THE FLY PEST

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 713, 13 December 1933, Page 3

THE FLY PEST

IT'S ERADICATION BREEDING PLACES MUST BE ELIMINATED. FIRST. DESTRUOTION OF REFUSE. (Contributed by the Department of Health.) In order to eradicate the fly, the moSt eommon of ,all household pests,it is necessary to do away with its .breeding places, for it is obvious that the best means of avoiding trouble from flies is to prevent their appsarance. This is best effected by prompt removal and destruction of all refuse that might serve as food for flies and fly-larvae. All ssnitary arrangements should be kept clean. Horse and cow manure should be frej quently swept up and deposited in closed or screened manure bins properly drained. Such manure should i be removed at least every four days, i as but four days are required for tha i fime the eggjs i2re deposited until the maggots begin +o migrate from ' the manure heap into the ground to continue their development into fullgrown flies. It should be needless to insist that where stables, slaughterhouses and similar places are situated in populous areas, the greatest care should be exercised both by the owners and by the authorities to ensure (1) the frequent and regul-ar removal of all manner of offals, (2) the use of satifactory covered receptacles. On the Farm. 'On the farm the problem of manure disposal is not as simple. How■ever, about the homestead stables and cowsheds much can be done to de,al with the fly nuisanee. One neglected stable will furnish a plague of flies. One method advocated is by close packing tbe manure, tbe object being to kill house fly maggots if present by subjecting them to the great heat produced hy fermentation of the manure. For close packing, an area of hard level ground is necessary and should extend several feet each way beyond the intended dump. Each aidition of manure must be pressed down firmly with shovels and sprinkled slightly with water if the weather be dry, the sides of the heap which must similarly be watered and smoothed down should be somewhat sloping. It is held the fertilising value of manure thus treated is greater thaii that of loosely stacked manure. Another method of preventing the breeding of flies in manure is spraying with such a solution as light tar-oil. Borax (sodium borate) is raported to give satisfactory results. Borax does not appear to injure the fertilising value of the manure if it is applied carefully and not in excess. Arsenical sheep-dip may also be used 1 diluted with 150 parts of water. The ! surface should be well forked over during the spraying. The sides near the base need special care. The operation should be carried out daily until no larvae can be found. Manure may be buried, or saturated with oil and burned, that is where there is no use for it. If there is a pan closet on the premises, a half a cupful of kerosene should be placed in the pan daily. The lid should be kept closed. In the Home. In the home every endeavour should be made to kill flies by the use of fly traps, sticky papers, etc. A useful solution is to add an ounce of formalin to a pint of water and milk and expose in dishes about the room. The mixture must be used with caution and safeguarded against interference with children. Flies will rush garbage tins and it is therefore ■ necessary that these tins should have | well fitting lids. All food, including liquid in jugs, should be protected by fly-proof covers. These may be either wire frames covered with wire gauze or mosquito netting, or squares of muslin well weighted along the edges. One of the best traps for blow flies • is made by half-filling a bottle of

; plain glass, square shouldered is best, with a mixture containingabout a tablaspoonful of honey, half a cup of vinegar, and about two cupfuls of water to a quart bottle. Wihere there is scrub or trees about, hlowflies are sure to be troublesome. Such bottles may be hung in numbers from shrubs or other support. W'indow troughs half-filled with water to which is added a spoonful of kerosene or light oil emulsion are useful. : These narrow troughs, about two in- ■ ches in depth, should be placed at the base of the sheet glass. They have been found to work well against gauze or perforated zinc as in butchei's shops or pantries. Success is reported of a trough, to which was attached a miniature rack such as we see in railway _ carriages bnt with the net made of fine wire gauze, being fitted along the walls of a large 1 kitchen of a restaurant. In this . trough was placed one part of forma- ' lin to eight parts of water. Tanglefoot. In cookhouses, wires from one foot , to three- feet long suspended from a 1 horizontal wire or other support and coated with tanglefoot proved quite | successful in dealing with flies in j cookhouses and mess-rooms in our | military camps during .ihe war. The following formulae for tanglefoot are given -by Professor Kirk in his pamphlet on "Methods of Fly Control in (Military Camps": — !(1) Resin 8 parts, castor oil 4 parts, honey 1 part. Melt the resin and the oil together and all j the honey. Instead of castor oil there may be used colza oil or rapei seed oil, neatsfoot oil, or any other j non-drying oil. (2) Castor oil 12

parts, resin 27 parts. The mixture sh'cul'd be applied warm. The 'stock of it should be kept free from dust and should .not- be- heated too often. ; It is best to have a small quantity in a tin and set this in boiling water when it is required for use. For special purposes, particularly in window openings,' gratings of parallel wires in a window frame may be made and the wires coated with tanglefo.ot. A rag damped .with kerosene and passed round window frames tends to keep flies away. The time 'of the yaar has an miportant bearing upon the success of

fly control. If instituted during the early spring months, when the insects from which the millions of others are to be derived, are few in numbers benefit will follow, particularly if precautionary measures are exercised in regard to breeding places. If the energy displayed in late season flykilling campaigns eould only be directed into proper channels during the early spring months, and if people would realise that strict cleanliness and the immediate destruction of all filth and garbage are essential throughout the year, the fly problem would be largely solved.