What are the different ways you can prevent housefly infestations?
- Proper sanitation and waste management
- Access control
- Use herbs and flowers
- Eliminate any fly you see
Housefly infestations are not only frustrating to deal with, they can potentially be the cause of life-threatening illnesses and diseases. If you don’t want to deal with that, then you should know how to prevent housefly infestations way before they have the opportunity to cause you some trouble.
Flies are persistent and they breed fast. They are often ready to reproduce 3 days after their birth. If that wasn’t enough to unsettle you, they can lay about 150 eggs at a time in any decaying organic matter and 3 thousand eggs over its lifespan.
If you aren’t well versed in the arts of DIY home pest control, don’t worry. Here are four ways you can protect your home from annoying houseflies.
Proper sanitation and waste management
The first and most important things you should be doing to avoid housefly infestations is cleaning and sanitizing your house and managing your waste products properly. Flies don’t infest your house because they hate you and want to be the bane of your existence. They are simply looking to survive as all organisms want to do by nature. Unfortunately, your house has copious amounts of their food sources and suitable areas to breed — which is why they try to get in your home and infest it.
House flies feed on any decaying matter and any potential source of sugar. With that in mind, think about how these things manifest in your house. Garbage and dirty areas of your kitchen or attic are the most notorious of them all, so remember to clean them thoroughly. Don’t forget that flies prefer to lay their eggs in moist, decaying organic matter like garbage dumps, grass clippings, and fecal matter. Clean those up to or do proper waste disposal to minimize the possibility of flies uncontrollably breeding in your home.
Access control
While access control is a pair of words that are used to describe limiting the access of people in certain locations of value, it can also be applicable to housefly infestation prevention. Also called exclusion, controlling the access of houseflies in terms of managing their potential entry points is another logical way of preventing infestations.
Common entry points include holes in windows and door screens. Damage to your roof or ceiling is another possibility you should look into, especially if houseflies start turning up inside your home unexpectedly. Do remember that just because there are no houseflies inside your home, doesn’t mean there are no infestations happening around your house. It is still very common for flies to breed around the vicinity of your house, especially in garbage disposal areas. As long as flies are present, you are never fully safe from the potential dangers that they come with. What this means is that you shouldn’t stop at access control.
Use herbs and flowers
If you want to prevent housefly infestations in a natural way, then you should look into using herbs and flowers. Here’s why it makes sense: flies are sensitive to and repulsed by the oils produced by certain herbs and flowers. When these are present in your home, they will naturally avoid it. Examples of these include basil, lavender, bay leaves, and mint. Plant these around your house and in your garden for maximum effect and to have what is, essentially, a perpetual and natural insect repellent for your home. Just make sure to take care of the plants.
If you want to take it a step further, try acquiring the essential oil counterpart of the aforementioned herbs and plants. Apply it on your skin while at home or before going out so that you have a natural insect repellent where you go.
Eliminate any fly you see
Finally, if you are looking to prevent them from fully infesting your house, then why not simply eliminate them through various means that suit your style? After all, they can’t breed if they’re dead. Use your preferred brand of pesticide, flytrap, adhesive tape, or simply hit them with a fly swatter. This requires some free time, so if you have some to spare you can also try doing this.
Key Takeaway
Now that you know various ways to prevent a housefly infestation, you can take a more proactive approach to one of the most common types of pests. As always, if the situation becomes too tough to handle on your own, don’t hesitate to call the pest control professionals.