Further to our flood two weeks ago we have dehumidifiers and fans all throughout the ground floor which are going to be here for another three weeks :(

One thing we have noticed over the last few days is we seem to have been invaded by blue bottle flies.

I presume it is because we are living in a green house type of environment, ie hot and very high humidity and so it is the ideal breeding ground .

I have contacted environmental health for advise but has anybody ever had a problem like this and how did you get it resolved ?

Thanks

Lucy

Is there something somewhere that they are laying eggs on?  I sounds as if there is some food debris somewhere :(

did the flood spread any sewarage ?? check under your floors  :(

There are no floors as they were all ripped up the day on the day of the flood. It is just concrete at the moment. The only thing that I can think of, is there something lurking under the kitchen cupboards that may drowned in the flood like a mouse maybe? There is a smell but we have put this down to the smell of damp as the kitchen cupboards need ripping out but was can't do anything until we get all the quotes together and get the ok to start by the insurers.

If it's only a small something (mouselike) then the flies will dissapear as soon as it's been used as a food source and is all gone ;)

Different species of flies use different things to lay their eggs on, and I think I'm right in saying that 'houseflies' tend to go for dead things, not live things - the flies that lay their eggs on living things are a different species.

No not as far as we can see. They are all round the house and so it is not clear which area they seem to be favouring :(

I just want to make sure that Min the oldie won't be affected as she has the warts that are slightly infected and I know that these nasty things tend to lay their eggs on open wounds :(

Lucy
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The Pest Control chap has just rung and said that there is nothing he can do and they will go away of their own accord. :rolleyes: Nice hey !

When you say 'infested' - how many flies are there currently in the worst affected room?

There are about three or four in two rooms down stairs and then the same in two rooms on the first floor and then about five or six on the second floor in two rooms. I suppose that isn't classed as an infestation but it does to me :) ? The chap mentioned Blow Flys as well but I have had a good look and they are definately blue bodies ?

We get that many flies everyday here in the late Spring through to Autumn..we live right next to a railway line and goose field :D We also get those really dopey little flies that just seem to spin in circles, we can have up to 15 of those just in the living room at any one time

We found it upsetting at first as I HATE flies of any description, but we got used to it and took as many safeguards as we can .....I get throug so many tins of fly spray every Summer you wouldn't believe!

We get loads of flies here because of the fields with the cows in. We get those annoying circling ones, bigger ones, ones that bite and wasps and bees. Its like an insect safari in here.

Yes we have those stupid flies as well during the summer but these ones are just grossing me out as they are so big and seem to be aiming for us ! I have been trying to find the fly spray but as the house is in such a mess I haven't found it yet ! I will have to go out and buy some later ! :)

Lucy go online and buy a box of fly papers. I know they are ugly but they do the job the best.

In the summer ( I am near a field ) I hand one I nearly every room, I rarely have flies flying around but when I check the paper my goodness it is scary.

I bought a box of 50 last year.

Pam

Our village is quite close to the county refuse tip (joy :( ). Everyone is besieged by flies every summer. Don't assume the source is in your house, it'll be the surrounding affects of the flood too. I have a friend who lives close to the tip and her house is covered in fly paper/tape....it's quite grim but judging by the 'kill' count quite effective :D

It's a bit too cold outside for these sorts of flies to be active though....

Thats what I thought :)

Not too sure - its been mild here - 10/12 degrees with no hard frosts....

Urghh blue bottles are horrible things, i remember when we went to stay at my granparents and my mum was sick in the spare room she must have missed a bit when she was cleaning it up, as a few days later my grandma went into the room for something and she said it was like a horror movie with all these blue bottles bomb diving around the room. I wish i could remember how she got rid of them to help you but i can't.

54 degrees (slight over 12 degrees C) is normally the minimum temp at which insects are active, although some like bees may get warmed in a patch of sunlight.

Is it possible that something has died somewhere ? We were infested with bluebottles one year when a bird went down the chimney behind our (then) gas fire. Have you got a dead mouse/rat somewhere ?? Not nice - but you never know :(

Daisy

Didn't the Amityville House have a problem with flies due to a ghost problem? :D

:D :D

What's the Amityville House ????

Daisy

Amityville

FLY SWATTERS :D  very effective and great fun - get the kiddies involved and feel the thrill of the chase (I favour the Kung Fu style myself, small children collapse laughing hysterically when I go Hunting) :) :)   don't know where you'd find a fly swatter for sale in winter tho :(

Seriously tho I know how you feel, I get fed up if there's more than one ditzy fly in the house, in your position I'd go with the fly papers too ;)

There are a number of fly species (including cluster flies and bluebottles) that 'hibernate' inside our homes throughout the winter months (usually in lofts.)  However they can be woken up by artificial heat sources (so to can many other insects such as butterflies ;))  Bluebottles can lay eggs in open wounds and maggots do not necessarily confine themselves to dead flesh...Anyone who has had a rabbit with fly strike would know that :(  So while it is possible that a dead animal may be present somewhere, insect activity is very much temperature dependent and if I were you I wouldn't worry too much - wipe out the adults and seeing how it goes!
Sarah

I had a mass cull yesterday but another one has appeared this evening ! :rolleyes:

The only thing I can think of is that a mouse may have been drowned in the flood under the kitchen cupboards ? But all the kick boards were ripped out and the girls haven't been at all interested which they would have been as they have a liking for rotting animals ! :)

Lucy
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