A View From Robin's Nest
June is Fight the Filthy Fly Month
Talking orange neon fly swatter, each hit brings a hilarious vocal send-off that will have your whole household buzzing with laughter.
The Flies Have It
Robin Hoselton
June is Fight the Filthy Fly Month, and June 21st is St. Leufredus’ Day. St Leufredus, a monk who lived around A.D. 738, is the patron saint against flies. Legend says that one evening St. Leufredus stopped at a house to pass the night. The saint found the flies so troublesome that he couldn’t sleep; but when he bent his head in prayer, all the flies flew away.
Flies have no redeeming quality other than being a menu item for frogs, lizards and flycatchers (the bird, not the bug zapper!). Some flies are resistant to insecticides but the following natural controls may curb their population:
Fly swatter – Did you know the reason this old standby has holes is to minimize the air current that warns the fly, to reduce air resistance and increase the speed of the swat?!
Those yucky fly strips work well also. Although getting their feet stuck in glue might not be a serene way to die, flies carry typhoid, cholera, Salmonella, bacillary dysentery, tuberculosis, anthrax, ophthalmia, and parasitic worms, so I figure it’s justified.
Greek columnar Basil keeps it flavor all season and it is a great deterent to keep flies away.
Baited flytraps that lure flies in with baits or pheromones may be a tad more discreet than the hanging strips.
Basil in flower pots inside the home works as a natural repellant as does planting mint and basil outside around the house. Supposedly, these plants smell disgusting to flies. I wonder how scientists know this?
A home remedy using Chardonnay involves poisoning. A saucer is filled with white wine and dish detergent. The flies drink the wine and eventually die from the detergent.
Screening windows and doors and keeping tight covers on garbage containers denies flies access to breeding sites. For the same reason, pet owners should not get lax about poop patrol.
Obtain large cell bubble wrap and cut approximately a 2 foot x 8 inch section for each doorway into the house. Roll the bubble wrap into a long roll, tie each end and middle with a string or ribbon, then hang one roll of bubble wrap above each exterior doorway. It can be taped with double stick tape where the door meets the upper jam. Apparently this works because the plastic reflects light and the fly’s compound eyes perceive a predator.
Two Ways to Keep Flies Away from Your Picnic Table
1) Get a small tin with a lid (like a cough drop container), cut a piece of sponge to fit inside and saturate with lavender oil. Cover and let sit for 24 hours, then remove the lid and place on the table. Replenish the oil after each use.
2) Insert 20-30 cloves into a sweet, ripe apple and place on the table.
In spite of its short life span—22 to 25 days from egg to death—the housefly’s descendants have survived since the Cenozoic era began 65 million years ago. So if these methods fail, you could always adopt a bunch of frogs. Then you’ll really be going green!
Tagged buy basil at Amazon, disease, flies, Saint Leufredus, Talking Fly Swatter, yuck
MaryleeVKlunSeptember 23, 2016 at 2:45 am
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I’ll go on and bookmark your website to come back down the road.
Every one of the best
NewtonPToppaAugust 11, 2016 at 3:21 pm
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Thank you for supplying this info.
ArielJHespenAugust 4, 2016 at 6:53 pm
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VickyMay 30, 2013 at 1:59 am
Love Robin, look forward to seeing her each month. Could you tell me how many articles does she publish a month? And, would love to have your RSS feed on this page so I can be contacted each time she writes a new article. Also, she always finds the most clever things on Amazon — that fly swatter is a hoot.
Appreciate you, Robin and Boomer Style magazine. This is a treasure trove of wonderful, original articles. Love that the articles are done by real people and not regurgitated snippets and copies of other things posted on the Internet.
Best,
Vicky, a Loyal Fan and Reader
SamMay 30, 2013 at 1:58 am
Robin, you inspired me to plant basil in my house. Have always loved the herb, if you get my drift, but never thought of having it inside. Thanx for the fun facts and interesting dialogue. Fun to read intelligent writing.
Annette JohnsonMay 30, 2013 at 1:56 am
Agree with your other fans, stumbled onto this doing a search for natural remedies to get rid of flies, I really wasn’t expecting to find this article. Nor was I anticipating 2 hours later and am still here. But, you saved me time, as I am going to use all of your remedies. Thank you.
SuzyMay 30, 2013 at 1:56 am
Have to agree with the other comments, love this site, love Robin and am going to get myself prepared for the month of June by utilizing your ideas. Thank you for the links on where to buy the items, that is a nice and convenient way to go.
ChileMay 30, 2013 at 1:56 am
LMAO!
Stanton FriedmanMay 30, 2013 at 1:55 am
Robin, babe, where’ve you been all my life!
PatriciaMay 30, 2013 at 1:55 am
I have always enjoyed reading your work. Will you do something on Elvis? I would love to hear your view point and your funnies about the King.
FLY HATERMay 30, 2013 at 1:55 am
OH GOD I HATE FLIES, THNX.
robinApril 15, 2013 at 9:48 pm
robin, you rock. i love your name, too.
Girl from next DoorMarch 30, 2013 at 9:22 pm
Wow, incredible weblog structure! How long have you been blogging for? you make blogging look easy. The whole glance of your site is wonderful, let alone the content material!
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