How to Get Rid of Flies in Summer: A Practical Guide for Welsh Homes and Businesses
There's a certain point every summer when the flies arrive and suddenly seem to be everywhere, buzzing round the kitchen, landing on your lunch the moment you turn your back, gathering at the window on a warm afternoon. It's one of the most common calls we get once the weather turns, and it's easy to see why. So here's a practical look at why summer brings so many flies, why they're worth taking seriously, and what actually keeps them out.
Why flies love summer
Flies are creatures of warmth. Higher temperatures speed up their whole life cycle, so a fly problem that would take weeks to build in spring can get out of hand in days once it's properly warm. There's more for them to feed on too, bins filling faster in the heat, food left out at barbecues and picnics, fruit ripening in the bowl, and with doors and windows open to cool the house down, they've got an open invitation to come in. Put all that together and a handful of flies can turn into a real nuisance surprisingly quickly.
More than just annoying
It's tempting to treat flies as background noise in summer, but they're worth dealing with properly. Flies feed and breed on waste, drains and decaying matter, then land straight onto your food and surfaces, and in the process they're known to carry and spread bacteria such as salmonella. For a home that mostly means good hygiene sense; for anywhere handling food, it's a genuine health and compliance issue, which is why an environmental health officer will always take signs of flies seriously.
Keeping them out: the basics
The good news is that most fly problems come down to a few simple things, and getting on top of them makes a real difference:
- Sort your bins. Keep them lidded, empty them regularly before they overflow, give them a rinse now and then, and keep them as far from doors and windows as you can. Bins are the single biggest fly magnet around most properties.
- Don't leave food out. Cover food, clear up spills and crumbs promptly, and clean as you go. It sounds obvious, but a wiped-down kitchen gives flies far less reason to hang around.
- Check your drains. The small flies that seem to appear from nowhere around sinks and drains are often breeding in the gunk inside them, so keeping drains clean and clear cuts the problem off at the source.
- Screen the openings. Fly screens on the windows and doors you keep open are one of the most effective things you can do, letting the air in while keeping the flies out.
- Go easy on the sprays. Fly sprays are a quick fix at best, and around food they can do more harm than good, never use them where food is prepared. Prevention beats a can of spray every time.
Flies and food businesses
If you run a café, restaurant, pub, takeaway or any kind of food premises, flies are more than a summer irritation, they're something inspectors look for and something that can genuinely put your hygiene rating at risk. Alongside the basics above, that usually means fly screens on doors and windows, electric fly killers (the ultraviolet units that draw flies in and deal with them) placed sensibly away from food areas, and keeping on top of waste and cleaning as a routine. For premises that want it handled properly, ongoing monitoring takes it off your plate entirely, you'll find more on how we work with the trade on our food and hospitality page.
When to call someone in
A few flies you can usually see off yourself with the steps above. But if they keep coming back, if you're seeing large numbers, or if you can't work out where they're getting in or breeding, that's the point to bring in a professional, a persistent fly problem usually means there's a source somewhere that needs finding and dealing with. We treat fly problems in homes and businesses right across South and Mid Wales, and we're always happy to take a look.
If the flies have got the better of you this summer, feel free to get in touch , we'll help you work out where they're coming from and how to keep them out for good.
