Flies and Bin Smells: Keeping Maggots Out of Your Garbage Bin
Posted on: 2 August 2016
Summer is coming and with it comes the hot sun, the fresh fruits, the long awaited barbecues…and pesky flies buzzing around your bins. Flies enjoy the garbage bin during summer; there's a lot of rotting vegetables and waste food in there. They want to lay their eggs directly on waste food, since it's a great breeding ground for them. These common unwanted house guests can be dangerous because they transmit pathogens. Failing to eliminate even one single fly can lead to a maggot infestation in no time at all. The good news is that you don't have to be a pest control expert to get rid of the flies and maggots.
Coat the inside of your bin with fly repellent scent
Flies don't fancy the scent of bay leaves, eucalyptus leaves, mint or vinegar. Hang small bunches of crushed bay leaves outside your garbage bin. Apply vinegar or essential oils on the bottom and around your garbage bin rim. This will also get rid of the unpleasant bin smell.
Line your bin with a thick garbage bag
Thin or weak garbage bags are prone to punctures from bones and tough kitchen waste which leads to a leaky garbage bin, the fly's dream nursery. Request thick garbage bags from a bin hire company if you're dealing with tough kitchen waste on a daily basis.
Can't find thick bags? Not to worry! Use old, wadded up newspapers to cover the bottom of your bin. They will absorb any leaking fluids, minimizing any mess that would attract a breeding ground.
Keep your garbage bin clean
Create a cleaning session for your garbage bin. An ideal time is after your bin hire company has emptied all the trash. A simple solution of water and vinegar should work magic. It should kill all the maggots left in your bin as well as get rid of flies since vinegar is a fly repellent. Apply this solution with a scrub brush and clean both the inside and the outside. It's important to leave your bin in the sun to dry completely. Leaving moisture trapped inside will only make another breeding ground.
Contain smelly food scraps
Seal smelly food scraps such as fish in smaller plastic bags before throwing away into a larger bag. You might want to double bag it if you want to go the extra mile.
Make sure your bin is placed in a well-ventilated area to keep the flies away.
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