claire edwards

I rest my case.

heraldic

A bath might help

Mercedes

No too unhigeninic, your'e wallowing in your own dirt a good fly attractor........shower with good ol soap and water, deodrant, aftershave (a nice one that doesn't keep away the birds as well as the flies) For those not used to showering just follow the instructions,

Mercedes

Keep Flies Away. Deter flying insects from your home


Flies are attracted to food and rubbish/garbage. So keep all food and rubbish tightly covered, clean your rubbish bins with disinfectant regularly especially in the summer months.

Do not keep piles of manure or rotting compost, rotting fruit or vegetables near your house as they attract flies.

Put up fly screens over windows or doors. Fly screens can be a fine mesh that allows air through but does not allow insects. You can also buy tape screens that hang over your door that you can sweep to one side as you walk through.

At night many flying insects are attracted by light. So if you leave your windows open at night and have your lights on then you are going to attract a multitude of unwanted visitors around your light bulbs. If you have to leave a light on and you window open then make a home made fly screen out of some very fine mesh or netting and tape it over the open window. The finer the fabric the better. The mesh will stop the insects in their tracks.

As a general rule flying insects do not like smoke. So light an incense stick or a candle to drive them away from an area. There special candles that contain citronella that also deter certain flies.

If you are trying to deter flies from congregating in a particular area then leave a dish out containing molasses and black pepper. It will deter the airborne menaces.

To stop wasps, hornets or bees in their tracks give them a spray with some hairspray. Please be careful where you are spraying hairspray though as it is not nice stuff to be spraying around. If you do hit a bee or other insect then do quickly put the creature out of it's misery as spraying it with hairspray is not killing it, it is merely disabling it.

There are also a few natural herbs that deter flies. Put sprigs of elder, lavender, mint, pennyroyal, rue or southern wood in vases, or hang them up to keep flies away. Rub the leaves frequently so that the smell is released.

tonyk38

Lots of useful advice there to keep you busy!

The reason Aus has so many flies has been attributed to the lack of the 'right' sort of native dung beetles. With the introduction of lots of hooved animals to the country, the flies suddenly found they had a super abundant source of food and multiplied. African dung beetles were subsequently introduced to deal with the huge amounts of sh*t left by cattle and sheep and the ecological balance was restored......well no, not really....though it has partially worked. Nevertheless, if conditions are just right, they still reach plague proportions in some areas.

Having said that, there were many areas of the East coast where I didn't really notice them at all, when I was there. Whether that's the case throughout the year, I don't really know.

chocaholic

We've had relatively few flies here this year. Maybe it's less bad the closer you get to the coast. We went up to the Hunter to play golf and noticed there were more flies up there. It's bad enough as it is trying to hit the ball straight ahead, let alone having 5 flies buzzing in your face.

Having said that, the day before yesterday it was a bit stormy and there were more flies at the beach....but yesterday there were none.

We visited Perth last year and thought there were significantly more flies over there.....but maybe they were having an off-week.

scotvness

'GI FLY'

Now I’m not claiming to be an expert entymologist? but being forced to acknowledge their existence I have come up with my own hypothesis on the pesky beasts.

Prior to your arrival in NSW/Victoria etc the Australian Federal government will allocate to you your own personal fly, on leaving the airport on arrival you will immediately be greeted by your fly who will introduce him/herself to you by trying to kiss you in both ears your eyes and mouth, if you happen to have freshened up with some perfume/aftershave lotion prior to leaving the airport terminal he/she will most probably bring along a few friends to greet you as well.

When you enter a shopping mall, any shopping mall (provided it’s air conditioned) your fly appreciating your need to shop alone will wait outside until you leave the mall. Now don’t worry (I know what your thinking) What if I leave the mall via a different entrance/exit to the one through which I arrived – Don’t worry your fly will know (amazing isn’t it) but he/she will greet you at what ever exit you choose, don’t ask me how they do it! (Remember I’m no expert – just an observer) Or how they know! But they do, believe me they will be there, and again (ladies) if you should try a few of those perfume testers while in the mall, your friendly fly will bring along a few friends for a quick sniff too.

Okay so you’re going to be travelling while, and some distance too! Wait for it….. Yep you’ve got it, wherever you go, go on try it, jump in the car drive for a few hours, stop anywhere you wish and your fly will be there to meet you guaranteed. (Again don’t ask me how he or she does it – remember I’m no expert – but they do).

As part of my research (cycling around the town of Parkes) I noticed that any amount of perspiration by you will encourage your fly to invite a few friends around for a whiff, now even though you may be riding your bicycle at speed against the wind, your fly can and will hover in a wind buffer zone approximately half an inch in front of your face landing on your noise, eyes and mouth at the exact moments just when you need all your concentration navigating the roads and traffic, - oh and if your wearing sunnies’ he/she will land and walk about on the inside of the lens resulting in you smacking yourself in the face, at worst falling off the cycle or loosing your sunnys to a passing vehicle.

If for some unfortunate reason you may take a deep breath, say while cycling and swallow your fly or if you accidentally or intently should kill your fly – please don’t worry you will immediately be issued at no cost to yourself a replacement fly.

Some good news - I have noticed that on crossing the state boarder into Queensland your fly will not follow, it seems they are not too keen to live in Queensland, my theory on this is frogs/toads, of course, they eat fly’s – Now don’t worry if you come to Queensland you wont be followed by toads, in fact I don’t think you are issued with one up here, not one but about a hundred or two, mind you, you wont notice them until the wet weather – huh! Wet weather in Queensland I hear you say, put it this way I’ve felt pretty much at home over the last few weeks – oh and don’t forget the frogs and toads they’re on the patio, the drive way squashed on the road and I’ve even seen them provide footie practise for the local kids.

mlbonner

Fly-wise I'm fine, but I definitely have that problem with mozzies.... even with the anti-venom (aeroguard) on last night, I've still been bitten a dozen or so times

Mercedes

Have a garlic clove a day, seriously will keep them off you. Eat an apple or parsley afterward so it doesnt keep everyone else away

mlbonner

Yeah I heard that, same with Vitamin B6 apparently.... might have to give it a go!