Buzz Off: Buzzing Flies!

What makes flies buzz? Is it people inside a house trying to sleep?

Most summers, we have our share of flies sneak into the house. With three kids and two adults cycling the exterior doors and window screens that don’t fit all that tightly into the window frames, a few manage to invade our abode. This summer, however, has been horrid. I can go on a fly-killing spree and end the day with a kill total of 10+ and still find a few buzzing around in the living room the next morning or worse, dive bombing me during the night.

I finally decided to shut up the house and go completely on air conditioning. My rationale was that even though we would still have the same number of people opening the doors, they might shut them quicker so the cold air wouldn’t escape the house. Plus, there wouldn’t be gaps between the edges of the screens and the window frames for the flies to gain entrance that way!

I’m only killing 5-10 flies each day, but there are still 1-2 in the living room in the mornings and one that I have to lure into the bathroom to swat at before I can try to get to sleep at night. BZZZZZZ. BZZZZZZ. BZZZZZZ. I wondered last night if I was imagining the noise because I had heard it all day or if it was real. (I’m still not sure, but I’m leaning toward the insanity plea.)

And, just to add insult to injury, I broke the fly swatter this afternoon . . . Just snapped the handle right off. I’ve had to resort to rolled up newspapers and books to clear the noisy things out of my way tonight.