Catch Flies in Traps • 1022844979 



A trap 18 inches in diameter and 24 inches high, with the sides and 

 top of screen and a screen cone inside reaching from the bottom 

 nearly to the top, is most effective. The legs should be about 1 inch 

 long. The frame may be made of barrel hoops and laths or of metal. 



Place the bait beneath the trap in a shallow pan about 4 inches 

 smaller in diameter than the base of the cone and 1 inch deep. Use 

 any substance attractive to the house fly as bait. Blackstrap molasses 

 diluted with three times as much water makes good bait. Milk and 

 fruit waste are also suitable. 



Set traps where flies naturally gather — usually on the sunny side 

 of a building and out of the wind. Keep the bait pan well filled and 

 wash it out occasionally. When the flies become piled more than a 

 fourth of the way up around the cone, empty the trap. If you turn 

 the trap upside down before opening it, you can shake the dead flies 

 out without letting many of the live ones get away. 



The number of traps required depends on the size of the premises 

 and the abundance of flies. On a city lot 1 trap is usually sufficient ; 

 on a farm from 3 to 10 traps may be needed. 



Destroy Flies by Various Means 



Electrocuting devices that destroy flies have been developed. Al- 

 though such devices cost much more than conical traps, they require 

 less attention. 



Flypapers, fly poisons, and swatters are useful for destroying occa- 

 sional flies in homes or food-handling establishments. The safest 

 and most effective poison consists of commercial formalin, 3 table- 

 spoonfuls to 1 pint of milk or water, and a little brown sugar. Put 

 some of this poison solution in a' small glass jar, place a saucer hold- 

 ing blotting paper upside down on top of the jar, invert, and insert 

 a piece of matchstick under the edge of the glass. 



Exclude Flies With Screens 



After you have prevented fly breeding by every method known and 

 killed or destroyed as many flies as possible, there will still be flies. 

 Foods in public places, as well as in homes, should be protected. 

 Screens are indispensable in places where foods are kept and are essen- 

 tial for protection from flies in homes and many other places. Fit 

 screens well and make screen doors open outward. In humid climates 

 screens of copper, bronze, plastic, or one of the rust-resisting alloys 

 are recommended ; in dry regions galvanized or painted ones are sat- 

 isfactory. Screens with 14 meshes to the inch will keep out hpif£e% 

 flies, but 16-mesh screens will exclude other insects also, ^y^ ^^ 



2 More details on the construction and operation of traps ape giVen in Farmers' 

 Bulletin 734, Flytraps and Their Operation. *n 



U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1950 



For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office 

 Washington 25, D. C. - Price 10 cents 



