Midges

Flossie · Apr 19, 2017

The little barstewards are eating me alive

Milking, loading sheep, mowing the lawn.....nowhere is safe

Generally just my forearms as I have the stereotypical farmer tan, but still looks really unsightly-all the red welts on them.
What can I do to repel them?
What can I do to stop the itching?
Cheers, Flossie

mrs mtx · Apr 19, 2017

Flossie said:
The little barstewards are eating me alive Milking, loading sheep, mowing the lawn.....nowhere is safe Generally just my forearms as I have the stereotypical farmer tan, but still looks really unsightly-all the red welts on them.
What can I do to repel them?
What can I do to stop the itching?
Cheers, Flossie

I use apple cider vinegar for my horse :scratchhead:

Flossie · Apr 19, 2017

mrs mtx said:
I use apple cider vinegar for my horse

Do you just squirt it over him?

mrs mtx · Apr 19, 2017

Flossie said:
Do you just squirt it over him?

Ye

No just add a bit to his food but does smell gross

laich · Apr 19, 2017

Probably get some stick for this, but , Avon SKin So Soft, is the best stuff, that I have found. Works better than repellents, containing Deet. I think you have to order it through an Avon rep. I leave that to the wife.

Mrs Holwell · Apr 19, 2017

laich said:
Probably get some stick for this, but , Avon SKin So Soft, is the best stuff, that I have found. Works better than repellents, containing Deet. I think you have to order it through an Avon rep. I leave that to the wife.

I use this and it does work. Can get it on Amazon.

clem dog · Apr 19, 2017

I readyears ago that Avon skin so soft worked. I was slightly embarrassed at the thought of using it but was piping a drain in a mossy place late one afternoon and the midges just got too much so I raided my wife's cupboard and it really does work. It smells nicer than some things that are supposed insect repellent.

RWG Contracts · Apr 19, 2017

Flossie said:
The little barstewards are eating me alive Milking, loading sheep, mowing the lawn.....nowhere is safe Generally just my forearms as I have the stereotypical farmer tan, but still looks really unsightly-all the red welts on them.
What can I do to repel them?
What can I do to stop the itching?
Cheers, Flossie

They don't bother me. I put it down to not showering, don't think they like the smell

BredRedHfd · Apr 19, 2017

Large Havana

milkloss · Apr 19, 2017

I always keep an aerosol of jungle formula in the truck. Had a cow with milk fever one night that rolled into a ditch and had to call the vet for a hand. Turned out to be an African vet and he couldn't believe how bad the midges bit, far worse than back home he said.

Old McDonald · Apr 20, 2017

RWG Contracts said:
They don't bother me. I put it down to not showering, don't think they like the smell

I too find that method works. It is also a good excuse for why the nice ladies do not find you attractive.

Seriously, it is many years since it became (I thought) common knowledge that the Avon product is the one that most people in bad midge areas have found to be best. Like RWG they do not bother me, but I do know of people who have found it effective. I think Avon have never promoted it as a midge repellent.

Flossie · Apr 20, 2017

Thanks all

I went on Amazon this morning and bought an artic load of the Avon stuff (bulk buy discount

) and my mother in law gave me her tub of Jungle formula to see me through till it's arrival

JohnGalway · Apr 20, 2017

I think there's citronella oil in the Avon Skin So Soft (had to be "Forest Fresh" last time I heard) which is what the midges don't like.

Chasingmytail · Apr 21, 2017

citronella doesnt work its a bit of a myth. I find DEET is the only thing that keeps things off me even though I dont like applying strong chemicals to my skin. I find I wake up covered in bites and cant go near long grass and horse flies in the summer. I do spray apple cider vinegar and lemon oil on my milking cow in the summer it does work to keep the flies off while I milk her. I do think they go for women over men and the bites can be nasty.

Old McDonald · Apr 21, 2017

Chasingmytail said:
I do think they go for women over men and the bites can be nasty.

I do believe you are correct with that statement. It is something I heard decades ago, and our residence in various countries with their own individual biters, has always resulted in the same complaint from the ladies - they are bitten and the men are not. Hear similar stories from people from the UK going on holiday to various warmer countries.

Am I right in thinking that it is the female of most, or all, insects that does the biting?

multi power · Apr 21, 2017

I thought they don't like any type of citrus juice

HolzKopf · Apr 21, 2017

Chasingmytail said:
citronella doesnt work its a bit of a myth. I find DEET is the only thing that keeps things off me even though I dont like applying strong chemicals to my skin. I find I wake up covered in bites and cant go near long grass and horse flies in the summer. I do spray apple cider vinegar and lemon oil on my milking cow in the summer it does work to keep the flies off while I milk her. I do think they go for women over men and the bites can be nasty.

I agree. Citronella, oil, spray, candles etc don't work for me. And also I find inserting the candles really cuts down my mobility

Deet is good but as others have said I too dislike the chemical (Gulf War Syndrome and all that). Luckily, down South, we don't have the problems that occur further north and the highlands and islands but it's still irritating (no pun) that a line of lumps appears under the peak of my cap and anything bare arms wise seems to attract every midge, gnat and mosquito worldwide. I actively shun trips or holidays where Dengue or malarial mosquitos roam. Unless you get bitten - and my some quirk of fate most of our partners don't seem to - you can't understand how frustrating it is.
Roll on sterilisation of the female (midge & mosquito) :scratchhead:

scatterbrainedlass · Apr 22, 2017

Chasingmytail said:
I do think they go for women over men and the bites can be nasty.

I've heard it's down to blood type, they prefer my OH over me. He's had them on his hands and wrists near veins before now and his whole hand will swell up. He now wears several layers all summer even when working out in heat! Used to then just go around in a t-shirt in winter but he's getting old enough that the cold seeps into his bones and has started complaining every winter

Courier · Apr 22, 2017

A couple or three cloves of garlic a day and a daily Piriton tablet plus Jungle Formula usually works for me.

Osca · Apr 22, 2017

scatterbrainedlass said:
I've heard it's down to blood type, they prefer my OH over me. He's had them on his hands and wrists near veins before now and his whole hand will swell up. He now wears several layers all summer even when working out in heat! Used to then just go around in a t-shirt in winter but he's getting old enough that the cold seeps into his bones and has started complaining every winter

My Great Aunt Ivy, a formidable lady, had this theory that it was the "sweetness of the blood" that the midges and gnats enjoyed and that some people had sweet blood and were bitten, and others had sour blood and were not. She was a martyr to gnat-bites, unlike our side of the family. She further theorised that being "sweet-blooded" went with being sweet-natured and generally attractive to man and beast, whereas sour-blooded people, like those on our side of the family, were sour to the core.

She was, however, living proof that this theory didn't hold water.

It did get me thinking, though. Genes must play a part; maybe also diet? or immune reaction? Can you get acclimatised to midges?

With horses it is the animal's own reaction to midge bites that causes problems such as sweet-itch - but are these animals also more attractive to midges in the first place?

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