How to Keep Flies Away From Food at an Outdoor Party [13 Ways]
There’s nothing worse than inviting guests around for an outdoor party in the backyard and being bombarded by flies and other winged insects while you try to relax and eat. So, after months of being attacked by flies at BBQs and picnics, I’ve been scouring the net for how to keep flies away from food at an outdoor party.
To keep flies away from your food, you can repel them with certain scents and fans, set up traps, employ carnivorous plants, and more. Flies only come out when they think you have food, so convincing them that there’s nothing good to eat is the best way to keep them from crashing your outdoor party.
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Here’s a list of the ways that you can repel those flies so that they’ll buzz off and leave your party in peace.
Flies are just a part of being outside, but having to shoo them away while entertaining and eating outside can be a real pain. Plus, there’s a certain creepy factor about having flies land on your food. It’s just not ideal.
But there are quite a few very effective ways to keep flies from stealing food off your plate, even when you decide to keep the dip out on the table.
Want to get the better of those buzzing bothers? Then, let us share our fly-fighting tips with you.
If you have a covered patio, consider installing a ceiling fan. If not, portable electric fans could easily keep those pesky insects away. Plus, they’ll keep you cooler in the summer months.
Additionally, if you want to keep flies and mosquitoes away from your face, consider a handheld fan.
You need a nice, high-powered fan to keep flies from dropping by. I personally use this one:
Flies hate the scent of lemons, so if you can spare a couple after you’ve served the gin and tonics, slice them in half and create some tasteful table decorations with them.
If you really want to double down on the scents you’ll love but the flies will hate, stuff cloves into the flesh of the sliced lemons.
Some herbs with essential oils have the same effect on flies, including basil, lemongrass, lavender, mint, and rosemary.
Bundle a whole bunch of these herbs into a vase for a centerpiece that looks great and repels insects too. Otherwise, use an oil warmer and some organic lemon oil like this one:
Chances are you’ve used mosquito repellent at some point in your life to keep those biters away on vacation.
But you’re not limited to repelling just mosquitoes; there are also repellents for creating a no-fly zone around your body.
If you can’t stand the smell of standard repellent, look for all-natural repellents that are made from the same essential oils we’ve listed above. They can be better for your skin, too.
That’s right, yet another method that involves using those scents that flies can’t stand. If you choose the right fragrance, a reed diffuser can drive away flies.
Or, if you’re a smart home enthusiast, you can pick up electric scent diffusers that hook up to your Wi-Fi like a remote control anti-aircraft system.
And you guessed it; the best thing to fill these diffusers with is one of those essential oils that these insects hate so much.
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Candles can work too, though they’re obviously less effective outdoors if there’s a strong wind.
Citronella candles are the scent of choice for driving away mosquitoes, but did you know that they’ll swat flies away too?
If you and your party are eating in a porch area with lots of protection from the breeze, then fire up a candle in the corner and you should see fewer unwelcome intrusions.
An informal study conducted by two students of the Modern English School in Mumbai found that papaya leaves may well be effective as a mosquito repellent.
They mixed the extract of papaya leaves in a candle, and once they burned it, it worked well as a repellent.
“We have seen that the chemicals used to drive away mosquitoes are not environment friendly. While working on various herbal solutions, we found that leaves of papaya tree can work as mosquito repellent,” said Neha and Divya.
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Carnivorous plants – think Venus Fly Trap – can be a great natural solution to your fly problem. Though they’re not a preventative solution, they’re great to have around the house or porch and will soon start to reduce your resident fly population.
As an uncommon house plant, they also look awesome and should generate a few comments from your guests.
And, although they’re not the easiest plant to buy online, you can buy them on Amazon – just click the image below:
I’ve seen reports that you can hang a plastic bag half-filled with water to distract and drive away flies in well-lit yards. Supposedly, it has something to do with the way that the light reflects through the water, confusing their vision.
With approximately 8,000 lenses within each eye, flies have incredible vision in every direction, but stray light rays can easily interfere with this ability.
Some bloggers have reported success with a similar method that uses glasses filled with water and a few pennies sitting at the bottom.
Just remind your guests not to drink the water or you’ll have a much bigger problem than how to keep flies away from food at your party.
If you’re hosting the party on your porch close to the house entrance, you can treat the doorways and window frames with Pyrethrin-based insecticides or other natural forms of repellent to discourage flies from food at the party.
Pyrethrin is a product made from the chrysanthemum flower and works against common house flies, gnats, and other insects too. Like a silent assassin, it won’t leave any traces, at least, not on your doors or windows.
The product in the image below, ‘Mosquito Magician’, is made from a blend of essential oils, including Citronella, Garlic Oil, Rosemary, Lemongrass, Cedarwood, and Geraniol.
It can be used outdoors around the home, garden, patio, and pool, and lasts for up to 2 weeks.
You simply mix 4 oz in 1 gallon of water and spray it around with a pump sprayer, fogger, or even a commercial backpack sprayer.
During any outdoor party, you’re bound to accumulate waste. Empty plates, used cutlery, spent food packaging, and all sorts of other bits and pieces that you might be tempted to deal with once the guests have gone home.
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But flies are attracted to food scraps and you’ll only increase the chances of having a swarm descend on you and your party.
Keep food covered once it comes off the BBQ and you should see fewer unwanted visitors.
Sure, you can buy fly traps from most home stores, but they’re usually pretty unsightly.
Nothing spoils an appetite more than a hanging sticky trap filled with dead flies out in the open. UV light traps aren’t much better; nobody wants to smell cooked insects rather than the smell of cooking BBQ foods.
But don’t worry, you can easily make your own fly traps to keep flies away from food at an outdoor party with a few things you can normally find in your kitchen cupboard. Plus, that way, it just costs a few cents to make them, and you don’t have to go shopping.
Here’s how to make an easy, natural fly trap from some common ingredients:
You don’t even need a mason jar for this quick hack. Just take a used soda bottle and you’ll have your own fly jail in no time. Check out this handy YouTube video I found that shows you how to make your own fly trap:
Ultrasonic pest repellers are a simple plug-in-and-go type system, some with electromagnetic and ultrasonic wave technology. The waves disturb the pest’s central nervous system and will drive them away, no chemicals required.
If they sound too good to be true, they’re really not! I’ve been surprised by how well these things work:
They’re generally easy to use, all you need is a wall socket and plug it in. They don’t make any noise! So, you can use them indoors and outdoors (in a covered, dry area such as a patio).
They work for flies, but also other insects and even rodents!
These are a good option for keeping flies away from food as they’re non-toxic, eco-friendly, and humane.
If all else fails, you could always turn to the trusty fly swatter to ‘take care’ of those flies once and for all.
Probably a last resort, given that you don’t want dead flies littering your party table, but you can pick up electrified swatters these days to make sure that you never miss a shot.
This solution for keeping flies away from food might sound a bit silly, but my little cattle dog was the best fly repellent of all. She’d tirelessly chase flies around and was the best at catching them too!
Not only does it keep an energetic dog like the cattle dog entertained, she actually made a big difference to the number of flies around our party.
When we went camping on the beach, she won the march fly catching competition with 12 march flies in 2 minutes. None of us could beat her.
Mind you, I don’t normally go around killing animals without reason but the number of (very painful) march fly bites left us no choice. Except go home, I suppose.
With the 13 methods I’ve listed above, you should be able to keep flies away from food. Or at least deal with them quickly if they do swoop in.
If you’ve got any other tried and tested methods of keeping flies away from your outdoor party, let us know about them in the comments below!
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Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Outdoor
This post was last modified on 10/10/2023 05:30
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