Our first batch of fly control arrived in the mail a few days ago.
Yep, we use fly predators. We started using them three or four years ago and each year we have fewer and fewer flies. Last summer it seemed like there weren't any. This year will be challenging because of all the rain we got this winter. 31" of rain to date this season. The annual average up here is 13".
The baggies arrived last week but the little wasps (yes, they are wasps - fly larvae eating wasps) hadn't hatched yet. Today, they were ready to go. The little specks towards the top of the bag are the wasps. The bigger clumps are the material they hatch in and their egg sacs. I receive a bag of these little guys once a month from March through October. I get a double dose in March (to jump start things) and in August (peak fly month here). Some wasps do survive the winter, but adding to the population each year just means fewer flies.
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| First I find a spot close to where the horses like to manure, but protected by something like a fence post. |
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| Using my heel, I scrape a little spot in the dirt. |
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| I drop a handful of fly predators in my hole. |
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| Then I kick a little bit of dirt over the top to protect them from birds. |
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| Jackson and Flash discuss what I'm doing. |
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| Jackson wants to know if I'm planting a Good & Plenty tree. Flash looks a tad alarmed. Bugs??!! in MY pasture! |
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| By one of the fence posts, I find moss. MOSS! This is Southern California for heaven's sake! We don't do moss here! |
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| When I go into Kalvin's paddock, he barely looks up from his hay. He has a healthy appetite, that one. |
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| Doesn't he look all clean and shiny? Katy was up today to visit. |
We do have to be careful with this fly control system to not kill the predators. So, we don't use a fly system in the barn although we did in the past. This is more effective. I also use a fly repellant on the horses that is not an insecticide. It smells great and the flies land - but then take off again. ...the few flies there are, that is.
I try to be as organic as possible with my gardens and the horses. Brett rolls his eyes but he goes along with me most of the time.
