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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : How to murder flies....
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9610 |
I have tried spray, I have tried swatters, I am now trying a UV lamp with an HV grid. I bought one from Bunnings, came home, and set it up and then waited - rubbing my hands with glee and chucking an evil laugh. 'Die, you bastards!'  They flew all around the room, but ignored the UV zapper thing for the most part. Some did fly into it, and expired with a sharp cracking sound - 'Ha ha ha!!! Die!!!' But that was only one or two. Nothing seems effective against these little bastards. They move to fast for me to swat(perhaps I just need practise), and those aerosol sprays seem rather ineffective too, as the little bastards just fly away from the spray. They only seem effective, if you can spray directly onto them, and cos of their speed, that does not happen unless you can corner them behind a window curtain etc, and gas them to death. The latest attempt - the UV lamp with HV grid, DOES work, but it is still hard to get the little bastards to fly into the thing - despite the UV light supposedly acting as a lure. Does anyone know of a home-made lure that I can make out of 'Kitchen Chemicals' that might act as an additional lure, which I can then put beside the UV lamp, providing a more effective kill for flies? Little bastards.........  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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Chopperp Guru  Joined: 03/01/2018 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1097 |
Reminded me of this  ChopperP ChopperP |
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Quazee137 Guru Joined: 07/08/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 593 |
Here is a few mother natures way of dealing with the bugs.  Venus Fly Traps (Dionaea) Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia) sundews (Drosera) With my daycare I tried a UV type with sticky cardboard inserts. They would walk around on it and then fly off.  So I did away with the inserts and added a tray of baby oil and a few lines of syrup. Out side we had wasp that I used baby oil in a bag with a opening at the top with a few pieces of raw meat. Here at the new house next to a large farm field its the mice getting in the garage. Tried the plug in noise makers. They do not seem to mind them. The kids do not want anything that kills. I have soup cans with a pie cutout on the top and curled inward. Then add pop corn a few rocks so you can hear when one is trapped and can be taken out and freed. Quazee |
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Lou Senior Member  Joined: 01/02/2014 Location: United StatesPosts: 229 |
Grogs, Try one of these - https://bugasalt.com/ It's a shotgun that blasts those little pests with SALT. You can even get a laser sight for your bugasalt rifle. Make sure you watch the video. (We mean to kill here) Lou Microcontrollers - the other white meat |
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TassyJim Guru Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6283 |
Our dogs are very good fly catchers. It does make a mess on the windows where they slobber as they catch. As a kid I was told the best way to keep the flies away from your face was to cut the crutch out of your trousers. Jim VK7JH MMedit |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9610 |
Thanks for the replies. They are so damn fast. That cartoon that ChopperP posted is really funny, cos it's so damn true! We had a REALLY hot summer this year, and we have been seeing way more bugs and flies then usual. How do you Aussies live over there with that heat all the time breeding millions of the little suckers? @ Quazee137 - Did the baby oil and syrup work to attract the flies to the UV zapper? @ Lou - I LOVE that one, but not available for shipping to NZ unfortunately.  @ Jim - But then they will go for your tackle!  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| greybeard Senior Member Joined: 04/01/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 174 |
Little kids with ice cream smeared on their face seem to be pretty good at attracting flies. |
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| Phil23 Guru Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1667 |
They absolutely love the smell of the stuff in these things. https://www.bunnings.com.au/envirosafe-fly-trap_p4475914 Only thing is they get a bit on the nose after a few days. Also learnt they are attracted to the yellow dome. Sprayed on of my other useless traps yellow & it started working like a dream. Phil. |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9610 |
Not available from the NZ Bunnings, but that was a nice idea. Thanks for the suggestion. If they like yellow, perhaps I will paint something yellow and put it beside the zapper for an experiment. I had not heard that before. If it works..... Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
Over here in OZ someone long ago invented something called fly screens we put them on our windows and doors and no more pests. .Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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Bill.b Senior Member Joined: 25/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 235 |
I have used the bunnining's fly catchers with great success If you require one, I could send one over. Regards Bill In the interests of the environment, this post has been constructed entirely from recycled electrons. |
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| TassyJim Guru Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6283 |
Just learn to talk with your mouth closed. VK7JH MMedit |
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lew247 Guru Joined: 23/12/2015 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1702 |
quarter fill a glass with red wine, they love it but can't fly off after landing in it works great for the tiny flies, we don't get the big ones in the kitchen here |
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| Quazee137 Guru Joined: 07/08/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 593 |
@Grogster they worked great with the baby oil and syrup.  The need for trapping the wasp was they would land on the BBQ and cut chunks out of the meat. Funny thing is there was more flies than wasp in the bags. I guess they liked the smell of raw meat even more.  For the field mice I am playing with a MM170 and sweeping a frequency on a 50W ribbon speaker. First test the dogs hated it as it is based on a circuit I built years ago. A dog chaser for a friend that has Muscular Dystrophy. On his way to the collage a few very big dogs did not like his modified wheel chairs. We had old apple computers with boards we wired up to use speech to control the 2nd wheel chair named IO. IO carried books and gave added push up ramps when needed. Now one of mathers boards could do the ten fold with MMBasic and SD is lighter that the 5Meg apple hard drive and 128K banked switched ram. |
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GoodToGo! Senior Member Joined: 23/04/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 188 |
For some reason there hasn't been as many Dunny Budgies flying around this summer compared to previous. But when there has been, I use fly spray. Outside I use those Mortein automatic sprayer thingys when entertaining. Works great on Mozzies as well. And a UV zapper thing near the door. And a couple of cats who like chasing/eating them. Seems to work. GTG! ...... Don't worry mate, it'll be GoodToGo! |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9610 |
Thanks for the extra posts chums.  @ Palcal - I do have a screen door, and keep it closed ALL THE TIME. It lets the air in, but stop the little critters getting in. I only have two windows open at the other end of the house, so I get some airflow from one end to the other. I will have to investigate that idea some more though. @ Quazee137 - I will try some baby oil and syrup then. I have tried bright yellow things around the zapper, but they seem to be ignoring it still. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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CaptainBoing Guru Joined: 07/09/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2170 |
Flies: Fly papers - a bit unsightly but if you hang them in an area where the flies like to come to rest (i.e. under a light or in the middle of the space) they land and just get stuck. Very effective - we had a kibble spill in the store a few years back and inevitably couldn't get it all up after it rolled everywhere... then came the moths - tiny annoying little basts that like to lay their eggs on anything organic. Sorted them in a few days. Still got one up and it catches the occasional interloper but nothing significant for a year or two. Gotta find one that can deal with squirrels. Wasps: Here in the UK they are very territorial and I have tried out some paper nest decoys with great success - I wouldn't have believed how good it is. They are a bit like these huge paper ball lamp-shades with the wire spring inside that flat-packs. You open them up and they are printed to resemble a wasp nest. Hang it nearby the BBQ area and all summer, no wasps! my 2p |
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| Lou Senior Member Joined: 01/02/2014 Location: United StatesPosts: 229 |
CB, Around here we use brown paper bags blown up, tied off, and hung around to look like hornets nests. The hornets are hell on the wasps and that's what keeps them away. Natural predators, works great!! Lou Microcontrollers - the other white meat |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9610 |
One year later(as far as this thread is concerned), and still wanting to be rid of these little bastards, and I now see that Bug-A-Salt has a New Zealand website!  https://www.bugasalt.co.nz Perhaps they read this thread. I will add myself to the mailing list, as I want to try one of these things. They seem to work, based on YouTube videos. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| isochronic Guru Joined: 21/01/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 689 |
CSIRO introduced some dung beetles and apparently it worked. (Not in Canberra though). |
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