Flies. HELP!

[gmcclin]

I hope some of you very helpful people out there can be of assistance. I have had a serious problem with flies gathering in the vents, the windows and around the cab door rubbers this month since we last used the van. The van has been parked in the same spot for the last three years without problem. We have given the van a thorough cleaning both internal and external but they continue to return in large numbers. I have put masking tape around all the gaps at the windows,doors,vents etc. as a stop gap measure to stop them returning. Has any one came across this problem and if so how did they resolve it.

[lennyhb]

Sorry can't help with the flies but don't leave the masking tape on. Masking tape is designed for temporary use and should be removed within 24-48 hours. If you leave it on for much more than a couple of days it will be a nightmare to remove.

 

 

 

 

[gmcclin]

Thanks for that advice Lenny. Much appreciated.

[lennyhb]

Why not fit an external screen cover, Taylormade do a longer version that covers the heater vents they also do a cover goes completely over the bonnet.

 

http://www.taylormade-window-covers.co.uk/index.html

 

 

 

 

[gmcclin]

Good suggestion but they are have gathered everywhere. The gaps around the external locker doors, all of the habitation windows and the cab doors. They were even in the vents for the fridge and the carver water heater. Thanks for that advice about the tape i have just taken it all of thankfully without much difficulty.

[AliB]

SPIDEREX spray as its name suggests will discourage spiders but also works with other insects.

If you have spiders they attract other beasties.

Available at many outlets or try http://www.2seetv.co.uk/acatalog/Accessories.html#aSPDX

 

[nowtelse2do]

Why don't you use a can of fly spray killer in all the vents, nooks and cranny's.?

Must say I have never had this kind of problem.

Am I missing something here?

Dave

[Vernon B]

Not a fly expert but I think that rather than "gathering" the blighters are laying eggs that quickly hatch into full blown blue bottles. The rubber seals on motorhome windows and domestic double glazing units appear to offer the perfect place especially if these are in a sunny position. I'd try a garden centre or chemist to see if you can get a suitable spray to kill the eggs before they hatch. If that fails try googling the problem for a solution

 

V

[tonyg3nwl]

Hi, Flies are attracted to dead meat. Is the van empty, or have you got a dead mouse/cat/something else in fridge or under a bunk/in a cupboard somewhere.

 

Alternatively, as the weather gets colder, they are looking for a winter hideyhole in the warmer place.

 

Hope you can find the answer, but suggest a good squirt of flykiller inside the van should see off any that do get in.

 

tonyg3nwl

[gmcclin]

I appreciate all the help you guys are giving some great pieces of info. The van has been completely emptied and given a thorough cleaning so it is def not anything dead in the van. Keep the suggestions coming. I found a previous thread dating back a couple of years for the same problem but the gentleman still has not resolved it. But i am still hoping for a resolution. Thanks again

[nowtelse2do]

'Dead meat' Yep! maybe a mouse or something similar.

I would be thinking  on the lines of having the van fumigated if the problem  still persists.

Another way first would be to get a few sticky fly papers from your local discount shop. Our's still sell them.

Dave 

[Geoff Cole]

HI,

Your problem might be an infestation of cluster flies they lay there eggs in crevaces, then at this time of year they hatch out in large quantities fly around and lay more eggs make a nuisance of themselves then die not much of a life!

I have had problems with them around the windows in my old stone house in France thousands of them would suddenly appear. I have cured the problem by spraying insectacide around the nooks and crannies and this seems to have cured the problem. I sprayed again in March and have not had a problem this year. Hope this is of some help.

Regards Geoff

[flicka]

I agree with others regarding "dead meat", especially if the Flies appear to be following you on your travels.

The flies need a food source to breed and a constant problem with them indicates there is a food source somewhere.

Can you remove the external vents (bonnet air intakes, fridge & heater) to check there is nothing lurking behind them (?)

Any Fly killer methods will only be temporary as once it has lost strength, a new infestation will follow.

[Mickydripin]

Try parking it some where else the area that you park it may be contaminated

[Guest pelmetman]

As Geoff said, they are probably cluster flies, we had them in one of our windows a few years back, and did the same as Geoff sprayed with insectacide :D

[gmcclin]

flicka - 2010-09-29 4:54 PM

 

I agree with others regarding "dead meat", especially if the Flies appear to be following you on your travels.

The flies need a food source to breed and a constant problem with them indicates there is a food source somewhere..

 

The flies have not been in or around the van until the last trip we took three weeks ago. We have had no problem with flies until then. When i went to ready the van for the next trip a week later and opened the cab door a number of flies fell out and on closer inspection i noticed they were in behind the door rubber. There were also flies inside the van. This made me inspect all the other places such as fridge vents, water heater vent and behind habitation windows. I found large numbers of them in each place i inspected. As i said previously the van has been emptied and checked for anything that should not be there. The van was well cleaned. I am going to try the suggestion to move the van to another parking spot. PLEASE KEEP THE SUGGESTIONS COMING

[gmcclin]

pelmetman - 2010-09-29 6:01 PM

 

As Geoff said, they are probably cluster flies, we had them in one of our windows a few years back, and did the same as Geoff sprayed with insectacide :D

Do you have the name for the product you used

[gmcclin]

pelmetman - 2010-09-29 6:01 PM

 

As Geoff said, they are probably cluster flies, we had them in one of our windows a few years back, and did the same as Geoff sprayed with insectacide :D

Do you have the name of the product you used.

[Geoff Cole]

I used a general purpose garden insectaside, it gets rid of most bugs you should be able to get it at any garden centre.

The one I use I got here in France is a concentrate that is mixed with water 20ml to1 ltr. I put it in an empty kitchen cleaner spray (labled) this is handy to get into awkward spaces. Cluster flies are not like blow flies they are small and tend to be in clusters hence there name. hope oyu get rid of them.

Geoff

[Guest pelmetman]

Ditto :D

Except I used a general purpose fly spray

[maggyd]

Jeyes fluid might do the trick if you can get hold of it :-S a good hardware shop or garden centre should have it, dilute it and give all the nooks and crannies a spray!! mind you it doesnt smell very nice!! some dont mind it!

[flicka]

Just a thought

It need not be meat, possibly rotten fruit or cow dung.

Could you have some stuck underneath (wheelarches, etc..) ?

Could have been thrown up from roadside by wheels.

[Brambles]

Lets introduce some factual information here.

 

copied from ...oh somwhere...

 

The cluster flies are the genus Pollenia in the blowfly family Calliphoridae. Unlike more familiar blowflies such as the bluebottle genus Phormia, they do not present a health hazard because they do not lay eggs in human food. They are strictly parasitic on earthworms; the females lay their eggs near earthworm burrows, and the larvae then infest the worms. However, the flies are a nuisance because when the adults emerge in the late summer or autumn they enter houses to hibernate, often in large numbers; they are difficult to eradicate because they favour inaccessible spaces such as roof and wall cavities. They are often seen on windows of little-used rooms. They are also sometimes known as attic flies.

 

...

 

Right! so they are not dirty like other flies as not laying eggs in meat or any other human food stuffs.

Well thats a relief anyway I hear you sigh.

 

The problem I see is damaging rubber seals spraying with insecticides so you need one which is harmless to rubber and plastics.

What I suggest , and I have had good success with is insecticide powder, in otherwords ant powder. Puff it around all the doors and windows etc, be liberal with it, it will all wash off easily after flies have died, and may, and will probbaly need a few applications.....because of rain.

 

As a repellent you can use all sort sof things, one I suggest is ground cloves hanging in little muslin bags around opening, but most aromatic spices/herbs work. T tree oil works, and what is really good but I hate the smell is citronella as you get in 'safe' moskito repellants. The danger is they ignore the Motorhome and migrate to your house. You really do not want this to happen, so worth goping into your loft and emtying an aerosol of fly killer....well a good spray anyway around all the eaves and any vents...also puff some powder about.

 

Hope this helps, but really all you can do ( see last para) is just keep spraying the blighters. Unfortuately your Motorhome just happened to be in their line of flight as they migrated from where they where breeding before, possible a clunp of trees somewhere and you where just in the direction of the wind that day. Nothing to do with rotten meat, dead mice or any other food.

 

There is another much easier solution which should work, wash the van around doors and vents take it for a short drive and park it in a different place for a few days.

[flicka]

Thanks for the enlightenment Brambles

Seems I was way off the mark :$ :$

[nowtelse2do]

No flies on Brambles then! :-D

Dave