{"id":1732779,"date":"2022-01-11T15:08:31","date_gmt":"2022-01-11T21:08:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?p=1732779"},"modified":"2022-01-11T15:08:31","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T21:08:31","slug":"pennies-in-a-bag-of-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/pennies-in-a-bag-of-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Hanging Pennies in a Bag of Water Really Keep Flies Away?"},"content":{"rendered":"During the height of the summer months, pesky flies can ruin an afternoon on the porch with a glass of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/collection\/favorite-iced-tea-recipes\/\">iced tea<\/a>. The bacteria-carrying pests are persistent, even with an artillery of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/collection\/products-that-keep-bugs-away\/\">insect traps, repellents and other devices<\/a>. Because we're collecting every trick in the book to keep flies at bay, we're sharing one unusual idea: pennies in a bag of water.\r\n\r\nLearning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/collection\/8-ways-to-make-sure-you-never-see-a-bug-in-your-kitchen-again\/\">how to keep bugs out of your kitchen<\/a> is one thing, but keeping them away from the porch proves to be more challenging!\r\n<h2>Why Do People Hang Pennies in a Bag of Water?<\/h2>\r\nAccording to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wideopencountry.com\/seen-plastic-bags-hanging-from-your-neighbors-porch-heres-what-that-means\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wide Open Country<\/a>, zip-top bags filled with water and a few pennies adorn many restaurants, porches and doorways in the South to keep flies away.\r\n\r\nSupporters of this DIY fly repellent claim success based off a couple of theories, but the most popular has to do with the mechanics of a fly's sight. The eyes on a fly are more complicated than human eyes; for flies, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.orkin.com\/pests\/flies\/house-flies\/house-fly-eyes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Orkin<\/a> says their eyes are compound, or made up of thousands of individual lenses that are <em>very<\/em> perceptive to changes in light.\r\n\r\nSo, when light hits the bag of water filled with shiny pennies (or even pieces of aluminum foil, in some cases), the thought is that it refracts and confuses the insects. Overwhelmed, they fly away and hang around somewhere else.\r\n<h2>Does It Work?<\/h2>\r\nThis is up for debate all over the internet. Some people swear by it, sharing success stories on blogs and Facebook, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/fly-bye\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Snopes<\/a> says that scientific experiments show it may not make a difference.\r\n\r\nI can't say for sure, since I haven't tried it myself. It's currently winter where I'm writing from\u2014with snow on the ground and a -25\u00b0F windchill\u2014so not many flies are buzzing around. In summer, though, this is a trick that I'll have to put to the test.\r\n\r\nYou may also want to try <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/how-to-keep-flies-away\/\">hanging Irish Spring soap to keep flies away<\/a>!\r\n\r\n[cf]skyword_tracking_tag[\/cf]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Not a fan of loose change? In the South, some people swear by using change in a bag of water to keep bugs at bay!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7801,"featured_media":1732996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[303797],"categories-v2":[308432],"coauthors":[340598],"acf":{"ncv_override_generic_settings_option":false,"ncv_autoplay_option":"","ncv_stickyplay_option":"","ncv_ads_option":"","ncv_mute_option":"","ncv_comscore_option":"","ncv_moat_option":"","ncv_autoplay_mobile_option":"","ncv_viewable_threshold_option":"","ncv_sticky_offset_option":"","ncv_autopause_option":"","ncv_sticky_offset_mobile_option":"","ncv_autopause_mobile_option":"","ncv_sticky_mobile_option":"","ncv_remove_player_option":false,"long_pin_file":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.3 (Yoast SEO v23.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Do Pennies in a Bag of Water Really Keep Flies Away? | Taste Recipes<\/title>\n\n\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/pennies-in-a-bag-of-water\/\" \/>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Do Pennies in a Bag of Water Really Keep Flies Away? | Taste Recipes","description":"In the South, some people swear by using pennies in a bag of water to keep bugs at bay. 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As a contributing writer for <em>Taste Recipes<\/em>, she uses her reporting background and digital knowledge to research, write and fact-check articles on popular fast-food chains, new products and TikTok food hacks. Hannah is an experienced content strategist too, which helps her create user-friendly content and check Google\u2019s SEO boxes. When she\u2019s not writing, you can find Hannah cooking some form of chicken or pasta, baking something sweet, cozying up to <em>Gilmore Girls <\/em>or at Costco buying Liquid IV for her next marathon.","twitter":"","instagram":"","facebook":"","public_email":"","linkedin":"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/hannah-twietmeyer-9b0165181\/","tiktok":"","youtube":"","location":"Milwaukee, WI","school_and_year":"University of Wisconsin","education":"University of Wisconsin-Madison, bachelor's in journalism, reporting emphasis","highlights":"<ul>\r\n \t<li class=\"ewa-rteLine\">5+ years of experience working in print and digital journalism with bylines at Taste Recipes, Mashed and Madison magazine<\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"ewa-rteLine\">Has written more than 150 pieces for Taste Recipes<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","expertise":"Food News","short_bio":"Hannah is a writer and content creator based in Milwaukee with a passion for all things food, trends and food trends. 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