It's not an observatory, it's a home for over-wintering flies...

[JamesF]

Once Autumn had started to get a bit colder I discovered my observatory had become a home for hundreds upon hundreds of flies :(

I took a hoover down and did my best to get rid of as many as I could, but today when I opened it up for the first time in months during daylight there are even more of the little blighters!  I actually went out there to swap a scope over and even discovered them hiding in the spare mounting holes of the dovetail clamps when I removed one of the OTAs, but they're all over the place -- many dead now.  They're hanging off cables, tangled in velcro cable ties, between stacked flight cases, in the centre holes of spare counterweights and all sorts.

For now I'm going to have to get the hoover out again, but this summer I think I'm going to have to work on making it a bit more fly-proof somehow.  Perhaps I can get a few "observatory frogs"?

James

[mikeDnight]

It's a strange thing. I used to observe from a friend's run-off roof observatory which was actually little more than a garden shed, except I wasntballowed to call it a shed. It stank of creosote, as did I after a night's observing, but it was also full of spiders, moth's and the occasional woodlouse. When i built my 8' by 7' roll off roof observatory in 2011, I expected that before long it too would have plenty of unwanted wickies move in. For some strange reason it didn't happen. I'm not sure if its because the structure is built from 3/4" ply glued and screwed, then clad externally with white tongue and groove plastic cladding, hence there are very few gaps through which to gain access. Or, if its because I've lined the internal floor and walls with interlocking exercise matting. The matting had a rubber odour initially and may be it still does and i just dont notice it? But perhaps these qualities are the reasons i seem to get very few unwanted visitors. You could try sealing up any gaps and cladding the floor and walls with the exercise matting to see if it keeps your little pets away.

This pic is from about four or five years ago, but the observatory looks just as good today.

[JamesF]

I think they must get in around the edges of the rolling roof.  Everything else is pretty well sealed up.  I even have an EPDM "gasket" around the piers where they come through the floor.  I might look at getting some of those draught-excluder "brushes" for garage doors and the like and fitting those around the edges of the roof to seal it more effectively.  I have vents in the walls anyhow, so there should still be sufficient airflow to keep the damp out.

And it would also keep out the wasps and hornets that think it might make a nice home for the summer.

James

[banjaxed]

You could try ultra sonic pest repellent plug ins. Earlier last year I was really fed up with the amount of cobwebs in the garage as they seemed to reappear as quickly as you got rid of them. I bought a pack of 6 and put 2 in the garage and the rest in different places in the house and to my surprise they actually work. We rarely see any spiders (or webs) and they are supposed to deter most insects and even mice. If I recall the pack of 6 was about £10 - 12 so it would not cost a lot to give them a try.

[JamesF]

I didn't even know such things were available :)

James

[Tiny Clanger]

Or, Gran's favourite, fly papers !

I wondered if such a thing still existed ( having seen various Agatha Christie style mysteries where the poisoner boiled up some fly papers ...) but just put the words into amazon * it came up with 200 suggestions.

Not much use at the moment, when the little horrors are snoozing through the cold, but might be worth while trying to stop next winter's unwanted squatters !

Heather

[JamesF]

52 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

Or, Gran's favourite, fly papers !

Good point.  I'd completely forgotten about fly paper.  They might catch wasps, too.  Not sure about hornets though.  Probably needs extra sticky fly paper for them.

James

[Tiny Clanger]

I knew a photographer (back in the days of film ,and skillful hand printing) who, annoyed by a wasp in his darkroom one day and unable to easily leave his printing session, zapped it with the only spray to hand : spray mount 🙂

Stopped the buzzing, entombed the wasp, but did make the floor sticky ...

Heather

[DaveL59]

I've seen a few in the tropics use the old trick of hanging strings soaked in lighter fluid and then coated with sugary substance. Flies do seem to like settling on verticals, not so much tho when stuck to it and it gets lit...

[discardedastro]

The ultrasonic things are fairly useless. UV fly zappers are the way to go - there are loft versions that have an automatic cut-off when the tray fills up. Obviously switch off before observing but a cheap smart plug will sort that out.

I would look to brush strips for sealing around moving portions. They'll make a very fly-proof barrier without inhibiting movement.

[Davey-T]

Need more spiders 😂

Dave

[maw lod qan]

Mine is not sealed as tightly as I would like.

Believe me, you dont want the frogs or little lizards to help with the flies. 😖

[aderyn]

They sound like they might be cluster flies, and they are very difficult to deter once they have found somewhere they like. We had an infestation in a dorm room at my workplace, which was mostly unoccupied, esp through the winter, and they kept coming back year after year. They gathered in the windows and we tried washing down the woodwork  with bleach in case there was some sort of residual scent drawing them back. Citronella didn't work, either. The room/building was impossible to completely seal, unfortunately. Try googling 'cluster flies - there's lots of info on there, and no guaranteed solutions, it seems, but plenty of pest control firms who will happily take money to try.🙄

[JamesF]

4 minutes ago, aderyn said:

They sound like they might be cluster flies, and they are very difficult to deter once they have found somewhere they like.

They'll have to make it through winter alive first :D

I think I've noticed a couple of different species, but I'm not sure.  I'll have to check what they look like before I get rid of them all.

James

[aderyn]

4 minutes ago, JamesF said:

They'll have to make it through winter alive first

I think I've noticed a couple of different species, but I'm not sure.  I'll have to check what they look like before I get rid of them all.

James

Ha - those we couldn't sweep out of the windows, we hoovered, I'm afraid. Next year, back again..... yuck.

I believe there are two or three species which are classed as cluster flies - but I suppose it's always possible there are some more interesting/less horrible ones hibernating too.

Good luck!

[stubeeef]

lots and lots of fly paper

[Chefgage]

Am I going mad or did I read this thread ages ago even though it's showing as started on Monday???

[JamesF]

29 minutes ago, Chefgage said:

Am I going mad or did I read this thread ages ago even though it's showing as started on Monday???

Don't worry.  You're going quite mad.

:D

James

[F15Rules]

19 hours ago, aderyn said:

They sound like they might be cluster flies, and they are very difficult to deter once they have found somewhere they like. We had an infestation in a dorm room at my workplace, which was mostly unoccupied, esp through the winter, and they kept coming back year after year. They gathered in the windows and we tried washing down the woodwork  with bleach in case there was some sort of residual scent drawing them back. Citronella didn't work, either. The room/building was impossible to completely seal, unfortunately. Try googling 'cluster flies - there's lots of info on there, and no guaranteed solutions, it seems, but plenty of pest control firms who will happily take money to try.🙄

If they are cluster flies, try this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B010E2GZGQ/ref=pe_3187911_189395841_TE_3p_dp_1

We had an infestation of these really annoying black flies in one of our sash windows upstairs (we had only had it replaced 6 months before)...every morning there were more, despite us hoovering them up every day, usually between 10 and 30 flies, and all leaving their poo on the window too!

I did some research and this product seemed to get the best reviews, so I ordered a litre bottle (the minimum quantity I could find). It cost £14.95, so not that cheap, but one application, on the sills, sashes and sash lift rope holes, and within several days they were gone...we saw a couple of stragglers but within a week or less, no more cluster flies: and we haven't seen any since - that was March 2020 just around the time of  the first lockdown.  In our experience, this stuff really works!

Dave

Edited January 27, 2021 by F15Rules

[Chefgage]

1 hour ago, JamesF said:

Don't worry.  You're going quite mad.

James

That's ok then

[aderyn]

4 hours ago, F15Rules said:

If they are cluster flies, try this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B010E2GZGQ/ref=pe_3187911_189395841_TE_3p_dp_1

Thanks, Dave, I'll file that for future reference - always good to hear of confirmed results from these sort of things.