Fall and early Winter Flies that can be a real Nuisance

There are several types of flies that can be found around the barn and your house in the fall and early winter as they seek shelter from the cold.  They love to find warm, sunny areas inside and outside of buildings.  They will eek into cracks around windows, vents and siding gravitating to warmth.  They are not harmful to homes or people but they are a fly after all and no one wants flies inside of building let alone hanging around outside of them.

A lot of these pesky flies will end up in our attics, wall spaces and other nooks and grannies where they hibernate during the cold, winter months.  If the weather should warm up some species of flies will groggily roll out of their hibernating places to find warmth.   You’ll see them in light fixtures, on sunny windows and around baseboards and moldings.  One good thing is that these flies won’t reproduce in the winter.  In spring, they will emerge and some will make it outside while others will be trapped indoors and die.

The ones that die can become trapped in wall spaces, becoming  food for the larder beetle.  Larder beetles are black with a yellow/brown stripe across their body.  They are about a half inch long and oval in shape. The baby larder beetle are a little more disgusting looking.  They are over a half inch long, brownish and covered with hairs.  Controlling fly population throughout the summer and into the fall can help reduce the number of these beetles that may find their way into your home to feast on dead flies.

The three main flies that invade our homes are the Blow Fly, Cluster Fly and Face Fly.

To keep these guys out of your home and barn, seal any gaps in siding, around windows and doors and under eaves with caulk or sealant tape.   Cover outdoor vents and any other areas where hoses or wires go into your house.

Any flies found in crawl spaces or the attic should be vacuumed up.  As they emerge on warm days you can use a vacuum or fly swatter.  We don’t recommend pesticides or insect ides in the home, around animals or children.

Start in the spring with fly parasites. They are nature’s original method of fly control. These tiny beneficial insects kill the larva before it can develop into a fly. Fly Parasites have been proven highly effective in a wide range of applications such as dairies, horse stables, poultry farms, feed lots, and waste water treatment facilities, anywhere flies breed and cause irritation to animals and humans.