Although it is wonderful to have this unexpected sunshine, we are having a real problem with flies and mosquitoes.
Yesterday we had a swarm of bees arrive in our polytunnel. Our neighbour donned his protective gear and came to help, but couldn’t find the Queen. He left a small straw hive, but this morning many of them have died, probably due to not entering the hive and the cold night finishing them off.
We aare not being bothered by wasps as there is no fruit on our trees in the orchard due to the late frost in the spring.
Is anyone else suffering like us.
Same here for the flies & mozzies.
The bitey things are less in evidence, but the flies are making their presence felt.
1 Like
I have those horrible big brown shield bugs, invasive species, so they get squashed
Yes, but they stink of bitter almonds when they are squashed, hence their name stinkbugs.
They are starting to appear here too.
These ons are worse and they kill the little usual stink bugs
There are times when I am glad to be back in the UK
We used to have the same problem when we lived in Stroud.
We had an ultra violet killer in our loft and Jim went up to hoover up at this time of year.
they were cluster flies that came from the cows on Minchinhampton Common.
Every afternoon these past few days the window’s on the west facing side are smothered in flies! When my husband opened the cave door, the same! Most seem to disappear after a while 
Only flies, no mozzies, and the biting ones are not so much in evidence luckily, but earlier they were a real menace and sometimes leave an angry red infection. I always dab them with Bettadine.
We use those - they fill completely in about 2 months.
You can buy them direct from:
They will post to France. (buying direct avoids the dodgy knock-offs on Amazon).
1 Like
Ours seem to be on the East. Strange as the sun comes from the West in the afternoon .
They become notably more numerous when the swallows and swifts have departed for the winter sun…
As you’ve pointed out, there are fewer wasps and hornets this year who consume a lot of flies.
This year has been exceptionally bad (for you) but exceptionally good for me; I’m treating a lot of cluster fly problems at the moment.
Red Top or home made traps, invert the top of a plastic bottle into the base, stick a couple of chunks of raw chicken then half fill with water. The flies will go mental for it. For outside use only.
There are residual liquid insecticides which can be sprayed around the window frames. It should prevent them ‘clustering’ for several weeks. Insecticides or barriers (also insecticides) should be avoided on outside walls, as they don’t just kill flies.
Spraying indoor plants, aquatic plants/animals, pets and children should not be sprayed!
We don’t have as many cluster flies here as we did in Stroud.
We now have cows in our field, so that might account for some of them.
Useful tip ab out the raw chicken, thank you.
We can hang this on the branch of a tree far enough away from the house.
@Rob_le_Pest Do you have a suggestion for a particular brand of insecticide to apply to the inside of the window frames? And if its something I could pick up at Bricomarche or one of the large Carrefours?
You need to search liquid insecticide spray, not aerosol or fogger.
WP stands for ‘wettable powder’
SC ‘suspension concentrate’
PAL ‘Pret à l’emploi’ (ready to use)
the first 2 need to be diluted as per instructions.
Anything with actif ingredients permétryn, cypermethrin or natural pyrethrum, these are all eco products.
You’ll have to search for them. There’s no specific ‘amateur use’ brands I can think of, so not very helpful. The stuff I use is professional use only and not for sale to the general public.
Aerosols or fumigènes will kill insects in immediate contact with the gas, but it soon disperses and is ineffective after a few hours.
Diatomaceous Earth (terre de diatpmée) is ecological and good, but it takes longer than chemicals.
Not very helpful, sorry.
1 Like
Hi Yes, dustpan loads of flies! I found incense sticks burnt on the window cills outside in a tall jar seemed to solve the problem within half an hour!
Good Luck