bugs eewwwwww

Daily Life, Swiss News and General Topics
1
What is it with all these bugs?? It's too hot to shut the windows but if we don't our apartment is crawling with them! I seem to spend all my time removing dead bugs off every windowsill every morning. Yak!

2
Ummm. You're kind'a living up to your user name... what exactly do you mean by bugs? At the last count there were about 100,000 invertebrates in Europe, so could you be more specific?

3
Ha ha just loads of little fly. I thought they were gnats at first but as I haven't been bitten ( and I would have if they were ) they must be.

I meant mustn't be.

4
Fruit flies?

Are you leaving fruit or anything they can breed in (bread is another bad one)? It doesn't take much and before long you have a proper cloud of them. Also house plants - they like the damp soil.

However, if the bugs are coming from outside, get some fly-screens for your windows. You don't have to cover all the windows, just pick some strategic ones around the house/flat that will provide you with a good through draft.

5
We think they are attracted to the lights tbh.

6
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

7
Fly screens will still prevent them for getting in, even if they're attracted by your lights; they'll just flap around outside and keep the moths, etc. company.

But do check that they are coming in rather than lurking in fruit or plant soil, if they're in the soil they're a real pain to get rid of.

8
Why don't you put mosquito nets on your windows?

This is always the first thing I do when I move into a new apartment (anywhere in Europe I have lived so far, including the UK, not just in CH)

You get them at every large DIY store.

9
Yep - leave a light on in a room where the windows are open and it'll become a bug flying invertebrate night club at this time of year.

Keep the windows shut in any room where you have a light on, and then open them and turn off the lights just before you go to bed. Problem sorted.

10
I think that's probably a good option. I'm sick of mopping up dead fly lol. Looks like hubby has more work to do😜

11
They sound like flachwichserfliegen: this has been a really bad summer for them, especially in the Zurich Oberland.

Try liberally smearing honey on your outside window frames. That should encourage them to stay outside rather than come in your flat.

Please let us know how you get on with that solution.

Good luck!

12
How are these nets installed? Can they be removed easily without a trace? I am very interested in installing the nets.

13
Honey keeps only the males out, but it's the females that crawl underneath your eyelids at night to lay their 200 - 400 eggs.

14
Get a UV insectocutor - 9,90 from Landi.

UV light attracts them, then they get zapped, when they fly into the electrified mesh.

A slightly more expensive version even has a fan to draw them in and help them on their way into the electric chair.

Otherwise, good old fashioned fly paper.

Has anyone mentioned the over abundance of earwigs yet?

15
Eh, didn't quite catch that.

16
There's loads of them - every time I move a plant pot (on rollers), on my patio, about 20 - 30 of the buggers (mostly tiny, young ones) start scampering around in all directions.

17
DB, are you the local advocate for the wasp protection society? I know bees need to be protected, but wasps and hornets and other stingy flying objects buzzing about the windows licking honey off the woodwork I'm allergic to their stings, extra paranoia.

We have Flachwichserfliegen, they aren't anything to reckon with compared to the regular Fliegen that the neighbouring cows attract. I have tried studding apples with cloves and setting them around - I think it helps...SWAT

18
One solution I've seen down the back end of Glarnerland is to hang plastic freezer bags full of water from the top of the window frame. I kid you not!

I have no idea what kind of science or witchcraft lies behind it, but it does seem to work quite effectively.

They have some strange ways down here...

19
Citronella tea lights may also help.

20
I've seen that too - if you look more closely I think there is a magic 5-rappen coin that creates a reflection in the water that the bugs like