Yes, they actually work. Really, really well. The reflections off the water confuse the eyesight of any bug with "prism" eyes (not the correct term, but you get my meaning), so they stay away. Flies, wasps, they all stay away.

I put one up over our back door last summmer because I have small children running in and out all day and didn't want to use anything toxic to keep flies etc. away. It worked well for us, didn't keep every fly out but it made a huge difference.

Also a hanging CD works. I want to get small mirrored balls to hang to look less tacky than a CD. I also bought a round bottomed clear glass hanging vase to detract them, I haven't put it out yet though.

An old gardening book I bought the other day swears that keeping pots of Basil growing near the back door will keep houseflies away. No idea on the plastic bags though.

I have heard about the basil also, but do not know if it works. A lot of the hole in the wall type of Mexican resturants in Texas use the plastic bags on their patios, so it must work.

Gosh no.

People in Japan also put water-filled 2 liter bottles out to scare cats away. Just because they do it, doesn't mean it works.

Uh-oh, have we forgotten the vast complexities of the English question mark? Soo, yeah. Questions end in question marks.
AT, plllease. Sorry for the jab. I know I'm being a pill and that some of your readers (and "writers", apparently) are totally not concerned with these kinds of offenses, but to many of us this kind of stuff seriously PAINS. This is a blog about aesthetic. Language use is elemental, and shouldn't be slopped around like lazy short hand. Sometimes I read a post and get the feeling that its author wrote it on a(n embossed $8 post-recycled) napkin in the middle of a fever dream and typed that bad boy out first thing in the morning without giving it a second thought.
Somebody should do an AT hack site that eliminates all the text and just posts the inspiration pictures. I would look at that.

PLEASE EMPLOY EDITORS.

I got nothin what for that sack of fly water.

@mxjohnson - Cats are not flies. There's an actualy scientific reason why these work on flies and many other flying insects, and yes, they do really work.

They do this at our local fishmonger. I figure if it works there, I should hoist a plastic bag next time I am grilling out and shooing away the uninvited flies.

when we lived in fly-infested oakland, we took a few crystals from an old chandelier and hung them from a thin line and let it dangle in an open doorway that was otherwise the only means of cross ventilation... worked pretty well, especially for the circle-flies... the dive-bombing horseflies often zoomed past them. while not as effective a a closed/screened door or as dastardly as a can of raid, i feel that it was indeed better than nothing. also, if a crystal falls, i'm not having to worry about mopping it up.

i used to work at a doggie daycare, and we had those in the run where the dogs would poo. i don't think that they worked all that well. or maybe dog crap is just too tempting for them, they risk the scary water bag?

I like your thinking, redneckmodern. Perhaps we'll hang chandelier crystals or miniature disco balls on the trees outside our screen-free windows to discourage the flys from entering.

hmm I'm not sure if this will work with houses with flies already in them, but my kitchen this week has been conquered by fruit flies...will most definitely try this out with all the windows open. I'm sure any solution will keep my bf from turning into a lovely shade of hulk green whenever he does the dishes~ thanks!!!

I planted Basil and Mint, both of which I read may help, and they haven't seemed to bother the flies at all.

I thought the 2L pop bottles were supposed to get in the cats' way, not scare them away. But... my translator's english wasn't great so I'm not sure.

Put out a pot of cheap (but strong) booze and the flys will all be sleeping during your picnic. But the snoring can drive you crazy!

Right outside my back door is a forest of spearmint and basil... and the flies don't seem to care at all about it. They come right on in.

Ha- I worked at an outdoor restaurant in Savannah, GA and they were believers in this system....I had to try to explain the logic of it to many tourists. I do not think that it actually works. We had 8 to 10 hanging around a small space and the flies were as bad as ever.
I think that it is an old (southern) wives tale....

This is too funny, it bring backs memories of hot summers in Mexico. I first saw this done by relatives their when I was a kid and found it odd since it does not work.

I have a giant basil by my back door and it has no effect on flies at all.