Build a fly trap yourself – instructions and home remedies

It is not uncommon for a flytrap to be found that functions as such without delay or even preparatory work. For example, if the neighbor snows in for a cup of coffee and a piece of fruit cake or if your best friend is standing in front of the door without prior notice, nobody wants to put together a flytrap for a long time and keep their guests waiting just to be able to chat undisturbed. Various flycatchers are available for this purpose, which are only effective for a short period of time, but are nonetheless ready for use in a few simple steps:

• Fill a bowl with fruit vinegar and add a few tips of washing-up liquid.
• Put a piece of rotting fruit away from the seat.
• Dissolve 10 tablets of sweetener in 50 ml of water and pour into a small bowl.
• Spread the inside of the light, colored cardboard boxes with beet syrup and set them up.
• Lard apple or lemon slices with cloves and lay out.
• Spread fresh marigolds or sprigs of the peppermint plant.

If a toadstool has settled in the garden, it is cut into small pieces and mixed with milk and a little sugar in an open vessel. This substance attracts the pests and poisons them within a short time. Please do not forget to only handle the toadstool with gloves and to place the container out of the reach of children and pets.

Instructions for DIY fly traps

If you want to get a grip on the problem of flying flies in the long term, you should consider building a fly trap yourself. For this purpose, numerous tinkerers have come up with various designs that make buying an expensive trap or chemical insect sprays for the buzzing buzzers superfluous. In the following some convincing instructions are presented, arranged according to increasing level of manual difficulty:

The perforated sheet metal lid

• Fill a screw jar with sugar water.
• Drill several centimeter-sized holes in the lid.
• Alternatively, attach a perforated plastic bag to the edge of the glass with a rubber band.

The flies are magically attracted by the sweet water, fall into the glass and can no longer find a way out.

Flycatcher

• Cut baking paper or newspaper pages into 1 cm to 2 cm wide strips
• Spread honey and sugar beet syrup on top with a kitchen brush.
• Roll up the strips and leave them for a few minutes.
• When they are rolled out again, the flycatcher forms like a spiral.
• Scatter some granulated sugar over it so that nothing drips down.
• Pull a string through the upper end and hang up the flycatcher.

All flies that fall for this trick stick to it without help and are later disposed of together with the flycatcher in the household waste.

Safety catch device
So that the do-it-yourselfer can enjoy his valuable free time in peace in the house and on the balcony without being bothered by annoying flies, he makes a fly trap without further ado. The material list is made up of conventional household items:

• empty PET bottle
• water
• Granulated sugar
• red food coloring
• sharp knife
• Masking tape
• duct tape
• cooking pot

The upper part of the drinking bottle is cut off at the conical transition. So that the cut runs straight, experienced do-it-yourselfers wrap the interface with masking tape, which is then removed again. Turn the cut piece over and place it in the lower part of the bottle. Wrap the two cut edges with the adhesive tape. Put 5 tablespoons of sugar in the saucepan and pour water over them until the sugar is covered. Bring the mixture to the boil, stirring constantly, until it turns into a viscous mass. Color it red with the food coloring, because flies love red fruits. Then let it cool down until it is still slightly warm and pour into the fly trap with the spoon and add a few splashes of washing-up liquid. Brush the inner rim of the funnel thinly with the sweet mixture. Set up in a warm, sunny place and let the flies fall into the trap as they try to get to the sweet contents. The dishwashing liquid changes the consistency of the surface so that there is no escape.

Tried and tested home remedies drive away flies

Apart from the (minimal) risk of disease transmission, the main drawback of flies is that they are extremely annoying. An attribute that, strictly speaking, does not deserve the death penalty. Environmentally conscious and animal-loving gardening enthusiasts therefore prefer to use well-known household remedies to drive away the flies instead of killing them.

• Let a few drops of vinegar evaporate on the warm stove.
• Keep castor plants or geraniums on the windowsill because flies avoid the scent.
• Tomato and mint plants have a similar effect on insects.
• Soak small sponges in lavender oil and distribute around the house.

If the do-it-yourselfer plans to repaint the rooms of his house, he adds a few tablespoons of bay oil to the wall paint and in this way creates a long-lasting fly repellent system, because the little beasts hate this aroma as much as the smell of vinegar.

The ultimate annoyance is probably the buzzing fly in the bedroom, which destroys any attempt to relax. In this case, it has been proven time and again to put the bedroom in complete darkness, including the glowing digital alarm clock. Then the door to the hall is opened and the light is switched on. Without a doubt, the fly will immediately move towards the light. Quickly close the bedroom door and leave the room in the dark. A well-deserved slumber is assured for this night.
Live trap for flies

If the household remedies mentioned do not produce the desired success, there is an alternative to building a live trap, which can also be implemented with simple, inexpensive means.

• Scatter a little granulated sugar on an old plate.
• Create a wire mesh in the shape of a cone around it.
• The overlapping ends are fixed with floral wire.
• Put a fly net over the wire mesh.
• Cut a small hole in this fly net.

A small plastic bag is placed over the tip of the lattice cone and sealed with a rubber band. The fly crawls through the small hole in the bottom onto the plate, attracted by the sugar. After nibbling on it, she instinctively flies up and ends up in the plastic bag. At least once a day the bag is opened in the open air and the flies caught are released into the wild.

Proven home remedies against fly maggots

Probably the most unpleasant side effects of a fly plague are the larvae, also known as maggots. This misery can either be prevented with simple home remedies or quickly and specifically combated. The main cause of this unsavory mess is carelessly disposed of in summer.

• Always wrap meat waste thickly in newspaper.
• In the event of an infestation in the organic waste bin, pour a good shot of vinegar over it.
• Rock flour or slaked lime, which are scattered over the brood, are also effective.

In well-stocked hardware stores there is also special organic bin powder that is more expensive to buy, but is just as effective as the household remedies mentioned. In general, dryness in the organic waste bin is very helpful to prevent maggot infestation. For this purpose, wood chips or coconut fibers are filled in layers between the organic waste so that the dreaded digestion gases that attract the flies do not arise in the first place. The sheets of the daily newspaper (not the magazines) are also suitable for ensuring a dry climate in the organic waste bin.

Preventive measures

To prevent flies from spreading in droves in the house and garden, it is definitely worthwhile to nip breeding grounds in the bud.

• Install insect nets on windows, balcony and patio doors.
• Do not leave any food lying around in the summer.
• Carefully wipe away even the smallest splash of juice.
• In addition, invisible spots, e.g. B. clean regularly under kitchen appliances.
• In principle, do not tolerate standing water in or around the house.
• Always cover rain barrels carefully.
• Fill puddles of water with sand after a rain shower.
• Regularly clean sewer and manhole covers as well as open drainage pipes.
• Immediately dispose of the pets left behind.

Since flies prefer to stay in sunny locations, it is advisable to only ever ventilate the windows that are currently on the side of the house that is facing away from the sun.

Fastening fly screens to windows and doors without drilling
Since the ‘fly season’ is limited to a few months of the year, many house and apartment owners are not particularly keen on drilling holes in the expensive frames to install a fly screen. A practicable and inexpensive solution are self-adhesive insect nets, which not only keep flies out of the apartment, but also deny access to other animals such as mosquitoes or moths. It is important to note that the frame of the window or door is carefully cleaned before the mosquito net is affixed with the Velcro tape. Any protrusions are simply cut off with scissors. The fly swatter takes care of the rest
If all preventive, environmentally friendly and animal-loving control methods have been exhausted, experience has shown that there are still one or two flies around the house and strains the nerves. In this case, the only thing that helps is to use the classic fly swatter, provided it is within reach. It is therefore advisable to have a copy in each room. If you first have to look for a fly swatter, the ideal time to strike is long past.

Conclusion
Flies are part of nature – even if they are not particularly useful. With their buzzing and buzzing, they bring many contemporaries to white heat. Good to know that a variety of home remedies are available to prevent the plague or to drive away the annoying two-winged birds. In addition, inventive hobbyists have excelled in developing fly traps that anyone can build themselves. As a rule, it should therefore be possible to avoid reaching for the chemical club.