Musca domestica, or a housefly, can be found almost all over the world. These insects are both nasty and harmful. They are also a disturbing signal of an unhealthy indoor climate, especially in outdoor buildings. In this article, I will explain how to get rid of flies in garage and protect your place in the future.
- Carefully clean the garage and remove maggots.
- Remove what attracts flies: it could be rotten food or munch of organic fertilizers.
- Ventilate the garage to remove any odors.
- Prepare a few traps: cut plastic bottles and fill them with sweet water.
- Put them in places where you see flies often.
How to Get Rid of Flies in Garage: Eliminate the Cause First
A cluttered garage can easily become a suitable environment for flies; when they settle indoors, a fly swatter is useless. Preventing an infestation is no less effective than using fly traps. Here you will learn how to do both.
Flies: danger and use
Flies are not only annoying but also dangerous. They are attracted by rotten organic. Therefore, any fly contacts with waste and carries germs on its feet. Moreover, flies can’t bite food – they spit out saliva to dissolve and suck it. After that, they defecate, leaving fecal matter on your dish. One fly can’t damage you, yet if a few flies are in contact with food for a long time, it can lead to health issues like dysentery or poisoning.
On the other hand, flies are important for the environment since they promote the decomposition and pollination of plants. They are also an indispensable part of the food chain.
Signs of having a fly nest in the garage
A few flies indoors are not a cause of concern, but if their amount increases, it is a clear sign of an infestation. Finding a swarm of flies in garage means this place suits them for living and mating. To get rid of insects, you need to find and wipe out their nest. No matter how many flies you kill, they will keep appearing if they have a place to lay eggs.
Here are 3 additional signals you should look for in a fly nest.
- Flies are attracted to the light, so most of the day, they will spend close to windows and doors. These insects leave feces everywhere they land, and since light surfaces and sunny spots attract them, the waste grows bigger over time and becomes noticeable dark clusters.
- Maggots are the second sign of infestation. Flies lay eggs in dark and moist areas, so check areas where daylight rarely reaches. The most common places you can find them are trash bins and manure.
- Even when you can’t see a swarm, you definitely hear it. If you have a nest indoors, it makes an annoying buzzing noize.
Which environment attract flies
Any kind of insect demands a particular environment to live in. Flies get indoors and stay if the place provides food and conditions for nesting, like comfortable temperature, humidity, and level of lighting. They select dark and moist places to leave eggs, so new flies hatch indoors, constantly increasing the population. Fly infestation in garage means this space fits them, and you need to change the conditions to get rid of them once and for all.
- Flies are attracted by organic because this is their only food source. For example, rotting food in a trash box is the most common reason you might see flies and other pests indoors. Apart from that, flies also lay eggs in organics since maggots demand food to hatch and grow. If you store mulch or decaying leaves in your garage, it may cause infestation since this environment perfectly fits for breeding: it is dark, moist, and provides enough feed.
- Adult flies are attracted by light and warmth, so they settle near windows, doors, and other sunny areas. If your windows look on the south, it makes your garage more attractive to flies, so you should be more careful.
3 types of fly traps
Depending on how serious a situation gets, you have 2 ways of getting rid of flies. If you see a few flies indoors, you need to kill them before they lay eggs. However, if you notice dark clusters, maggots, and constant buzzing, you need to take more serious actions — killing adult flies and wiping out a nest with eggs.
Fly traps for garage are the most effective means to kill these insects. It requires minimum effort: prepare them once, and if you place them in the right spots, they will work independently. Traps vary by their work principle and are divided into a few types.
- To prepare a DIY trap, cut a plastic bottle and fill it with bait and water. Flies fly to rotten food, but sweet smells also attract them. Dissolving some sugar in the water is a perfect way to lure insects and make them drown.
- Fly stripes have the simplest construction: it is a coil of an adhesive stripe. You need to unwind it and hang it where files cluster. They sit on a sticky surface and don’t move anymore.
- The other way to kill flies in garage is to use electrified bug zappers. They capture flies with light and electrocute the insects when they touch their surface. This method is highly effective and helps to get rid of many other kinds of insects in the room, but it works only in pitch blackness.
Keeping flies out of garage in the future
Nevertheless, killing adult flies is not enough to manage the infestation. If you want to prevent flies from appearing again, make your garage unsuitable for them to live in.
- Removing maggots is the first thing you need to do. Eggs are usually laid in one place, so withdrawing all of them at once saves you a lot of time and effort, reducing the risk of poisoning or catching any other disease.
- Gardeners should store fertilizers outside their homes, choosing garages instead. Since the smell of mulch is a thing that drives flies to garages, you need to make sure that the container is tightly closed. I also recommend checking if the ventilation works properly. The best option is to keep it outdoors or select a place with strong airflow to prevent the odor.
- High humidity is an important condition for flies to mate, and standing water increases the risk of these insects settling indoors. Check for leaks and tightly close containers with liquids to reduce moisture.
- General cleaning allows for avoiding lots of sanitary issues. Removing trash and getting your things in order is an easy and proven way to prevent finding a nest of insects indoors one day.
FAQ on Fly Detering
Repelling flies is much easier than any other kind of insect. Here are essential facts you need to know to get rid of them and prevent infestation.
What will keep the flies away?
To repel flies, keep the indoor areas clean and well-ventilated. Various organics, especially rotten food, attract flies. Thus, regular emptying of a trash bin and cleaning is the most reliable way to prevent pest infestation.
How do you get rid of an infestation of flies?
Fly traps are a simple and efficient way to kill adult flies. Select which type fits your needs and put a few traps in areas where you spot insects most often. You also need clean areas where they lay eggs to prevent a new generation from hatching.
What causes a fly infestation?
These insects fly on the odor of rotten food and organic fertilizers. They select dark and moist areas to lay eggs and warm and sunny spots to cluster.
Keeping Your Garage Free of Pests
A swarm of flies indoors is a clear sign of poor sanitation since these insects are attracted by rotten organics like spoiled food or natural fertilizers. They feed on waste and lay eggs there; therefore, these insects can provoke health issues. Trying to kill all the flies with a single swatter is empty labor, so fly traps are so popular. However, the main thing is careful cleaning and proper ventilation.
Which type of fly trap seems the most effective to you? Do you know any alternative methods of killing flies indoors? Please share your thoughts.
Also read:
- How to Trap a Gopher: A Humane and Effective Method
- How to Collapse Gopher Tunnels: A Guide to Control & Prevention
- What Is the Difference Between a Gopher and a Groundhog: A Guide to Their Key Differences
- What Gopher Eat: Complete List of Herbs That Can Be Eaten
- What Is the Difference Between a Gopher and a Mole: 6 Differences
References:
- Controlling Houseflies (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension)
https://texashelp.tamu.edu/browse/by-type/agriculture-disasters/insects/houseflies/ - A systematic review of human pathogens carried by the housefly (National Library of Medicine) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6104014/
- Should I throw away food once a fly has landed on it? (The University of Sydney) https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2016/01/04/should-i-throw-away-food-once-a-fly-has-landed-on-it-.html
Contents
Why You Should Trust Pest Control Hacks?
We know that pests are nasty neighbors, and it can take months to eliminate them without the right approach. Our experts use their own experience to compile articles and guides that are introductory and informative. Our authors’ opinions are independent and based on the results of practical testing of pest control tools. We do not notify manufacturers of testing of their products and do not receive payment from them for posting their items. Also, our texts are never submitted to company representatives for proofreading before placement. On the site, you will find exclusively objective ratings and reviews.
