Planning backyard parties and lazy days by the barbeque this summer? Make they’re memorable for all the right reasons. In this Hivemind blog, we give you key tips for keeping flies and wasps away from your BBQ and outdoor events.
What questions will this article answer?
What attracts flies and wasps?
Sugar-rich food and drinks, meat, rotting waste and bright, sweet-smelling flowers and perfumes.
How to keep flies and wasps away from your BBQ
Cover food and rubbish bins, or use fans, citronella, surface sprays and citrus-based products.
Long-term protection against flies and wasps
Remove damaged wood from your yard, use fake wasp nests and contact professional pest control.
Professional fly and wasp management
We use fly baits, aerosol sprays, fogging, insecticidal dust and foam.
Choose Allstate for effective fly and wasp management
We’re available to all suburbs in Adelaide, with fast response times for your fly and wasp control needs.
What attracts flies and wasps?
With an irresistible array of enticing sights and smells at your next outdoor event or BBQ, flies and wasps are naturally going to be keen to join you… and bring their friends along.
Flies have a keen appetite for sweet and fermented liquids including juice, soft drink, alcohol and syrup, as much as they do for rotting organic waste such as meat, fruit, vegetables, compost and food scraps. They even lay their eggs in rubbish due to the high nutrient density. Flies are also drawn to flowering plants with a sweet, strong scent such as sunflowers, marigolds, zinnias, and lavender, as well as fruit trees, grapevines and berry bushes.
Sunflowers are popular with wasps, who also love bright coloured plants and flowers. Like flies, wasps are highly attracted to sugary drinks and protein rich meats served at BBQs and outdoor events. They also target sweet, fruity or floral scented perfumes. Wasps look for hidden but easily accessible places to build their nests, which could be in your roof or wall cavities, underneath eaves, hanging from a branch, or inside a hollow log.
Don’t let flies and wasps spoil your party. Get expert advice today.
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How to keep flies and wasps away from your BBQ
There’s never a time when you want flies and wasps hanging around your BBQ or outdoor event, but you can prepare the area beforehand to make it as uninviting for them as possible. Here’s how:
Cover your food and rubbish bins
Most flying insects will be able to detect even the faintest of enticing smells at your next outdoor event. Don’t give hungry flies and wasps an opportunity to visit by keeping food and drinks covered wherever possible. We also recommend sealing off and securing waste areas and compost heaps, as well as pet food and water bowls.
Use fans
With the added advantage of keeping you and your guests cool, outdoor fans don’t just circulate air. Adjusting your fans to a higher setting will create strong air currents to prevent many flying insects from zooming around at your party, particularly if you position them strategically in places with high fly and wasp activity.
Use fans
With the added advantage of keeping you and your guests cool, outdoor fans don’t just circulate air. Adjusting your fans to a higher setting will create strong air currents to prevent many flying insects from zooming around at your party, particularly if you position them strategically in places with high fly and wasp activity.
Citronella
Unpopular with both flies and wasps, citronella plants have a fresh, distinctive fragrance and add decorative greenery to your backyard. Whether you grow it in a pot and move it around, or you plant it directly in the ground, citronella plants create a natural barrier against many pesky insects.
If gardening isn’t an option for you, the good news is that citronella is also available as an essential oil, which can be mixed with water in a pump bottle and used as a surface spray. You can also burn citronella-laced candles.
Natural ways to deter flies and wasps
Besides citronella, there are plenty of other pungent plants which overwhelm the olfactory senses of flies and wasps and create enough confusion to keep them away from your party. These include peppermint, spearmint, basil, thyme, rosemary, lavender, clove and lemongrass.
Homemade surface sprays
Mix various household liquids together and apply them as a surface spray at entrances, windows, floors and walls. Try the following combinations to see which works best for you:
- Tea tree oil and vinegar
- Hydrogen peroxide and water
- Mouthwash and water
Citrus fruits
Containing strong-smelling compounds which irritate their respiratory systems, zesty citrus fruits such as oranges, limes and lemons are a wonderful fly and wasp deterrent. You can even pierce the fruits with cloves for an added spicy and pungent kick.
Long-term protection against flies and wasps
Even when it’s not party season, you can still take the following steps to make your home and outdoor entertaining areas less welcoming for flies and wasps.
Remove damaged wood from your yard
Wasp nests have a tough outer shell made from wood that has been stripped and chewed. You should remove rotten or decayed wooden sleepers, tree trunks, fencing, firewood or furniture lying around in your yard.
Replica wasp nests
They say that imitation is the best form of flattery, and in this case, it keeps the wasps at bay! With their strong territorial nature, a scouting wasp trying to scope out a new place for a new nest won’t bother considering your home if they think that there’s already another colony living there.
Professional pest control
Don’t put yourself in danger trying to tackle a swarm of aggressive wasps this summer. At Allstate, we’ve got the right equipment, training and knowledge for a safe way to remove wasp nests.
Protect your family from wasps. Speak to an expert today.
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Professional fly and wasp management
For your own safety, we always recommend staying well away from wasps and any suspected wasp nests – you’re best leaving them for pest control. However, if you’ve tried a range of DIY methods to combat flies and wasps without much success, it’s time to call in the experts.
Flies
Though flies tend to be more of a concern in commercial facilities or hospitality venues, you may well find yourself dealing with an unexpected outbreak at home, particularly in summer, which is their peak breeding season. It’s during this time when you’ll find the most female flies buzzing around looking for suitable breeding sites.
At Allstate, our priority when controlling a fly outbreak is to first locate and remove all potential breeding sites. From there, we’ll reduce the fly population quickly by using a combination of fly baits, aerosol sprays, fogging and dusting powder.
Wasps
Though they can vary in size, it’s often not hard to spot a wasp nest due to their distinct appearance. They can often grow to around the size of a basketball, have a grey-brown colour and a papery appearance.
Our team will inspect your entire property, including your yard, for all wasp nests, identifying even the smaller, newer ones. Some of them might even be located underground, or in compost heaps.
We’ll then apply a targeted insecticidal dust or foam directly into the entry points on these hives, ideally in the cooler and less active hours of the morning or evening.
Choose Allstate for effective fly and wasp management
With a summer calendar jam-packed with parties, outdoor BBQs and fun in the sun, you won’t have time to waste dealing with frustrating flies and wasps in your yard.
Instead of taking matters into your own hands and risking your safety, Allstate will not only help you get rid of flies and wasps at your outdoor party, but all year round.
Our team of pest control technicians is always ready to handle all types of flying insects with protective clothing, the right equipment and targeted treatments. Whether you’re in a residential, commercial or industrial setting, we’ll come to you in any Adelaide suburb.