flys

[r.bartlett]

My neighbour has recently had a compost bin put down the bottom of her garden. Now the garden is swarming with fly's

What -if anything- can I do to keep the fly's down

Cheers

Richard

[Tim S]

Shouldn't be *that* many flies. There will be some, but I haven't found it excessive even after priming my bin with freshest horse eggs. My garden is the size of a postage stamp too.

Is she putting unsuitable materials into the bin such as fish and meat products?

Tim

[Tim Downie]

Make sure you bury her deep enough. ;-)

Tim

[OG]

Does the compost bin smell ? If not, the flies are probably coincidental. If it does pong then (as suggested by Tim S) it't probably due to fish or meat etc in the heap. A word in her ear might be worthwhile as it will only attracts rats _into her garden_.

Are they house flies, or little mozzie type things? - if the latter, it may be more likely due to someone else having put a pond in recently.

It's probably late for this year, but you could put up some bird boxes and try to attract natural predators - better still, why not try a bat box (like a bird box but without a base and no hole on the front).

[Heliotrope Smith]

As far as I know flies do not produce down. This is usually produced by something a bit larger than a fly, like some kind of duck. You can keep this.

[R]

Installation of a large mosquito net around and over the bin while all the flies are near it will trap them for you to feed to your lizard...

You *do* have a lizard don't you ?

[rrh]

Arf arf Ms Truss!

[John]

Where on earth do you get horse eggs??? :o)

John

[Bob Eager]

From a clucking horse, silly! :-)

[Sylvain VAN DER WALDE]

Fly = Singular Flies = Plural :)

Sylvain.

[Mary Fisher]

From mares.

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

uk.rec.gardening is