MILLIONS OF FLIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19831, 29 December 1927, Page 10

MILLIONS OF FLIES.

SUMMER PEST !N HOMES.

DANGER TO PUBLIC HEALTH.

CEASELESS WAR ESSENTIAL. Hordes of house flies have invaded Auckland. Every summer they arrive in their millions, but this year, aided by the long period of hot weather, they have come in greater numbers and they constitute a serious pest, chiefly because in their midst are numbers of large blowflies.

The fly is generally looked upon as being inevitable, one of life's little troubles that must be borne philosophically. But even in small numbers they can constitute a very real danger to public health. Flies are so small that they cannot be combated with UlO same methods employed against rats or other similar pests. They are more numerous than mosquitos and just as dangerous. Flies must feed, and the best way of exterminating them is to allow them nothing 011 which to feed. They carry numberless germs 011 to the foodstuffs, which draw them like a magnet, and in this manner are responsible for many diseases common during the summer months. And they live on filth, where they multiply in their thousands. Flies should be kept out of the house, and luckily the cost of keeping them out is not heavy. All foodstuffs should be kept securely in safes and cupboards into which tho insects cannot penetrate and every door and window in the house should be well screened. The importance of perfect screening cannot be over-esti-mated. Local bodies provide for the frequent collection of refuse in the city and suburbs, but rubbish, while it is waiting for collection, should be kept in a garbage tin which is provided with a well-fitting lid.

Any combustible refuse should be burned without delay and the exterior of the house, as well as the interior,, should be kept scrupulously clean. Perfect cleanliness may mean a little extra work, but in the long run it is well worth while. If their numbers round the house can be reduced by cleanliness, the risk of disease is minimised. Screening may not shut out every fly from the interior of the homo, and for the few that aro bound to enter drastic measures should be kept in store.