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 Post subject: Flies
PostPosted: Thu Jun 26, 2003 7:58 pm 
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What can be used to control flies. I want to use something non-toxic as I have grandkids, dogs and lots of wild birds around the house.


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 26, 2003 10:04 pm 
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I use skeeter d'feeter. It's a citronella based product for mosquitoes but the manufacturer say he has many clients who have horse ranches that spray it in the stable for fly control. I just started using it in my goat shed and chicken house, it seems to be working. All the Lowe's stores in Texas sell it in a concentrate or hose end. Look in the organic section.
Tony M


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 26, 2003 10:26 pm 
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There have been reports that hanging clear plastic bags filled with water in the area will repel flies. Something about light reflecting off of the bags. There was no real scientific explanation as to how or why the method worked, but that it seemed to be effective. I have never tested this so cannot verify the claims.

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PostPosted: Sun Jun 29, 2003 12:35 pm 
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I believe the clear bags with water repel flies because they see themselves magnified and are scared of that bigger fly (or all those bigger flies since they have multiple viewing). :lol:

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PostPosted: Sun Jun 29, 2003 3:09 pm 
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home depot and most of your feed store sell a clear bag that you fill with water to a certain point and has some holes in it so the flies fly inside and get trapped and die and when the bad several hundred flies or starts to smell throw it in the trash can :P this is dirty dave of fort worth txs :wink:


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PostPosted: Sun Jun 29, 2003 3:28 pm 
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dirty dave wrote:
home depot and most of your feed store sell a clear bag that you fill with water to a certain point and has some holes in it so the flies fly inside and get trapped and die and when the bad several hundred flies or starts to smell throw it in the trash can :P this is dirty dave of fort worth txs :wink:

Better yet, throw them in the compost pile!

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 06, 2003 1:48 pm 
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I've seen this at resturants in the past few years as well. For the longest time I thought it was some strange way purifying their water for use in who knows what. Then I was informed by a friend about it's true purpose and we both were at a loss to explain how it might be effective as such.

I've had 4 gallon-sized ziplocks hanging from the new deck cover I finished last month and I really can't say whether or not it's been effective. I still see some flying about the deck area now and again but they weren't terrible to begin with. It's hard to say..

I can however attest to the fact that Skeeter D'feeter isn't working well with my mosquito problems. I've doused the entire area surrounding our deck - hose end sprayed the lariapie (sp?), the fence, turf, walls and the decking itself 3 times in the last 10 days. Mosquitos don't seem to be phased one bit by it.

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 06, 2003 9:10 pm 
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dcluck wrote:
I can however attest to the fact that Skeeter D'feeter isn't working well with my mosquito problems. I've doused the entire area surrounding our deck - hose end sprayed the lariapie (sp?), the fence, turf, walls and the decking itself 3 times in the last 10 days. Mosquitos don't seem to be phased one bit by it.

~Dave Cluck


Have you scouted your property for any leaves, planters, pet water dishes, bird baths, or any other vessels which may collect water? (Treat these with mosquito dunks or other BtI product). Other than that, the owner of the Herb Market in Carrollton told me she and her husband have had success in repelling mosquitoes by spraying garlic pepper tea on some of the foliage in their yard. It did not work for me last night, but I may have diluted it too much.
I am a mosquito magnet myself. It has been suggested to me by a man of great wisdom that it may be due to the fact that I have had a serious illness. I do eat and drink sugars of all sorts, but try to limit and sweeten with stevia when I can. Alcohol consumption is supposed to be a factor as well. I do like a glass of Benzinger merlot or a good cabernet in the evening.
As for repellant on my person, peppermint essential oil mixed 50/50 with 70% or 90% rubbing alcohol works well!

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Jul 06, 2003 10:18 pm 
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organic1 wrote:

Have you scouted your property for any leaves, planters, pet water dishes, bird baths, or any other vessels which may collect water?


Religiously! I've even gone to both of my neighbor's yards to inspect. I have landscaping beds that follow the inside of the back yard fence all the way around. Edging for these beds is some healthy lariapie (I think that what it is.. tall monkey grass-like stuff). Two 40 ft red oaks shade the majority of the back yard and as a restult the lariapie isn't getting completely dry in times of prolonged rainfall. But this hasn't been the case lately and I don't water more than once a week. Basically that's it for potential mosquito magnet areas in my immediate vacinity.

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Other than that, the owner of the Herb Market in Carrollton told me she and her husband have had success in repelling mosquitoes by spraying garlic pepper tea on some of the foliage in their yard.


I'll give that a try! As I mentioned I just completed a new deck covering and we're spending lots of time on the deck now as a result.

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It did not work for me last night, but I may have diluted it too much.


I wonder if perhaps I'm doing this with the D'feeter concentrate? I'm using my generic 20gal hose end sprayer.. I'll have to triple check that tomorrow evening to see if I've been continuously mixing it improperly. That'd figure..

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I am a mosquito magnet myself.


Genreally I'm not. Or at least I'm not terribly bothered by the ocasional bites I get. The wife and 7 month old Jack Russle on the other hand are apparently mosquito candy.

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It has been suggested to me by a man of great wisdom that it may be due to the fact that I have had a serious illness..


My grandmother has said much the same thing. She said it pertaining to horses if I remeber correctly.. :)

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I do like a glass of Benzinger merlot or a good cabernet in the evening.


That can't be it. Otherwise I'd be a pin cushion. :lol: Two glasses an evening for the past 10 years.

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As for repellant on my person, peppermint essential oil mixed 50/50 with 70% or 90% rubbing alcohol works well!


I'll pick some of those things up and see how the wife rates them. Thanks for the recommendations. I'll let everyone know if my negative Skeeter D'feeter experience has been due to an improper mix ratio or otherwise. I still have half a bottle left to go on it.

~Dave Cluck


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2003 7:01 am 
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organic1 wrote:
I believe the clear bags with water repel flies because they see themselves magnified and are scared of that bigger fly (or all those bigger flies since they have multiple viewing). :lol:


Without getting into too much detail, I understand the reason water in clear baggies works is based on how a fly’s eye is structured. An adult fly’s eye consists of an array of approximately 800 hexagonal ommatidia, or facets. Each one of these contains 8 photoreceptor cells, making the total number of cells in each eye over 16,000.

Basically, the fly sees its reflection in the water and it is multiplied by the fly’s eye. It sees all the other 'fly’s' and determines there are too many to find any food for itself, so it moves on. It basically works on the fly’s instinct to survive.

Regardless of the reason, filling sandwich bags half full of water and hanging on the perimeter of a porch or such works magic.

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