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Fly Trap review – What works best?

When it comes to fly traps, everyone is desperate to know what works best. However, we’re sorry to disappoint, but there’s no fast track to success when it comes to trapping flies. With that being said, there are a wealth of options available on the market that will certainly attract and kill the common enemy. 

Whether you’re grabbing a product via your local homeware store, or via an online retailer like us, you will find varying levels of success depending on your climate, the fly species you’re aiming to catch and the level of expertise in deploying it.

As we’ve said countless times before, there’s no use applying a fruit fly trap to a species that isn’t interested in fruit. Similarly, mosquitos or houseflies will need a certain trap in order to work effectively. 

You may be thinking, ‘how do I know where to start?’, well don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. Before you consider which fly trap works best and the different perks of each trap, it’s important to understand which type of fly species you’re tryna' catch. Let’s cover the main types. 

First off, we have the housefly. These are the most common type of fly you’re bound to find in and around your property. These are attracted to almost anything and will find any way they can to access your property. Don’t be alarmed, although their presence is generally unwanted, they won’t harm you. However, these pesky creatures will certainly make your life a living hell if you allow them. They can also reproduce as fast as hell. To make life even worse, they also carry and transmit hundreds of diseases that can and will cause you harm in the long term. This is usually transmitted via food or produce left out on the side. 

Secondly, we have the fruit fly. These are similar to the housefly in terms of the fact that they won’t bite. But they do like to spread disease and cause havoc wherever they can. The difference in this species is the fact they are only attracted to sweet and sticky substances. This means items like fermented fruit and vegetables, as well as soda, beer, and wine will all attract these critters. 

Thirdly, there’s the gnat. Now, these bastards ARE bitey creatures and like to leave some damage on you if they can. These are a nasty species and should be repelled wherever possible. Thankfully, they operate similarly to other fly species so they shouldn’t be treated any differently.

Finally, there’s the mosquito. Similarly with gnats, these nasty creatures are desperate to bite. However, these blood sucking insects are different in the fact that they survive through sucking the blood of humans and other creatures. Interestingly, their biggest turn on is wet substances. They love wet countertops, as well as damp trees and plants. They’re particularly interested in human sweat too. Better yet, if you wear perfume, they’re even more likely to land on you. Mosquitos also like strong scented materials, meaning perfumes really get them going. 

Granted, we’ve not covered every fly species here. However, these are the ones that most homeowners come into contact with from our experience. If you’re still unsure and think you may be battling something else, then please do further research. 

Now you’re aware of the different types of fly species that are most common. It’s important to look at and consider the different types of trap available to the modern consumer. 

Let’s review some of them, shall we?

Disposable fly traps

Disposable traps can range from anything like homemade dish traps to net traps available via online retailers. Homemade traps are great in the fact that they achieve success at a relatively low cost. These traps can include things like dish traps which use dish soap and apple cider vinegar to trap flies. These can achieve great success, but are only useful for smaller infestations and need to be cleaned and re-filled regularly.

This is also the case with net traps. Although they are relatively cheap and will achieve great results, you do need to buy more once they’re full. For most, this isn’t a hassle, but the cost can quickly add up if you need multiple traps around your property. 

A pretty cool and often overlooked trap is the disco ball trap. Given the fact that flies have sensitive eyesight, it makes things pretty easy when it comes to deterring them from your property. Take a zip lock clear bag and fill with water. Then, grab some rope and hang the bag of water from any entry point of your home that flies like to travel through. When the bag moves in the wind, the water will shine in the sunlight, causing the flies to travel elsewhere. 

The cone trap is also a ticket to success. Grab an empty bottle and cut off the top. Then, grab a piece of paper and make a cone with a small hole in the bottom. Tie the cone to the bottle and there’s your trap, ready to go. Flies will enter via the tiny hole but are too stupid to navigate outwards. Eventually, they will die, just remember to dispose of the bottle after use.

Other disposable traps include things like flypaper. Similarly, with the dish trap, these shouldn’t be overlooked as they can achieve great success. However, they look and smell rather gross when full and should be disposed of frequently. 

We could go on all day and list tens of disposable traps, but the outcome is always the same. We suggest using disposable traps for small-scale fly problems or if you have a limited budget. This is rather short-sighted though. If you attack the problem with a cheap mind, then the long-term costs of an infestation could be significant. 

Fruit fly traps

Next, we have fruit fly traps. As we mentioned before, fruit flies are attracted to sweet and sticky substances. This means, via the traps you choose, you should use the fly’s weakness against them.

The best trap to use against fruit flies is the soda bottle trap. Leave some left over soda in the bottom of the bottle before opening the lid and placing in areas where the flies like to gather. Flies will enter to drink the sweet and sticky soda but will be unable to escape. These are extremely effective, but once again, you’ll need a few of them to truly leave a mark on the flies. 

You can also apply this same principle to beer and wine bottles. This should work just as well, just remember to use a few to generate good results. 

The benefit of fruit fly traps is the fact you’re generally recycling materials to achieve your desired results. This means the cost is essentially free. However, these types of traps will never solve a large-scale infestation. 

Lastly, if you have lots of old and fermented food items, try making a pile away from your liveable areas of the home. This heap of fermented items will act as a hotbed for flies to travel to. This is counterproductive in the long run as you’re only moving the problem, but it does provide some relief when dealing with an infestation. 

Sticky traps 

Sticky traps are a very broad term but can include any trap that uses sticky substances to achieve its goal. As we mentioned before, sticky and sweet substances can be used to achieve your goal of trapping the flies. You can also use things like flypaper to stop them in their tracks. 

The great thing with sticky traps is that more flies will travel to it as it becomes busier. The compounding effect of sticky traps is incredibly powerful in stopping an infestation. For example, once flypaper manages to attract a few flies, it becomes smellier and more attractive to future flies. Therefore, over time, the flypaper becomes even more successful in attracting its prey. 

However, the main disadvantage with this type of trap is that you’re limited to the scale of the operation. Flypaper isn’t very attractive and huge pieces of flypaper can make for a very disgusting home feature. For this reason, we’d suggest flypaper be used sparingly when trying to beat a fly problem. 

Insect traps

Similarly, with sticky traps, insect traps can encompass a whole range of different traps and repellents. However, speaking very broadly here, when it comes to insects, choose repellent as the best plan of attack.

Fly repellents have and always will be successful in your goal to keep flies away from you. At the end of the day, the clue is in the name. However, although fly repellent or sprays can seem pretty simple, it’s easy to get lost in everything the market has to offer. 

From our experience, it's best to choose sprays that have higher levels of DEET. The higher the DEET percentage, the better the product will be. Be sure to cover all the problem areas on your body to achieve the desired results. This doesn’t mean you should cover yourself. Use a good product sensibly and it should work just fine. 

The biggest advantage of fly repellent and/or sprays is that they are very compact, convenient, and proven to get good results. On the other hand, this comes at a cost. At a time where the modern consumer is very conscious and aware of world issues, fly repellents are extremely bad for the environment. 

In our opinion, use fly repellents when needs must. However, we would suggest staying away from them if you have a fly problem at home. The goal should be to kill the flies, not simply keep them away from your skin. 

Never learn to live with flies, learn to remove them!

Another overlooked tool in your quest to defeat insects is the Venus flytrap. Granted, this won’t remove your problem entirely, but it will certainly serve as your wingman on the journey to fly domination. Plant one or two in your garden and watch the magic happen. Most of the time, you won’t notice them working, but rest assured they are. When flies land on them, they quickly trap them before slowly digesting them over time. This is very effective and there’s no mess either!

Other ways to defeat flies

Listen, we know this is a blog about fly traps and their varying strengths and weaknesses. HOWEVER, we thought it would be crazy to write a blog about flytraps without discussing the best way to defeat them…preventing a fly infestation from happening in the first place! 

So, here it is, the best way to defeat flies is prevention. If you’ve read our previous blogs, then you’ll know that we’re big believers in preventing flies from visiting your home in the first place. It’s all well and good researching different fly traps and how to catch them. But what if they never arrived to create the problem? Sounds good right? Let’s cover some prevention methods to help you on your way. 

A proven prevention method is the use of strong scents. This won’t work for mosquitos, but will certainly help with other species like houseflies and fruit flies. Natural odors from herbs and plants work particularly well. For example, things like lavender, basil, and citronella oil are proven to deter flies from your property. 

There are different ways you can use these items to your advantage. Simply having different herbs in your garden can help be your ally, but a better way is to use citronella candles. These smell great to us humans, but flies hate it. The best way to make use of these is to place them around your home, in areas where flies would usually enter. Spaces like windowsills, doorways, and countertops are good. Light these up at different times of day and hopefully, you should see less of your unwanted guests. 

Keeping a clean home is the major key to stopping flies. As we discussed in the first part of the blog, flies love food and various fermented items. Therefore, keeping food and other household stuff stored in appropriate containers is a sure-fire way to stop the bastards from bugging you. This also extends to countertops and work surfaces, regularly clean and wipe after use, ensuring any food leftovers are cleaned and disposed of properly. 

Other fly species like mosquitos love wet surfaces. Therefore, if you spill a drink on the side, make sure to dry straight away and dispose of the kitchen towel into the garbage. Garbage cans are another haven for flies too. It’s easy to chuck garbage bags into the trash, but make sure they’re sealed correctly. If flies enter the bags, they will begin to feed on the material and reproduce rapidly. Handling the trash is a nasty job anyway. But when you add flies into the equation, it becomes a whole different level of gross!

Whilst considering outside areas, it’s also important to cover spaces like the pool (if you have one) and the BBQ. After family and/or social gatherings, its critical to clean up after yourselves. Flies reproduce so quickly that an infestation could take place overnight if the conditions are right. Cover your pool if possible and make sure your outdoor food areas are cleaned and covered correctly. 

There’s also the matter of the garden. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Keep your grass short! A long and untended lawn looks bad anyway, but flies love it! If you don’t cut your grass, you’ll soon find flies breeding in the blades, laying eggs and creating more flies for you to deal with. Get the mower out and make sure your household chores are ticked off. 

Lastly, pet feces. Given the fact that dog and pet poop is super smelly, flies will flock to this material. Our advice is to carry out regular poop checks around your property, ensuring all feces are taken care of. Similarly, with the garbage, seal the bags and place in the trash. It’s not rocket science.

The Ranch Fly Trap 

The good news is, you’ve taken the time to read an educational resource about flies and infestations. The bad news is, that might not be enough. In some cases, you can try all the different traps, and carry out all our prevention advice, and flies will still arrive to cause distress. 

Depending on the season, and type of fly, they can be extremely difficult to manage. This is particularly the case if you own livestock or animals. Flies love to land on our beloved furry friends and deposit disease. In lots of cases, this is simply an annoyance to animals, but sometimes it can cause serious distress. 

We don’t mean to alarm, but the presence of flies on animals can even cause death in extreme cases. This makes it imperative to be vigilant and take a more serious approach if required. Let’s face it, we don’t like flies around us, so why would our animals?

For large properties like farms and ranches, a more industrious approach is often required. We know we said homemade traps can be effective, but they aren’t worth the effort when dealing with multiple acres of land.

That’s where we come in. The Ranch Fly Trap has been designed to deal with large-scale infestations, removing the hard work from fly catching. We offer a number of traps, created from years of experience and research. 

The proof is always in the pudding. We’re now trusted by thousands of ranch and farm owners all over the world. Don’t believe us? Check our social media and see how we’ve changed the lives of countless animals. Not only that but the owners too. 

We know how horrible fly season can be, that’s what motivated us to create and develop the best fly-catching system on the market. We also provide a tested bait recipe that’ll have flies swarming to your traps 24 hours a day. 

The bottom line is, you’ve got to move quickly if you’re suffering from a fly problem. We encourage you to experiment and try different methods of fly catching. However, be mindful of time. The rate at which flies can breed and reproduce is very concerning, particularly for property owners that aren’t experienced in dealing with flies. 

If you’re a little lost and don’t want to waste precious time, then the Ranch Fly Trap is the ultimate way to deal with fly problems this summer and beyond. 

Still not convinced? Not to worry. This isn’t our only blog. We’d suggest reading through all our resources to become more aware of the problems flies can face for you and your property. This will help to get you up to speed on all the different areas of fly control. You can also visit our store where you’ll find our various products, designed to stop flies in their tracks. 

Alternatively, if you’re ready to start your journey of fly domination, then shop your Ranch Fly Trap via the link below.