photo by jpctalbot

The Musca domestica is otherwise known as the house fly. The species pictured above is the Lucilia Caesar, otherwise known as the Greenbottle fly or ‘doo-doo’ fly. These two species of flies are the most common ones we see here in Hawaii.

Whether you’re having a backyard barbecue or frying manini or whatever fish you’ve got in the freezer in your kitchen, these nasty, annoying insects are always there to feast off of YOUR food. Besides being annoying, these buggers are highly unsanitary.

Just How Dirty & Unsanitary Are Flies?

Warning: If you have a weak stomach, perhaps you should rethink reading this part of the post and skip down to the Hawaii life hack below.

How flies pick up germs

These flies breed in garbage, animal (mostly chicken, other types of poultry, and cow manure), and various other unsanitary places.

How flies transmit germs to us humans

Because they lurk in garbage and sewage, flies pick up germs, bacteria, and other health-hazardous pathogens. Flies transmit these harmful pathogens to humans and animals when they land on the food that we eat.

The trash and feces that flies ingest can be stored in their alimentary canal (the tube through which food is ingested and digested) for a few days. When feeding, flies deposit saliva and defecate (go number 2) at the spot on which they are feeding on. Flies defecate an average of once every four to five minutes.

Hawaii Life Hacks | How to Get Rid of Those Pesky Flies

Hawaii Life Hacks are simple tips and tricks to increase productivity and effectiveness in certain areas of your life here in the Hawaiian Islands. Our reasoning is that if you can cut down the time it takes to do certain mundane things, you’ll have more time for the more important things such as spending time with your ohana (family), getting some recreation, or just have more time to concentrate on other more important work. We’d love to hear your Life Hacks…if you’ve got something to share, don’t be shame to tell us using the Local Kine Talk Story contact form.

The majority of these life hacks can be applied not only to living in Hawaii, but also to just living in general, so please do not feel excluded if you are living elsewhere.

Traditional Flyswatting Method

Most of us already know about flyswatters. Swatting flies is a traditional method of fly control. If you don’t have a flyswatter, you can pick one up at your local grocery or general store. If you don’t have time, use a rubber slipper or rolled-up magazine as a substitute.

Spray & Suffocate Method

For the Spray & Suffocate method, you will need the following items:

• 3 Tablespoons of dish-washing liquid

• 1 Plastic spray bottle

• 3-6 Cups of tap water

Take the nozzle off of the spray bottle and pour the dish-washing liquid into the spray bottle. Fill up the remaining space left in the bottle with tap water. Next, reattach the nozzle tightly and shake the spray bottle to mix the contents.

That’s it! All that is left to do is aim and shoot. When the flies come into contact with the soapy mixture, this seems to cause it to suffocate. Within a few seconds, the fly is dead.

By the way, this also works on other flying insects such as gnats and mosquitoes. If you spray the soapy mixture on the leaves of your plants, the gnats will not go near it.

The Scare-Off Method

The Scare-Off Method is untested by Local Kine dot org, so try this one at your own risk. What you need are containers in the form of either a ziploc bag or a clear bottle of some sort, and some tap water. Once you’ve got those, fill the containers up with tap water. For some reason flies tend to steer clear of these water-filled containers. Some believe that it is because they are afraid of their reflection that the water creates. Others believe that flies may mistake it for another flying insects nest. Regardless, many have claimed that hanging these water-filled containers on their front doors or putting them on the kitchen window sills effectively repels flies.

Have Your Own Method for Getting Rid of Flies & Insects?

If you’ve used any of the methods above, or would like to share your own, let’s talk story in the comments section below. Local Kine dot org will be happy to add your method to this list if you’ve got a good one. Mahalo Nui

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