Back in the days when things were far more simpler and people were trusted to play safe with all sorts of dangerous machines and chemicals there was a simple solution to killing flies, it was known as fly spray. It worked pretty well with a small spray capable of taking out the entire room of flies whilst creating a bit of a stink and if you weren't careful killing the goldfish. Much easier than a swatter and far more aesthetic than fly paper, it even worked pretty well on wasps and other insects.
Then along came health and safety and the number of things we were trusted to do for ourselves came under increasing state legislation until everything became so safe (and expensive) as to be almost to the point of being useless. (Look up the great DDT scandal if you want a prime example) Today we have weedkillers that only work after almost a week and not as I remember being able to see the results after a couple of hours tops with plants almost going deformed before your eyes.
We also come to the nub of my problem, we've had superfly buzzing around the house for a couple of days now, bugger is fast and quite resilient to current chemical toxins, means I can't get close to swat the little sod and a whole tin of today's useless flyspray has failed to even faze the bastard, I honestly think I'd have done better throwing the tin at it rather than waste my time trying to spray it.
I'm halfway tempted to buy one of those uv bug zappers just to see if like Frankenstein's monster it is resilient to large doses of electricity too.
Anyone know of a fly spray that actually works pretty much instantly any more without seeming to kill them by kindness? I know Raid works after a fashion, but I seem to remember spraying a fly and watching it go into paroxysms almost immediately not half an hour later.
Any ways I'm off hunting with a rolled up newspaper and hoping for a bit more luck.
Normal blogging will resume tomorrow.
Update morning of the 6th of August. Bastard thing is still alive, gone to work and left Lady QM to deal with the little git.
Update morning of the 7th of August. Superfly is no more, despite surviving everything I and Lady QM could throw at him/her (literally at times) it was unable to survive being digested by the dog.
I love my dog.
Friday, August 5, 2011
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7 annotations:
I find that a spray tin of RAID does the job pretty well, even on the most persistent of bluebottles..has them jerking upside down within minutes.
I'm glad I'm not the only person to notice that virtually every modern "Green" product is substantially less effective that its predecessor...
Try http://www.amazon.co.uk/Servisol-Adhesive-120-Multi-Purpose/dp/B000U0YHEK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1312544550&sr=8-2 - it don't kill 'em but it does stop them buzzing around :-)
Try Spray-Starch QM ..
Great fun watching the buggers "glide" stiff-winged into walls & windows ..
Plus, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that the last thing which went through its mind .. was its arsehole .. ;)
Spray starch Thats a good one captain I use hairspray on wasps. Im petrified of the buggers and need an instant takedown.
Me mam bought me a little electric device in the shape of a tennis bat. I got a big flying thing with it last weekend in the backyard but the bugger just shook itself off and flew away
Up to now I've always used Sodium Chlorate to kill the weeds on my drive, but it has been banned as unsafe by the EU. The only danger that I was aware of was that it could be used to make bombs, but I'm told that no self respecting bomb maker would use it these days. The replacement costs about ten times the amount, and reading all the warning notices on the packaging (use gloves, don't get it on your skin, avoid inhaling the spray, never exceed the stated strength), I find it difficult to believe that it is safer that something that to my knowledge has been used for 70 years. But then we have to support the German Chemical Company which is the main supplier of the approved chemical.
Speaking as someone who was in horticulture i can appreciate what's being said here,the EU is responsible for most of what has been removed from sale ,sometimes justified,but it has been replacing these items were the problem lies,in agriculture most has been replaced satisfacturely but for the average gardener they haven't and the gardener has been left with "all in one cures "from a small group of manufacturers at great cost ,and with no generic alternatives,most of what is available is horrendously expensive on anything larger than apatio.
There is one item where money can be saved ,glysophate concentrates are available in 5 and 20 lt forms at certain outlets (not garden centres or DIY stores) and although the initial outlay is more the saving for anyone who uses a lot of the stuff is considerable,depending on the mix up to 10x over retail packs,im afraid the commercial fungicides and pestides are not available like this.
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