flies everywhere!

I have a rental, 4 stories up. Every year this time the flies get out of CONTROL! I know the garbage cans are a big parts of the problem as there are 4 large ones but the problem is my lower levels dont have the issue and thats where the cans are. Its my top 2. my 2nd floor (which is 2nd from top) texted me and told me he must have killed 20 of them. I have tried moving the cans but everyone just moves them back since they dont want to walk to the bottom of the driveway. I do live by the "if youre not willing to put the effort in then deal with it" but its bothering me why this house gets this every year. Ive had the gutters cleaned to be sure there wasnt anything in them they were nesting in. I dont believe there is anything dead anywhere since I have never found any odors (plus after this many years whatever would have been dead would be LONG decayed), and none of my tenants are dirty. I have sprayed the cans with poison and every year place hanging fly traps (the ones they get in and cant get out) to reduce the numbers. It seems to always pass as quickly as it comes as well.
One other detail, the cans are towards the front of the house where as the problem areas are towards the back.
anyone have suggestions?

thanks


one year my 3rd floor said his kitchen window looked like amityville horror so I went by to see it. Sure enough there must have been about 50-100 flies between the glass and screen. I cracked the window slightly and sprayed between until they died and vac'd them out. They never came back that year there.

Just perplexing.

 

Checked with other residents in nearby buildings to see if they have the same issue? We had a fly problem years ago which was solved when we got the city to stop spreading the sewer grease in a field a few blocks away.

 

I know the neighbor on the left one year had TONS of them in his front hedges, cause my first floor showed me, since he used to do the hedges for them. This is on the opposite side. I dont think they were getting into his house though. I will have to check with my new neighbors on the right. Its so perplexing. Ive looked up cluster flies but they dont seem like those. They seem like generic house flies, just LOTS of them.

 

Had a squirrel get into my chimney and die. Like your tenants, hundreds of flies out or nowhere. I'd sweep up and an hour later have to sweep up again. They didn't live long but was annoyed till I figured out the wire cap on my chimney had blown away. Happened 2 years on a row. Had a chimney sweep come out (they also did rodent retrieval) they pulled 8 carcasses out of the chimney. One was still relatively fresh (and ripe).

 

wouldnt they fly up and out though. We have no fireplaces in the the house and the chimney goes straight down the the basement/furnaces.

 

With flies, big or small, it is important to properly identify them as the various species live, breed, and feed in quite diverse situations. The trash cans probably aren’t related to this.

Any chance of a close up photo? The top side will be important to see. There are sometimes stripes or metallic colors. Also important is to see how the wings lay; do they crossover each other or are they straight back when at rest (or dead)?

 

heres the flies, these are the same ones at my cans.

 

It’s a green bottle fly. Could also be blue and another shiny color and it would still be in the category of “blow flies”. Do a search for “green bottle fly” and “blow flies”.

The garbage cans could be a source, or as likely as not they would be at both locations anyway. May or may not be related to interior issues. Possibly dead rodent/bird somewhere in inaccessible area. Sometimes the odors vent to exterior without being noticed. Since you’re seeing them annually, then the dead animal idea may not apply here.

I simply don’t know what to think; the fact that the top two apts see them is a clue to something, but I don’t know what that is. The best way to solve a problem is to find and eliminate the source and such, but all I can come up with is treating the symptoms. Continue treating the garbage cans. I’d also treat the adjacent wall in that area as they will roost there. Find a residual spray labeled for interiors and lightly treat the affected wind sills, frames, etc. That won’t repel or prevent, but the quicker they die, the more relief the tenant gets. The active ingredient- Bifenthrin is a good one, among others.

Search the internet for ideas; consider taking specimens to the local county extension agent (I say this a lot, but I use them too), as you would be getting local advice. Keep us posted with anything you find as I’m interested.

 

thanks, I treated the windows and wall area there to. I do believe theyre coming from out to inside as that year my tenant had them in the window there would be no way for them to get through the glass to the space between so they must have come through the screen. I climbed out and looked in the gutters in the area to and they had some moss and debri so likely thats a source but I didnt see the flies. I asked the neighbor on that side as well and he said they were dealing with lots as well.
My other thought is there is a sizable area in the back that has a lot of lawn debri dumped there like sticks, leaves, grass, etc etc. They could be nesting there or perhaps there are dead animals in there. I have searched the attic in the past and found nothing, not even flies up there but bombed anyway.
Its always perplexed me as they come, then go almost just as fast but those couple weeks are awful. my 3rd floor I usually blow off because there is a skylight right above the can area and I know they fly in there, but I have not found an entry way for the 2nd unless theyre coming in the cracks around the window AC's and through their vents.
I did read up on botflies a bit previously, thanks for the tips as always!