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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Spider Repellent Guaranteed to Work
Mosquito Bite Remedy
does not work for me
I’ve tried that to and it does work!!!
i live in an apartment with no place to hang anything…but yet i have a back patio…is there a way to put it in something other than a hanging bag>>>sorry i didn’t read all the posts if this is a repeat, forgive me
Thanks
I have several of these hanging around my doors. They have helped a lot! My back door was a big problem because of our dog. After hanging a couple of bags around the door. The flies have settled down.
Sarah, Thanks for the tip! I will definitely try it. In good Florida weather when we don’t need A/C or heat, I leave my windows open. One is in the kitchen near my trusty new crock-pot, which has a steam-hole in the lid. The aroma of the broth simmering draws lots of flies–THEY know real food when they smell it! I’ll try this method and see if it discourages them. That would be so helpful!
I think the penny is to keep the water from growing algae, it would keep the water clear and reflect better…
pennies in bird baths (dated before 1984 i’m told) keep them clear.
This would be perfect for me, considering I am allergic to bug spray. Plus I like to go camping. I may have to suggest this to the rest of my family 🙂
I’ve tried this and was a laughing stock too. It did little to noticably keep flies at bay and from coming into the house. If flies think the penny is a spider maybe try throwing some of those plastic halloween spiders in there too, that’d be hysterical.
This method works because it looks like a spider ( the penny) in a web (bag of water). A cousin of mine did a science project on this. Pretty ingenious, I think.
I first saw this (ziplock bags of water) hanging off the eaves of the nursing home where my mother resides, near the doors. Curiosity getting the best of me, I asked some of the staff what they were for. I was told it was to keep the flies away. The flies see a magnified reflection of themselves and think it’s a much larger predator fly and they flee. FYI, for all of you asking how to hang them, they just put 4 or 5 staples through the thicker strip of plastic above the ziplock with a staple gun.