Re: "Helllp meeeeeeee....." (fly trouble)

Chef Juke wrote:
Hey All,

Your cheerful Pacific Northwest Lurker here with a query for the
group.

So, I hosted a benefit Barbecue at my house a few weeks back and ran
into a situation which I ran into a few times at my old house, but
this was the first time I have come across it in our (relatively) new
digs.

When I do a long cook of a lot of queue (in this case, 4 pork butts, 2
briskets and a chicken or two), it seems that besides the neighbors,
the smoke is attracting a major amount of flies. I mean a LOT of
flies. Kinda like an update on Hitch***'s "The Birds" only smaller.

Now, I would really rather not whip out one of those yard sprayers and
tell everyone to cover their plates for a minute while I dose them
with DDT, so does anyone have any suggestions on how to minimize these
unwanted guests?

(and while friend of mine suggested I rent a big fan and blow the
smoke into my neigbor's yard all day while I am smoking, but I would
rather find something a little less likely to get me a punch in the
nose).

TIA,

-Chef Juke
"EVERYbody Eats when they come to MY house!"
http://www.chefjuke.com


I'm gonna ask. (don't be insulted)

You're not running anything on LP gas, are you?

The reason I ask, is because whenever I fuel up the tractor down here, the process has me venting propane into the air for about 15 minutes.

This attracts a huge amount of flies, which evidently think propane smells like a dead body, or something.

Best cure I have ever found for insects is 25 yard-birds. Free ranging, they will clear out every fly, maggot, tick, (you name it) in about 3 days. (Then they can be the guest of honor at your next barbecue.)

If this not practical, try hanging some traps around. Common flies do not have a very great range. 1/2 mile or so, so killing them before they breed can really help down the road. The traps need to be a constant thing. It may take weeks to cut the population down to acceptable levels.

Stop knocking down spider webs. (Except Black Widows)

I also own a little propane powered fogger, which when applied to the yard a few hours before guest arrival, really helps with skeeters.

YMMV on flies.
.

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