tongue. They have 40,000 lenses in each eye but in reality their eyesight is considered poor. Also flies are the only insect with two wings (all others have four) but are far superior fliers than any other insect or animal in the world. Flies prefer to land on hanging wires or ropes but can even land on a ceiling using a back flip motion while their front legs grip the surface first. The average life span of a house fly is only 21 days and their favorite colors in order are red, orange, black, violet, green, blue, white and yellow. Flies can carry typhoid, cholera, diarrhoea, amoebic dysentery, T.B, anthrax, gangrene, bubonic plague, leprosy, scarlet and yellow fever. It is estimated that the average house fly has over 2 million bacteria on it’s body. In fact if it weren’t for their disgusting health hazards and many diseases they spread they could easily be considered the most amazing insect in history.
Mankind has been at war with flies since time began and in some periods it seemed as if we were winning and other times it seemed hopeless. Even today there can be serious outbreaks in the ‘developed nations’ while third world countries suffer a chronic state of inept fly control and the consequences of their infestations.
Ok what can I do for my home?
Well let’s start by using some key characteristics of the fly against him. Since we know their favorite colors and some preferred landing situations and that they love sugar. We can simply put these things together in combination with a fantastic new fly bait and construct a very effective tool against flies.
The most important ingredient we need is the fly bait and Bayer has come out with the perfect solution. Max Force Fly Spot is an incredible bait that will kill a fly within 60 seconds of the insect landing on it. (usually much quicker) It’s a pheromone and sugar bait that you mix with water in a pint sized sprits bottle. This highly effective bait works only on the house fly and lesser flies and for residential use it should not be used indoors. A quick Bing or Google search will get you to many on line retailers or you should be able to get it at your local DIY.
Next we want to create a place where flies will readily land. Simply by using a string of yarn, shoestring or small thin rope and hanging it near your trash cans or where you are having problems with flies you’ll create a perfect landing spot. Remember the colors mentioned above and it will be even better.
Using your sprits bottle, simply apply it to the hanging string. You could also dip or soak the string before hanging just wear some rubber gloves in handling the wet string.
As flies land on the string you’ll notice an instant reaction. For lack of a better description they seem instantly addicted and almost held to the bait as if by a magnet or glue. Then in about 20 seconds or so their wings start beating furiously but they can’t let go.(another fact is that a fly never beats it’s wings when it’s feet are attached to any surface so by this point they are doomed) Quickly after this starts their feet give way and they corkscrew through the air and dive bomb to the ground dead.
The residual of this bait can be up to 6 weeks if not out in the weather so even though a 2 ounce package will run you about $12.00 it is in the end quite cost effective. The bait is also treated with Bitrex which is a bitter additive to keep non target animals from chewing on the string. All in all it is a very effective tool that will eliminate pesky flies even if you are living on a shoestring.
