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Help with fly control

 
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So living in the Ozarks and I am having a big problem with flies. Its very muddy here and we are doing a lot of clearing and excavating. It used to be a forest and has been cleared. We are thinking the mud is attracting the flies. For example, we hang fly paper in our outdoor kitchen and within an hour we have to change it because its filled. Plus they seem to like my Jeep, which I keep the tailgate open and within minutes there are like 50 flies that will not leave. Any help would be appreciated.
 
steward
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Location: West Tennessee
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Hey David, here's what I'm doing to control flies on my farm. I'm using parasitizing wasps, and it's a species of wasp that lay their eggs in fly larvae. These wasps are teeny tiny, hardly a couple millimeters long and do not sting people. I am unfortunately unable to report results as I've just started using them a little over a week ago, and it takes time for a visible reduction in adult flies to be seen. It sounds to me like your adult fly population is quite high, and if you chose to employ parasitizing wasps, it would take a little time for to see a reduction in numbers as the wasps lay eggs reducing live fly larvae numbers and allowing the wasps numbers to grow to a point of balance. I have a handful of cows and released wasps for the first time, and I'll repeat this every 3-4 weeks throughout the warm season this year. According to the people who supply the wasps, their range is something like three or four hundred feet. I released mine in different spots near my cows, and my cows are moving across the farm in rotational grazing, so I'll be releasing more wasps in a few weeks on the other side of the farm to help keep adult wasps where the fresh cow poop is. For those interested, I purchase mine on amazon. Within a day of arrival, I saw a few live wasps in the bag, so I know what I purchased was live and fertile and upon which I promptly released the whole bag.
 
Rusticator
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Location: Missouri Ozarks
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We're also in the Ozarks, and we use traps. The ones we've been getting are bags, and you just add a bit of water, and hang them up. There are bigger ones than we use, that are better for horses and cattle, too. Indoors, we use a combination of fly paper and carnivorous plants.
 
James Freyr
steward
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Location: West Tennessee
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I purchased a small tub of sticky goo, made for the sole purpose of making fly traps. The goo is, according to the manufacturer, non-toxic so I thought I'd give it a try. The flies I'm after are biting flies, like deer flies and horse flies. They see more by infra-red and less by visible light. I purchased two black buckets from the local big hardware store, removed the handle, drilled a hole in the center of the bottom, flipped it upside down and attached them to a step-in post. I then brushed the outside of this bucket with the goo. It heats up in the sun and unsuspecting biting flies land on it. I'll come back with a picture of that.

I also had the cows in the handling facility the other week and horseflies were tormenting them. I cut a small piece of cardboard and brushed the sticky goo on most of it, leaving a small portion of one end clean as a handle. I then walked up to the two cows that let me get that close, and I tapped them across their backs with the sticky cardboard catching the horseflies. It worked well.

sticky-horse-fly-trap.jpeg
sticky horse fly trap
sticky horse fly trap
sticky-bucket-biting-fly-trap.jpeg
sticky bucket biting fly trap
sticky bucket biting fly trap
 
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We here in Northern Illinois had an absolutely horrific fly problem this year.  I found this video of a fly trap made out of a barrel too late to try it this year as the flies are finally starting to hibernate, but I will be building one over winter to try next year.

 
pollinator
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Location: Bendigo , Australia
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I thought I had a fly problem here!
Its bliss compared to what is described here.
I like the wasp solution and will be keen to hear more.
The sticky bucket is amazing.

I use traps filled with stinky stuff and a ' no exit fitting. The flies head for the 'champagne' and cannot get out.

envirosafe fly traps
A range of sizes can be obtained
 
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turnkey permaculture paradise for zero monies
https://permies.com/t/267198/turnkey-permaculture-paradise-monies
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