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There is nothing more irritating than a fly in your house. Not only are they annoying, but they also carry germs and risk your health.

Like most pests, prevention is better than cure when it comes to knowing how to keep flies out of the house.

In this guide, we will share the best ways to keep flies out of your home.

How to Prevent Flies from Entering Your Home
keeping-flies-out-of-the-house

The British Pest Control Association (BCPA) advises limiting a fly’s access to food and water to discourage them from coming into your home.

Although house flies have a relatively short lifespan, they can reproduce rapidly, which can quickly lead to an infestation. 

If you think you have an infestation, do not hesitate to call a professional pest control company like EWS Group, as they will be able to take care of the problem efficiently.

Our Top Tips for Avoiding a Fly Infestation

Here are our top tips for preventing flies from coming into your home or garden:

  • Keep food waste covered securely in a lidded bin, as food sources attract flies. 
  • Ensure your outdoor bins are kept closed and away from doors and windows.
  • Wipe up any spillages from surfaces in the kitchen immediately.
  • Store all food in secure boxes and jars.
  • Clear away plates after eating to discourage flies from feeding off the remnants on your dishes.
  • Either keep doors and windows closed or use fly screens to keep flies out.
  • In the evening, keep windows closed, especially if there is a light source to attract flies.
  • Clear up pet faeces in the garden, as they will attract flies.
  • Remove dead flies, as they are a food source for other pests.
  • Put bleach down drains or plug holes that are attracting flies
How to Get Rid of House Flies

You can buy plenty of over-the-counter sprays and electronic zappers to exterminate flies. However, if you want to avoid using toxic chemicals, you can try some more natural products.

  • Eucalyptus oil is a good deterrent and can be added to cloths hung near doors and windows.
  • Flies dislike mint, so place mint plants on your window sills in pots.
  • Orange peel in a dish is an excellent way to discourage flies.
  • Citronella is an excellent product for keeping flies and other insects away. Light a citronella candle to keep them away from you when you sit outside in the evening.
  • Choose cut flowers and plants that repel flies. Marigolds, lavender, bay leaves and catnip are perfect choices.

It’s worth using ideas to keep flies away from your garden, too, as they are more likely to enter your home if your garden is welcoming. Growing nasturtiums, basil and lavender plants is an excellent way to discourage flies.

How to Make a Homemade Fly Trap

You can buy fly traps for the garden that contain chemicals which attract flies. In your home, you can make homemade traps.

MedicineNet suggests that flies are attracted to certain scents.

Place some apple cider vinegar and sugar in a shallow dish with some fruit-scented washing-up liquid. Cover the dish with clingfilm and pierce holes in the surface for flies to enter the trap.

Flies will be attracted to the sugar and scent and enter the trap but cannot escape. They will fall into the liquid and drown.

Can House Flies be Dangerous?

Flies should really come with a public health warning. For such a small creature, they unquestionably pose plenty of risks to human health.

The problem is that flies feed by vomiting their saliva onto your food. They then walk around in their vomit and suction up the resulting liquid.

The regurgitating process transfers the bacteria from their gut onto your food, transmitting all kinds of diseases, from food poisoning to cholera.

So, while each fly is merrily buzzing between different surfaces, it spreads some severe bacteria and pathogens.

The health risks from flies include: 

  • Salmonella with symptoms such as diarrhoea, fever, vomiting, and abdominal cramps.
  • Dysentery with symptoms ranging from mild abdominal discomfort to cramps and diarrhoea.
  • E.coli  is a bacteria which can cause food poisoning. 
  • Worm infections, such as roundworms and flatworms, are caused by the transferral of eggs into food.
  • Maggot infestations, the eggs laid by flies, can cause bacterial poisoning.
How to Deal with a Large Number of Flies in Your Home

House flies are a more significant problem in the summer when the weather is warm. They can enter your home more easily when windows are open and through tiny cracks in walls or doors.

You may notice many flies gathering in your home and even find a maggot infestation in your bins.

As soon as you suspect you have a problem, please take action to remove any food sources attracting them.

Seal up your bins and keep your worktops clear. It is best to sanitise your surfaces regularly to remove any residues the flies are attracted to.

In fact, thoroughly cleaning your home, under and around appliances such as cookers and fridges, may help remove the food sources that are attracting the flies.

House flies love rotting food and pet faeces, while fruit flies love ripe fruit and sweet substances like alcohol and fizzy drinks.

Can flies lay eggs in my home?

House flies look for damp, warm places to lay their eggs. The bad news is that eggs hatch in just 24 hours.

Common places for fly eggs are rubbish bins, decaying garden waste and faeces.

Life Cycle of a Fly

A fly’s lifespan is pretty short, lasting between 15 and 30 days. There are four stages to their life cycle.

Fly Eggs – Once flies have mated, the female lays eggs which the male fertilises. A fully matured female fly can lay up to 500 eggs in her lifetime.

Fly Larvae – You will know this stage better as a maggot. They look like small pale worms and stay close to their food source. They feed on waste, faeces and animal corpses. Each larva will shed its skin three times before reaching the next stage in its lifecycle.

Fly Pupae – The pupa stage is where the fly is dormant and is cocooned in a shell. It will grow its wings, legs and antennae before breaking out as a fully grown adult fly.

To reduce the risk of flies laying eggs, ensure your rubbish and garden waste are adequately sealed, clear up pet waste quickly, and dispose of it securely.