Tag Archives: Nuptial Flight

Are They Coming or Not??

May 14, 2018 Munchkin 2 Comments

The last three nights we have been anticipating the flood flies; the nuptial flight of the termite queens (sounds very romantic, I know!) but to us it means messy wings and chaos and devastation!! A bit of sobbing too on my part because there is sooo much to clean up. Anyway, in order to overcome this awful time, we get into bed really quickly (say 6pm), close all windows and doors and switch off all lights. This minimises damage and a moaning-bad-mood- Munchkin the day after.

The last three nights, I’ve been making quickie dinners to get into bed early. When Gnome says,

“…what’s for dinner?”

The last three nights, he has been met with my 5 minute quickie dinner:

“…pasta and anchovies, darling.”

(They still haven’t come yet…but they will…it’s just a matter of time…)

Okay, right now the sky is grey and there is the distant rumble of thunder. It “feels” like it should rain which will stimulate the flight of the termites at about 5 to 6pm. Don’t get me wrong…I am not trying to tempt fate…I know they are coming sometime and I would rather be ready for them.

Okay, pasta and anchovies again tonight. We can’t really keep up with this strategy “Quick!! Run into bed” for too long because I only have two tins of anchovies left… 😉

Amusing, Belize

We Survived The Flood Flies This Year!

June 6, 2017 Munchkin

Hello!! On Sunday, we had a huge downpour at lunch time. We both looked at each other and said, “…the flood flies are going to come out tonight.” They usually come out at dusk in swarms, first of all around the house and when it gets dark, they come inside because they are attracted to the light. This is the nuptial flight of the termites when the queen and drones start mating and begin new colonies.

They leave a trail of wings in their path; it’s usually a devastating mess!!

Not this year for us!! We fed all the animals early at 4pm and stuck a hurricane light bang in the middle of the duckie coop. We had a quickie dinner (still entails cooking but not my usual prolonged routine) , showered and were in bed by 6pm. Lights off!! The most important thing is to switch off all lights!! That way they don’t enter the house. The next morning: a few wings were scattered in the window areas but nowhere as awful as previous years! We presume also that the flood flies were attracted to the duck coop light and we hoped that the ducks took the opportunity to feast on them that night.

The flood flies usually herald the beginning of the wet season. Gnome is still busy with construction so we are trying to “get a move on.” It’s a race against time right now and once we get into July, it is usually too wet to get anything done outside. I am lining up the inside chores for wet season already. This is what Gnome’s response to my scheduling:

“…don’t I get a break, woman??”

My response:

“No.”

Amusing, Belize

Get Ready For The Flood Flies!!

June 3, 2016 Munchkin

Munchkin.with.Umbrella The clouds have been gathering for days and we were wondering when it would start raining. This morning at 8am we heard the distant rumble of thunder, the sky turned from light blue to black in an instant and it poured down. We sighed with relief, the ducks quacked happily, the geese honked and the cat couldn’t care less. Get ready for the flood flies. Switch off all lights at 5pm tonight, close all doors and windows and run into the safety of your bedroom (or truck!). This will help minimise the invasion and hopefully this will mean less work tomorrow. This is the nuptial flight for termites. They leave wings everywhere in the after-math of their awakening.

Last Year….Arrrrghh!!!

More.Flood.Flies.in.June

What a mess…

Be Prepared!! We are!! Flood Flies Protocol is in place…that’s why you are getting an early post. We’re off to bed now.

Join us next year for The Flood Flies Day Lottery!

Belize, Farming

Post Flood Flies Freak Out!!

June 6, 2015 Munchkin

The aftermath of official Flood Flies Day is a scene of horror and devastation. There are a few live crawling insects here and there in a background of millions of wings. Not only are they are they on the table-tops, cupboards and floor but they have managed to crawl into every single crevice imaginable. There are wings stuck to food, water, jars, inside boxes and just about everything! They have left no stone unturned in their mass awakening and have truly done their job in destroying all hope of homely, pristine comfort. Instead they have created a chaotic, maddening mess.

And…I am FREAKING OUT!!!

Look at these pictures!!!

Gnome is casually ignoring my nervous twitch and passing it off as amorous winking in his direction (he should be so lucky).

I am trying to reclaim my territories bit by bit and it is a real battle. To add to all this, there was a power-cut at 10am this morning. I had a picture in my head of all the 1000 Watt vacuum cleaners going off at the same time and all the women in Punta Gorda having a massive Post Flood Flies Freak Out (PFFFO!).

This event makes you think that man’s dominance over the environment is precarious at best.

Amusing, Belize, Farming

Official Flood Flies Day!!

June 5, 2015 Munchkin

There are millions of them and I am not exaggerating. They are swarming and surrounding our house and getting into every nook and cranny to invade us. This is the biggest Flood Flies day we have seen and we have been here every year for the last 10 years.

They keep on coming:

As I write, they are crawling all over us, down the shirts and down the trousers. Ugghh…I dislike (using a very light term) that creepy crawly feeling. There are masses collecting around all the lights, flying amock and dropping their wings.

I am worried about the mess of wings in the morning.

All Gnome is worried about is the mass of protein that he did not catch this time to eat.

What a funny world we live in…each to his own worry!

This is the nuptial flight of the termites which like to eat wood and cellulose. I take back my words, in a previous post, when I said that this day only occurred in May. It can occur in June too! Beware of termites if you live in a wooden house (like we do); they can literally eat you out of house and home.

Ok…ready to go to bed!!

Belize, Energy Saving, Farming, Saving Money

Positive Sod’s Law!

June 1, 2015 Munchkin

Gnome’s last words before he went to sleep last night were, ” I intend to work all day tomorrow.”

Activation: Positive Sod's Law. — Activation Sequence: Positive Sod’s Law.

And sure enough, it poured down today so no outside activity was possible. In a funny sort of way, we were trying out a new technique which we have coined “Positive Sod’s Law.” This utilises a statement of intention, the Sod’s Law principle and the fact that the final result is what you inadvertently wanted but managed to get through the convoluted channel of a “Sod.”

Anyway, since the well-pump has “done broke” as they would say here in Belize, we have been on water conservation “red alert.” This simply means that we are on bucket washes.

On a typical “Red Alert Day” we use the following amounts of water:

1) Bucket washes limited to 3 x day each; 30 gallons in total (120 litres).

2) Washing Clothes; 20 gallons (80 litres).

3) Washing dishes; 10 gallons (40 litres).

4) Water for consumption; 5 gallons (20 litres).

5) Miscellaneous; 5 gallons (20 litres).

Total water used up in one day is 70 gallons (about 280 litres as an over estimation).

We have two rain water tanks that store 660 gallons so that each tank gives us about 8 to 9 days of water. This means, we can last about 2 weeks of dry weather before we start on the “Positive Sod’s Law” technique. This is assuming that we get our water tanks filled right up to the top after each rain…this is not usually the case…more the case of one full tank.

Anyway, it rained lots today and the distant rumbling of thunder, grey clouds and flood flies indicate that there is more to come.

We are anticipating the invasion of the termite queens (the nuptial flight) in the house so we are getting ready for an early night. This equates to a mass of crawling termites and wings a-plenty. Just another Manic Monday!!

Belize, Farming, Fermentation

Flood Flies, Full Moon and Roasting Rice.

May 3, 2015 Munchkin

Last night, the first of the “flood flies” came. These are termite queens and fertile male termites on their “nuptial flight,” triggered by the first rains after the dry season. The purpose of this flight is to mate and form more termite colonies; these critters digest cellulose…in order words, they like to eat wooden structures including buildings and decaying wooden matter. So, you could consider them a pest or just part of the eco-system.

These flood flies start swarming in the evening, mostly around houses. They are attracted to light and will get into every nook and cranny of your house, shedding their wings as they come in. They do no bite but have a habit of crawling all over everything, including people and they just get really annoying. Before we sealed up our bedroom, we would have the flood flies crawling on us all night in bed. In the morning, the inside of the house would always be a scene of devastation with literally thousands of wings everywhere. It is a huge cleaning job; in earlier years when I was armed with only a mere broom, it would take me at least 2 weeks to clean up the whole mess. But now, I have my Eureka…thank God for that!

Anyway, I referred to them as the “First” flood flies; usually there is a test run with the first May rains before they come out en masse. Gnome says there should be a lottery for guessing the Flood Fly Day because it can happen anywhere from the the 1st of May to the 31st of May, but always in May! I am waiting with great trepidation, armed and dangerous with my trusty yellow vacuum cleaner! Gnome does not feel so negatively towards these blighters and in fact views them as a potential source of food. He says that one of these days (this means NEXT year…he does not procrastinate) he will make special nets to catch the flood flies, pack them all in a bucket and make miso out of them.

Today we were anticipating another rainy day which meant staying indoors. Gnome had already warned me to keep out of trouble since it was also the full moon and from our experience as medical doctors, the full moon was always a day for complete and utter chaos in hospital. So, Gnome urged me to keep busy and I tried…it was touch and go a few times with mood swings and chaos but we managed to get through it. By the way…we try to avoid making soap on the full moon because it never turns out right. One time, the soap over-heated and exploded into a foaming mess over the counter-top! What a clean-up…never again!

Today, in an effort to keep busy, I roasted brown rice in the oven for 3 hours….every 15 to 20 minutes I had to bring out the rice to stir it around. The brown rice was roasted to a “chocolate malt” and will be used in the flavouring of beer. This will give a chocolatey, maltiness and caramel-like taste to beer…Mmmm…yum!

So far, so good. The internet just went down for 4 hours this afternoon which isn’t too wildly chaotic! We are going to bed early!!

Casa Mascia Apothecary