Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I moved to WA from the eastern states and i have to say it's great.
HOWEVER now that summer is here i've discovered WA's one bad point - the flies.
I've read that mint is supposed to keep them away, has anyone tried this or have any other ways to keep the little buggers away?

Cork hat?

scuba tank and weight belt....



..... oh, and believe me a snorkel doesn't necessarily work

the snorkel works for vb though

thought it was Steve in the snorkeling gear?

yep...steve.....in snorkeling gear.....

Your little sister with a bad piece of meat

There are commercially available fly traps
available, simmilar to that shown above from hardware stores including the infamous B.

The have a perforated cone at the top, and a container below.
you put bait and water below and the flies go in but not out. Then they get tired and drown.
I find these to be extremely effective in Alexandra here in Vic (post them away from eating areas, because the smell can be bad if the wind blows the wrong way)

But I was also thinking. Flies have a VERY high protein content.

Perhaps if you remove the bottom of the trap and suspend some meat of other bait in the air, then the flies will be attracted. get tired, drown in the water and the fish will gobble them up. Also many flies will lay eggs in the meat, blind maggots will fall off, into the water and the fish wil eat them. It's a win - win - win - win situation, no flies, fly fish food, maggot fish food, and a talking point

I don't have enough flies to try it out, but this is one of my many ideas you have reminded me of. I will do some sketches if you are interested cos apparently I can't expain ideas so well.

here is a link and blurb for another fly trap available from B, however I have seen them and think they are flimsy, the other type would be easier to adapt. http://www.highwayhardware.com.au/new_p ... y_trap.htm

of course all you need is some lear PVC pip (so you can see the effective killing) a kitchen funnel, some wire and a drill.

i use the one in your link Kuda and have to say they work really well i have 3 and have to empty all 3 at least once a fornight i also use just one sachet of the atractant between all 3 jars with no signifacnt reduction in fly capture
a small downside is they STINK especialy once its gettin to the end of the fortnight :barf:

but its seems 3 is not enough for on apriot tree as my apricots ( the ones the parrots havent eaten yet ) are full of bloody fruit fly

a small downside is they STINK especialy once its gettin to the end of the fortnight :barf:

i have seen plans on the net for a dry trap that catches flys as the take off (aprently they take off straight up so easy to catch ) but am lazy and didnt have all the nessary parts to build it already

Flys sure are a bugger over here but if you think they are bad in the city you should see what they are like in the bush

Remember when I was up in Tennant creek for a couple of years.....

The great Australian salute didn'rt even make the buggers blink... probably just thought you were fanning them to cool them down.....

Had to peel the buggers off ya face....

My experience comes from the bush in central Vic, I know they're bad. We have an orchard there, but it's real flies, not fruit flies that bother us. Fruit flies are few and far between, perhaps next year when we get a propper crop we'll be in trouble.

We need 3 traps in Alexandra to keep the blowies and house flies down to a leavel that means you can eat outside without eating flies. and once a week, they REQUIRE emptying. there's at least 1.5 litres of flies per trap per week in summer.

Is anybody willing to try my fish food idea? (the old man thinks AP is a load of crap. I need to get my system up before he'll believe so flies are off the menu )

if nothing else, give them to the chooks

your old man needs to meet my old man, even after proving concept....

hehehe... My old man came off the land before moving to the city, and then back to the country, and there's just 'a way it's done if you want to do it right' and that's all there is too it

i work out in north WA in the middle of no where, and man those flies will suffocate you.
so i i'm to get a little peace while at home. we have a fly trap here now and it's filling up pretty good. i might buy a bug zapper for my new house and feed the contents to the fish at the end of the day.