Getting Rid of Flies without Chemicals

Sometimes our garbage accumulates in the garage until the following week, when we miss our weekly garbage pickup. One such weekend, I moved one of our beat up garbage cans—the one with a large hole in the bottom—and was horrified to see white maggots writhing beneath the can. We immediately dragged the can outside, removed the garbage, re-bagged it, and then thoroughly washed the trashcan and set it to the curb. Then we cleaned the garage floor of the maggots. I suppose we didn't get all of them, however, because a few days later our garage was infested with flies. They perched on the fluorescent lighting fixture like tiny vultures and buzzed around my eyes and ears, sending me flailing back into the house. I killed the few errant flies that found their way into the house with a flyswatter. We sprayed our garage with fly spray for many days until they dropped, well, like flies. We couldn't use the garage during that time, since the chemicals nearly overpowered us.

If you find that you have a fly problem, you can get rid of them without using chemicals. Here are some tips for doing just that:

• Flyswatter. You can go the old-fashioned route and just swat the flies with a 59-cent swatter. Just wait until the little buggers light for the night on your ceiling, and start smacking. You will be left with fly guts and goo to clean, but they will be dead.
• Natural repellants. Basil, mint, cloves, and marigolds are all natural fly repellants. Place dried, crush versions of those substances into bowls and place them in each room of your house.
• Tacky traps. Visit your local home improvement or hardware store and buy flypaper and tacky strips specially formulated for catching flies. While flypaper hanging from your living room ceiling looks tacky, you could use it in your garage where no one will see it, if that's where your flies are breeding.
• Clean up. If you cut off their water and food supply, the flies will leave. Make sure that you clean your kitchen of crumbs and food from countertops, bag your garbage securely, and dry your sinks of excess water.
• Let in the light. If your garage is full of flies, turn off the lights and open the garage door a little during the day. The flies will most likely fly outside, towards the light.

Since flies hate vinegar, you can use it full strength as a way to get rid of them. Pour vinegar into a spray bottle and spray anywhere you see flies. You can also build a flytrap using a canning jar. Stab holes into the metal lid using a screwdriver. Pour sugar water into the jar and screw on the lid. The flies will go inside the jar, but won't be able to get out because of the inward barbs created by the screwdriver.