Not too long now till the weekend, and sunny or not people all over the country will be dusting off their chargrills and buying in the burgers for their barbecues.
In the UK we have to make the most of the fleeting British summer.
But to make your event go with a swing, you want your garden buzzing with atmosphere and not flies.
The pests are everywhere at this time of year and they’ll be particularly attracted by all the uncovered food on offer.
Flies carry over 100 pathogens
There’s nothing worse than a fly buzzing around you and landing on your meal while you’re trying to eat. And worse still, is that flies can spread disease when they land on food – they are capable of carrying more than 100 pathogens, such as those causing dysentery, salmonella and parasitic worms.
Flies taste with their feet, which means they crawl over the food; then liquefy it with regurgitated food and saliva – basically they vomit over it. If that wasn’t horrible enough, while they’re there they might just defecate on it too.
And, of course, before they landed on your burgers, chicken drumsticks and sausages, they could have been buzzing around the dustbin or feeding on some dog mess in the street outside.
Prevent flies with a few simple steps
You can help keep flies away by taking preventative measures such as:
- covering all food (barbecued or not)
- cleaning liquid spillages immediately
- making sure all dustbins have tightly sealed lids
- cleaning up after your pet – faeces are a perfect breeding place for flies.
To help get rid of flies there are a wide variety of products available such as fly sprays, fly papers or plug-in products.
If you think you have a more serious problem, professional help may be required to guarantee complete control of a fly infestation.
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