I know, this is far too obvious choice but flies are going to become very topical shortly. With the weather warming up, they will soon start to annoy us all…once again. We will be reaching for our fly swatters before we know it!
Mind you, the palm of my hand used to do the trick just as well when I was little…though back then, I did not know about the potential disease some flies could carry. Ahhh the innocence of youth!
During the warm summer months in Budapest, I remember my grandmother used to cover all her delicious cakes (including my favourite almás pite) with those very effective net umbrellas – sometimes, the simplest things are indeed the best.
Of course nowadays, there is a wide range of fly control products available to buy. When the weather does eventually decide to warm up (fingers crossed, this will be soon), fly control measures will start to become important again. Mind you, I sincerely hope that my favourite local Indian has some sort of fly killer unit permanently installed to protect my Tikka masala. In fact, any good restaurant and kitchen should have pest control measures in place all year round.
So, if this bad weather doesn’t manage to keep flies out of my home, I will be trying a few other tricks, which are generally recommended:
- After dark, keep windows and doors closed or block out the light with curtains – just as the evenings get warmer and lighter, this feels like the last thing I want to do, but if it helps….
- Fit fly screens to windows especially around kitchen and waste areas – I am hoping net curtains can be as efficient? Even though they look a little dated, they are still more pleasant looking then fly screens, don’t you think?
- Always cover food – flies spread diseases by landing on food before we eat it. – I don’t have one of those net umbrellas to cover food but cling film or foil could also work as well I suppose.
- Clear away food and liquid spillages immediately – with a toddler now, I seem to be having to do this all the time anyway
- Clean food debris from under kitchen appliances
- Make sure all rubbish bins have tightly sealed lids
- Keep compost enclosed and covered – we have an old carpet thrown over the top of our compost heap, which is also situated at the furthest end of the garden from the house, I hope that will help.
So be warned….even though we are desperately waiting for the warmer weather to arrive, it will also herald the start of fly season.
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