What can you do to control flies in your environment?
There is nothing to love about a fly, especially a fly annoying a customer in your cafe . Flies are bad news, front and back of house. People associate flies with poor hygiene.
In my experience, this is generally not the case, unfortunately though, it is the perception. A bad review on social media – A Fly Star Review and people will be crossing you off their list without even walking in your door, so what can you do?
Start Outside
- Make sure your bin lids are kept closed, especially your dumpster bins.
- If you use wheelie bins, consider going to your supermarket and purchasing “Bin Kill”. It will set you back $10 and is worth the spend. It zip ties into your wheelie bin and kills flies, halting the breeding cycle. That’s a win!
If you have a public bin near you, ie in font of your cafe, it may be worth super gluing one in the public bin as well. Food for thought anyway. - Next stop Bunnings. Head to the gardening, plant, insecticide aisle and hunt down an “Envirosafe Fly Trap” or two. It is important to note that these gadgets attract flies, so do not put them near your back door, windows etc. Hang them on a fence in your bin encolsure, a back fence, a perimeter tree. You get the idea. They work a treat but stink to high heaven so keep them away. They will also require maintenance/attention here and there. Best positioned in a sunny spot. Cost approximately $10
- Ensure all rubbish is bagged and sealed before going in the bin.
- Have your bins rinsed out as often as possible. The more the merrier.
- If you have gardens/ pot plants, select fly repellent plants, mint, basil, rosemary, geraniums, marigolds, lavender, citronella, chrysanthemums etc and do not fertilise during summer!
Heading Inside
Keeping flies outside in the first place is always going to be the best solution but not always possible.
The next best solution is to create an environment that flies are unable to deal with.
This is relatively easy to achieve and it’s what l specialise in!
With The Fly Lady dispensers and spray you create an fly free zone that flies will intentionally leave. The automatic dispensers deliver a measured dose of food safe, fly repellent into the air. As the mist is fine enough to stay airborne it creates an environment that will kill the fly if it does not leave. Unlike warm blooded creatures, flies are unable to metabolise the plant based product. They have to leave the space meaning flies will not die in front of your customers or in your prep thus creating the perfect solution to fly control for all food spaces.
For photos of The Fly Lady dispensers in restaurants, commercial kitchens, coffee shops, butchers, fishmongers and other food businesses across Australia click here.
The Fly Lady has been helping Australian restaurants, cafes, hospitality and food businesses with their fly control since 2009.