Annihilating a Fly Infestation

Annihilating a Fly Infestation

In July I went away for a little over a week. I came back to discover my kitchen was the premier destination for a swarm of cluster flies. These little visitors were so happy here that they kept constantly reproducing. By the first week in August I had enough. I tried many methods and below is what worked for me.

1. Keep the Kitchen clean

This meant every time I went into the kitchen clean something, wipe a counter, throw something out from the fridge, wash some dishes, mop the floor, etc. These actions take only a few moments, I did them while the coffee was brewing, something was in the microwave, or I heated up water for tea. The benefit of all that is that now I have a cleaner kitchen all the time.

2. Leave nothing out

I stopped letting pots and pans soak in the sink overnight; they soaked inside the dishwasher instead.

I stopped leaving fruits, food, spices, etc out in the open. Now they are in a cupboard or in the refrigerator.

I take the garbage out every night. Before bed collect all the garbage in the house and out it goes.

3. Homemade fly trap

I noticed that the flies liked the wet cat food. So I placed a little bit in a can and added water. The flies become attracted to the cat food and drown in the water. This did not leave a smell (thank goodness) and was more effective than apple cider vinegar.

4. Commercial fly trap

I did not want to spray my house with pesticides, so when I found this fly trap on amazon I had hope. To my surprise it worked very well. Within a week there were many flies drowned inside, after three weeks the majority of the flies were gone. Towards the end of for weeks I disposed of the first trap and bought a second. By the end of week 4 there were about 6 flies left.

5. Spray cleaner

While cleaning the kitchen a brave, intrepid fly found its way to me. I prayed it with the spray in my hand and noticed that it could not fly away. It was trapped in the bubbles. I used a paper towel to kill the fly and place it in the garbage. I felt so accomplished that I used that method for the remaining 6 flies.

It has been about three days that when I walk into my kitchen I no longer see flies. I hope my ordeal helps you as well. Please leave a comment or share your fly catching tips.