You guessed it: flies despise cloves and lemon due to their strong smells. For us, however, these natural repellents are quite aromatic. To create this decorative and natural repellent, you'll need a lemon and 6-12 cloves.
Eucalyptus oil is a good option, but you can also use lavender, citrus, pine, clove, peppermint, and thyme essential oils. Most flies hate these scents, so the oils will act as a fly repellent.
Use Citrus Peels
House flies – along with ants, fleas, roaches, silverfish, mosquitoes, and many other insects – abhor the smell of citrus oils. The peels and zests from oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, and other citrus fruits contain limonene, a potent insect repellent that kills on contact.
The formulas and oils that kill most pests can be pungent, and citrus is a neutral smell that most people find pleasing. Since it is not exactly effective at killing or even repelling flies, it is not necessary to add it to homemade pest sprays if you have other pleasing scents like peppermint or cinnamon.
Scents that they're particularly opposed to are the strong, pungent odors, like clove, lavender, mint, lemongrass, eucalyptus, rosemary and citronella. Apply a few drops of these oils to strips of cloth to make DIY fly paper, or spray your deck and patio to keep flies away from the periphery of your home.
Cinnamon – use cinnamon as an air freshner, as flies hate the smell! Lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint and lemongrass essential oils – Not only will spraying these oils around the house create a beautiful aroma, but they will also deter those pesky flies too.
A mixture of apple cider vinegar and dish soap can help you trap flies and kill them. Mix about an inch of apple cider vinegar and a few drops of dish soap in a tall glass. Cover the glass with plastic wrap, secure it with a rubber band and poke small holes in the top.
Citrus fruits, with their tough rinds, may offer a physical barrier and refugia for larvae against parasitoid wasps, thus causing them to be highly preferred by gravid female flies.
Keep Bugs Away Lemon and Cloves
Stick cloves into lemon halves and place them in a bowl. Bees and wasps do not like this smell combo and will stay away.
Keep pests away
Many common insects such as ants, spiders and cockroaches are sensitive to smell, which is why lemons are so useful at deterring these and other insect pests. Mix a 50/50 solution of lemon juice and water in a spray bottle and use in your kitchen, baseboards and windowsills.
The taste and smell of garlic or lemon juice can be pleasant, but bugs don't react well to it. Most bugs are offended by the scent of allicin, a component found in garlic. The acidity and odor of lemon juice serve as an unpleasant boundary no bug wants to walk across.
Afraid of shadows
The flies looked startled and, if flying, increased their speed. Occasionally the flies froze in place, a defensive behaviour also observed in the fear responses of rodents. The shadows even caused hungry flies to leave a food source, when that was presented during another phase of the experiment.
Common house flies are attracted to decaying organic filth such as feces and rotting meat, whereas fruit flies seek sugary substances and feed more commonly on overripe fruit, spilled soda, and alcohol.
Natural fly deterrents
Flies hate the smell of essential oils like lemon grass, peppermint, lavender and eucalyptus – put a few drops in a spray bottle and use around the house daily. They also hate the smell of camphor (a traditional moth deterrent) which you can buy online, cloves and cinnamon.
These flies lay eggs on the surface of the fruit, causing small scars in the lemon peel. The eggs hatch into small maggots that enter the lemon to feed on the soft, juicy flesh, ruining the fruit. Monitoring and sanitation in the garden are crucial steps to preventing Medfly attacks.
The lemon scent, which repels the bugs, is powerful.
Spiders do not like citrus, lemon is a perfect, safe solution. Rub lemon peel on your windowsills, bookshelves, or corners where spiders may like to hide. Some people even rub the lemon peel around door frames or garage doors.
The smell of lemon is pleasing for most people, and this citrus fruit has long been used to eliminate unwanted odours in the home, but that's not all it's suitable for. Insects absolutely hate the aroma lemon juice gives off and its astringent properties are harmful to most types of bed bugs.
The active ingredient in the fly spray acts as a neurotoxin, which interferes with the fly's nervous system.