We found this somewhere on the web and had our doubts, until we mentioned it to our son. He said he has seen it around the south for some time and swears that it works. He lives in an area where the fly’s are bad, so apparently it does work. Can’t check it personally as we don’t have a fly problem here.
Sent to me by a friend…
We went with some out of town friends to Sweety Pies on Sunday for breakfast, and we sat in the enclosed patio section beside the house. We happened to notice a couple of zip-lock baggies pinned to a post and a wall. The bags were half filled with water, each contained 4 pennies, and they were zipped shut. Naturally we were curious!
Ms Sweety told us that these baggies kept the flies away!
So naturally we were even more curious! We actually watched some flies come in the open window, stand around on the window sill, and then fly out again. And there were no flies in the eating area!
This morning I checked this out on Goggle. Below are comments on this fly control idea. I’m now a believer!
Sue says:
Many people swear that a zip-lock bag filled half-way with water and attached over entry-ways will repel flies. No one yet knows how or why it works, but there is speculation that it has something to do with the way the moving water refracts light.
Ann Says:
I did tried the zip-lock bag and pennies this weekend. I have a horse trailer with full LQ. The fly’s were very bad this weekend while I was camping. I put the baggie with pennies above the door of the LQ. NOT ONE FLY came in the trailer. The horse trailer part had many. Not sure why it works but it does!!!!!!!
Fill a zip-lock bag with water and 5 or 6 pennies and hang it in the problem area. In my case it was a particular window in my home. It had a slight but significant passage way for insects. Every since I have done that, it has kept flies and wasps away. Some say, that wasps and flies mistake the bag for some sort of other insect nest and are threatened by this.
Danielle Martin Says:
Maggie Says:
I swear by the plastic bag of water trick I have them on side porch (our house entry) and all around the basement door. We saw these in Northeast Mo. at an Amish grocery store & have used them since. They say it works because a fly sees a reflection & won’t come around.
Just DJ Says:
Regarding the science behind zip-lock bags of water? My research found that each of the millions of molecules of water presents its own prism effect and given that flies have a lot of eyes, to them it’s like a zillion disco balls reflecting light, colors and movement in a dizzying manner. When you figure that flies are basically prey for many other bugs, animals, birds, etc., they simply won’t take the risk of being around that much perceived action. I moved to a rural area and thought these “hillbillies” were just yanking my city boy chain but I tried it, worked immediately! We went from hundreds of flies to seeing the occasional one, but he don’t hang around long.
Craig Says:
I work on several Offshore supply vessels & a lot of them do this. The concept is they see large images of themselves an stay away from that area. From what I see it works very well. You can also try using a 20 oz. coke bottle. Cut the top about 3inches down. Put a little orange or pineapple juice in bottle, about 1 oz. Use a small piece of meat put in bottle. Put the top that you cut off upside down on top of bottle. The smell draws them in and their wings get sticky and can’t come out. Place the bottle or bottles away from entry points because they lure flies to the bottle. Works very well.
Breche.1 Says:
I had some fly’s in my house that I couldn’t seem to get rid of, between the door being left open and the damp weather and so on. I tried this tale of taking a zip-lock putting a penny in the zip-lock filling the bag with water, enough to cover the penny and taping it to the widows of the back door and windows; sounds crazy, doesn’t it.? It works!!!! Now, does anyone know why it works? If you have never tried this and have a fly issue… try this its amazing!!!
Lin Says:
I was in Honduras for a few months, and most restaurants had outdoor seating, on the roof above the tables there were many clear plastics bags filled with water, sorry no penny, or coin inside. I asked why, and the locals said because when flies near the bag they see a fly ten times bigger than they are and will not come near. At home in the states it is a lot more quieter than a fly zapper.
Does it work, you be the judge. Doesn’t cost much to try it.
- P.S. Want to learn more uses for ziplock bags, check it out here.