Flies seem to be everywhere this time of year. Some people prefer to use homemade fly traps. What if you want to simply repel flies instead of trapping them after they’ve already become a nuisance?
I was out at a local farm just yesterday and the flies were very noticeable and quite annoying as I went about my work. Seeing all those flies reminded me of a simple, non-toxic, and very effective fly repellent that I observed in action at one of my children’s field trips a couple of months ago.
The class was visiting a petting farm with a large open barn where donkeys, horses, goats, and other livestock were available for the children to observe and interact with.
Despite so many animals in a small semi-enclosed area, there were no flies buzzing around! Curious, I asked the owner about this, and he pointed to the heavy-duty plastic bags partially filled with water hanging over every stall.
He explained that a clear bag of water with a penny at the bottom would repel the flies very effectively. He went on to explain that the “eye” of a fly is actually hundreds of eyes and the reflection of light on the bag of water keeps them away.
“Why the penny at the bottom of the bag?”, I asked.
Grandpa the farmer answered that he wasn’t exactly sure but the penny did seem to increase the effectiveness of the hanging bag of water alone. He added that he didn’t know how many square feet each bag covered so he just put a bag over every animal stall to keep as many flies away as possible.
He also had put up a few bags over the picnic area and it was so nice to be able to eat lunch without flies swarming everywhere!
Note that the clearer the water, the more effective this trick is. If you use rusty well water, it won’t work as effectively as ultra clean and clear filtered water.
Try this fly repellant method for yourself! If you do, please check back and let us know how it worked for you!
Fly Repellent Only Works for Flies
Please note that this fly repellent trick only works for flies, not mosquitoes, and other insects. It also works very well for flies in the Southern United States. However, it may not work as well for flies from other geographical areas such as blowflies in Australia.
If you need to repel other insects like mosquitoes, ticks, or horse flies, this article on natural herbal insect repellent can help.
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Nontoxic Pest Control Ideas that Work
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Natural Flea Infestation and Prevention Strategies
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Spider Repellent Guaranteed to Work
Mosquito Bite Remedy
In the photo on that web site posted by Jennifer LeBaron, that looks a lot like catheter tubing. That stuff is very hard to tie a knot in, but if you make double or triple knots and then secure with a clothespin that might work well.
I think that tubing is just Christmas lights on the tree. I was just looking at the bag itself – you bunch the top together, tie a string around it, and hang it up. That easy.
I’ve also seen this done with a piece of aluminum foil in the bag. I wonder if it would reflect better and keep them further away.
Yeah, I had heard of crumpled aluminum foil in a glass of water… we tried that here and it didn’t seem to help. :-/ I’m kinda surprised to hear that the penny in the bag trick worked so well at this farm!
They did an episode on Mythbusters about that, and debunked a plain bag of water having any effect on flies. They did not put a penny in the bag however, maybe that is the key!
Amazingly Effective, Nontoxic Fly Repellant – The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/Gg12hqm
Perhaps I am incredibly silly… but how do you hang a bag of water?? The picture shows a ziploc bag of water, so how on earth do you hang a ziploc bag of water up? I would love to know as I have an area under my covered driveway (right by the front door) that is swarming wth flies.
I just use thumb tacks at the top of the bag to hang mine.
Try a large paper clamp
That was my thought exactly! HAHA
I use two zip ties. One really tight around the top of the bag and another to go through the first zip and zip it to make a loose loop hang from nail.
Thank you SO much! We grill outside a lot and they come in swarms!!!! I will try this today! Again THANK YOU!!!!!
How do you hang the plastic bag of water?
See the photo at this website. http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Fly-Control-Plastic-Bags_vq1849.htm
Thanks for posting, I had forgotten about this! LOL Too bad it won’t do the same for mosquitoes!
I’m also wondering about the best way to hang a bag of water. All we have are 20′ high branches over our picnic table.
Maybe you could get one of those basket hanging rod thingys. You know, the kind that hold hanging baskets of flowers. They’re usually made of rod iron and look like a really tall shepherd’s crook of sorts.
Love this tip. Found you on pinterest! I’ve got a spot in the garage that I will be implementing this!!!
Cool!