If you don't have witch hazel on hand, try using vinegar instead. This natural pest control spray will not only help keep flies away but will also leave your home smelling fresh and clean.
6. ACV to the Rescue! Apple cider vinegar is an old-timey remedy that many say helps with mosquitoes, black flies, and ticks. Start three to four days before your planned outdoor activity and take a tablespoon of vinegar three to four times a day to help your skin ward off biting bugs on its own.
Vinegar attracts, not repels flies; however, a container with vinegar and dish soap will function as an attractant trap as the vinegar lures flies to enter the trap and the dish soap will cause the flies to sink and die.
Essential Oils
There are certain scents that pests simply hate including mint, peppermint, and lemongrass. Using these essential oils can help keep pests away and peppermint can also provide a bit of relief for a bug bite!
Go for insect repellents with DEET; these will not only help deter black flies, but it will keep additional pests away too. Additionally, you can try scents that repel black flies such as lavender, vanilla, and pine. Again, these are guaranteed to keep black flies away, but they will help reduce the amount.
If you're dealing with a blackfly infestation, essential oils could be an effective solution to get them off your plants. Options include thyme, rosemary, clove oil and peppermint.
Black Flies are attracted to humans largely through the carbon dioxide we exhale, but these bloodsucking insects are also attracted by dark colored clothing, perfumes and sweat. The smell of exhaled carbon dioxide also attracts these bloodsucking insects to livestock and other mammals.
Using a mixture of water and vinegar as a spray around windows and doors can also deter flies since they hate the smell and will generally stay away from sprayed areas.
This spray is great for outdoor and indoor use. Flies seem to HATE pine-sol. To make the fly repelling spray, mix the original Pine-Sol with water, at a ratio of 50/50 and put it in a spray bottle. Use to wipe counters or spray on the porch and patio table and furniture to drive the flies away.
Conditions that attract flies in and around homes include: Garbage cans left uncovered. Animal carcasses in the walls, attics, or elsewhere. Manure or pet feces around yards.
Witch Hazel and Apple Cider Vinegar
This is a popular home remedy, but it's also an excellent natural fly repellent. Simply make a mixture of apple cider vinegar, witch hazel solution, and a few drops of eucalyptus oil and pour it into a spray bottle. Spray the mixture in an open space to ward off flies.
Apple cider vinegar and Dawn work great for the killing part, while sugar will attract them. If you have a big house fly problem, the milk jug fly trap works well.
One of the best ways to do this is with a DIY fruit fly trap that you can make using pantry staples. Pour apple cider vinegar (ACV) into a small bowl, then mix in a few drops of dish soap. Apple cider vinegar works better than white vinegar for fruit flies because it smells like fermenting fruit.
White vinegar can be used to catch fruit flies, but they'll be MUCH more inclined to fly into a trap if apple cider vinegar is used. Make a trap as described in the previous paragraph, with a jar and plastic wrap. Here's a fun experiment that kids will love: try out both white vinegar and apple cider vinegar.
Olfactory neurons that detect the same chemical all connect to the same glomerulus. Depending on the concentration, vinegar odor activates 6 to 8 of the 40 or so glomeruli in the fruit fly brain.
You can also take some of the white vinegar and pour it down the drains too as the white vinegar will instantly kill any fruit flies, eggs, or larvae on contact as it goes down the drain.
Cayenne pepper is an excellent natural fly repellent and also deters many other insects. Mix one cup of water and one teaspoon of cayenne pepper in a misting bottle and spray it near entryways and wherever you see flies. Other natural fly repellents include lemongrass, peppermint, eucalyptus, camphor, and cinnamon.
Cinnamon – use cinnamon as an air freshner, as flies hate the smell! Lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint and lemongrass essential oils – Not only will spraying these oils around the house create a beautiful aroma, but they will also deter those pesky flies too.
Choosing The Right Vinegar
The white vinegar is too pungent, and lacks sweetness, to attract fruit flies. However, apple cider vinegar brings in fruit flies by the dozens. It's crucial to have a sweet temptation to make the fly trap work. Otherwise, the flies flock to nearby fruit bowls and other kitchen treats.
While vinegar is an excellent tool for repelling certain insects, not all bugs hate vinegar. Specifically, aphids and fruit flies love the scent of vinegar and will seek it out. You can use this to your advantage by creating traps.
Diptera impacting upon simuliid populations comprise mainly Chironomidae, Empididae and Muscidae, although several other families (Asilidae, Dolichopodidae, Phoridae, Drosophilidae, Scathophagidae) play a significant role as predators.
Black flies are active only during the day. They do not bite at night. Depending on weather, black flies tend to be more active at certain times of day. Activity peaks tend to occur around 9:00 to 11:00 AM and again from 4:00 to 7:00 in the late afternoon and early evening, or until the sun falls below the horizon.
“One of the good things about living in a cold climate is you short-circuit disease-vectoring by insects,” Donahue says. Blackflies are food for creatures we like. Trout eat their larvae. Birds and bats eat the adult flies.
With Adirondack black fly season typically running from the middle of May through early July, chances are good that you'll experience Adirondack biting flies on your hiking, paddling, camping, or biking adventure.