Effective Techniques To Keep Flies Away From Food At An Outdoor Party

Summer brings the promise of warm weather, the ability to entertain outdoors, and generally creates a more positive spin on life. But, it also brings an array of pests, including flies. These are a nuisance as they land on any surface, carry a variety of diseases, and they leave a trail of faeces behind them.

This can be a real issue, especially if you are entertaining outside and want people to enjoy the food. Fortunately, there are several things you can do to help keep flies away from food.

Cover It

The most obvious solution is to cover the food. You can purchase framed nets that are shaped like domes and sit over the plate or dish with food on it. The netting stops any pest, including flies, from getting to your food.

At the same time, your guests can still see the food and help themselves when they want.

UV Lights

While the covers are a great way to display the food, it is impossible to monitor every guest to ensure they replace the food covers once they have moved them to get food. This will allow flies to attack. In addition, if they are not vigilant, flies can get on the food while the cover is off and then be trapped inside the cover.

That’s why you need to invest in an insect UV light. These can be attached to the wall in your outside entertainment area and the UV light will attract the flies. Once they fly into it they will be electrocuted, eliminating the issue.

Use Citrus

Flies, and many other pests, don’t like citrus smells. That means you can have citrus candles around the food. You can also use oil burners with citrus essential oils, or you can position citrus plants around your entertainment area and food to help keep the flies away.

Fly Eaters

If you’re interested in natural remedies and like plants then you should look at the variety of fly-eating plants available. They are fascinating to watch in action and very efficient at killing and eating flies. You can position them around the entertainment area and they are likely to be a talking point.

Use Fans

Flies, mosquitoes, and most other flying insects do not fly well in strong winds. In fact, to them, a strong wind is barely more than a breeze to you. This means you can position fans near the food and allow them to move the air around the food. This will make it very difficult for any fly to get near your food, never mind land on it.

Issue Bug Repellents

While a bug repellent won’t stop the fly from landing on the food it should help to keep them away. If you and all your guests wear bug repellent the flies will not want to come near you. As you’re doing an outdoor party most people will gather by the food. That means, if the flies don’t want to come near people they will be unable to get to the food.

Try it, you’ll be surprised at how effective these tips are.