I am being plagued by flies at the moment around the house and yard, apparently all the neighbourhood is, so before you ask its not really a house/garbage issue, but more how do I stop them coming into my kitchen or on my food when out on the deck?

My neighbours have one of those electric devices with a blue light, but I could not see myself electrocuting flies, besides that sound is no pleasant to me.

Is there a humane way I could trap them, or lure them away from my food to a place where they can more happily do their business until they decide to go elsewhere, which in my experience they will do.

P.s. My cat maybe in fly catching heaven at the moment in terms of exercise, but given her catch rate is about 5 before she concentrates on something more interesting like a good 'spit bath' I can't see this as a long term solution.

In all honesty, there isn't really anything that you can do to simply catch them to take them somewhere else. Flies have such short generation cycles that the many flies you aren't catching can replace the few you do in no time. You also can't lure the all away. The only thing you can do is take a method that would harm them. The bug zappers really are more for night because it would be a light source in the dark to attract them. A better way for daytime is to have many of those long cylinders that you hang up. They are covered in a sticky substance that they can't escape from, but has a smell that attracts them like sugar. Given you don't want to kill the, you are just going to have to wait it out. Make sure that there are as little points of entry for them as possible to your home. if you notice there are little spots along the corners of your window, plug them up with something. Just inspect your windows and doors for stuff like that. I lived in an area with a fly problem and was swatting well over 200 a day in my living room alone. I saw almost none when I plugged up my windows when I found spaces that they could enter from. 

If I'm thinking of the right thing, the best thing would be to either store on a flash drive or save it under a folder. Hope this helps..

rcarter2 : you have an excellent point and true for that matter.

There really is no way to get rid of them without them dying by some kind of use. One way I use is fly paper though. just cover the sticky paper with something sweet like honey and they will be stuck. They eventually starve to death once the honey is gone

Me and family use a lot of sticky paper and cover it up with some sweet like syrup and once they get to it, they get stuck there and dies after a few minutes....

Have tons of fly paper and stick them all around your house and that is the end of those bugs lives! Just because they get stuck permemantly.

I would just take a wasp trap and put bait in it and see how that works. I don't think it would be that hard to catch flies non lethally. I've done it even when I don't want to.

Another alternative my family and I would use is some fly bait and lay it where the flies can get to it and eat it.

When i used to go to scout camp and we had too many flies, you have to get a 2 litre bottle of coca cola or other drink and cut off the top of the bottle and put it back on the other way around so you have an inverted top of the bottle. Take the lid back off fill it with strawberry jam or some other cheap and sweet substance but not all the way of course, not even quarter, just enough for the smell to get around. Put the top back on and leave it.
 



The flies become attracted to it but cant get back out because they can only get out through the tiny hole they came in through. Once in scouts we caught no fewer than 12 in one bottle which was crowded as it was, then go out in the garden or for us deeper into the Forrest and let them go by taking the lid off, be careful you don't catch a wasp though because it will still you in anger after you trapped it for so long.



Good luck.