This summer it seems as though we’ve had more than our share of house flies here in Arkansas, with several instances of severe home infestations, which is not only annoying but also potentially dangerous. Attracted to virtually any food source, including garbage, sewage, and dead animals, flies are known to carry a number of easily communicable diseases, including typhoid, cholera, dysentery, salmonella, anthrax and tuberculosis. Flies can also transmit the eggs of parasitic worms to animals and humans.

Because they don’t sting or bite, house flies are usually looked upon as a minor irritation, but once inside your home they can multiply rapidly. Females can lay up to 150 eggs at a time, which hatch within 24 hours as larvae (also known as maggots) which feed for four days, then move into the pupae stage for another four days, to emerge as fully formed, adult houseflies ready to begin the breeding process all over again.

Ideally, prevention of flies is preferable to having to treat your home for an infestation, and while there are no guarantees, we have three tips that may help you avoid having a few thousand of the disgusting little creatures move in:

1. Sanitary Measures: Clean, clean, clean, use disinfectant on surfaces, keep food put up in sealed containers or the fridge, and don’t allow water to collect around sinks or in bathrooms.
2. Exclusion: Repair damaged screens, seal cracks and plug any holes you can find. If you can see it, flies can get through it.
3. Baggies: We have no idea how this got started or if it even works, but it won’t hurt anything. Fill quart-sized baggies with water, drop in a couple of pennies, and hang them on doors, windows, or pretty much anywhere you want. Some folks swear by them and others at them, but like we said, it won’t hurt anything.

If you still have flies after all of that, call The Bug Man in Little Rock. We have proven treatments that will get rid of flies and help keep them from coming back between treatments.

Give us a call at (501) 663-9464 or use our online contact form and we’ll send out one of our trained, professional pest control technicians to give the little critters the old heave-ho. And remember, estimates are always free and results are guaranteed at The Bug Man.