Help! I am trapped indoors by annoying flies. When I go out to garden, I wear a hat and cover myself with Deep Woods Off! insect repellent, but the flies crawl up under my glasses and attack my eyelids. Will I have to buy one of those mesh hoods, or is there a better way?
Those pesky flies
June, not sure if it will help, but you might want to check out this thread:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/722840/
Glenda
Thanks, ggd, but I really hate the smell of vinegar. I'm not sure I'd be able to breathe if I was to wear Vinegar of the Four Theives. I would consider brewing up a batch only as a last resort. Are there some less pungent potions anyone can recommend?
I know insects hate the smell of lavender, so perhaps you could mix lavender oil with some water and use it as a spray?
Steven
When we visited my daughter's boyfriend's (now husband) family cottage on an Ontario lake just west of Algonquin park in late May last year, we dressed in full bug suits when we went out in order to avoid being eaten alive by black flies. Was gonna post a pic, but can't seem to find them. Maybe they are on our old computer.
Steven, I like the idea of lavender oil, as I should think it would be safe to apply around my eyes. The only question is: will it work?
ViolaAnn, I have seen catalog pictures of the full bug suits! The blackflies are much worse here this spring than in the previous two years, whereas last summer it was the deerflies that were swarming. Perhaps these things go in cycles. Next year, maybe it will be a plague of mosquitos, or wasps, who knows? I'd better order the bug suit now...
My Mother swears by the stuff, you just have to make sure its a real essential oil. Theres alot of ones out there that claim to be what they aren't. I hope you find something that works right for you :)
Steven
Thanks, Steven. I'm definitely going to try the lavender oil.
Update: I went to the herbal store and asked for lavender oil to use as insect repellent, and the owner told me that I should NOT apply ANY essential oil to the skin near my eyes, let alone the eyelids. So... I have ordered the bug suit headpiece from the Lee Valley catalogue.
I use "skin so soft" by Avon for bug repellant. No I am not a ding dong lady (well not that kind anyway);+}
Sorry about that June, I wasn't sure how close to your eyes you had wanted to put it. It can be applied to skin elsewhere though.
MQN, thanks for the suggestion, but I did try Avon "skin so soft", and it did not work for me. Ditto citronella-based herbal repellents. I'm one of those "bug magnet" people, and although I hate putting chemicals on my skin, so far I have found Deet-based repellents the most effective (although not 100%). The most annoying thing is that I am married to a man that is invisible to bugs. He'll say "What mosquitoes?" while I am standing next to him covered in them. Short of changing my DNA, I think I am going to have to go with the mesh hood to protect my eye area.
June, we're the same way in my family. I'm the bug-magnet and hubby isn't bothered at all. This time of year I live in my bug shirt. I'm chemically sensitive so try to stay away from the sprays. I bought a better quality bug shirt last year and found I could see WAY better out of the mesh and the hood was roomier to wear a hat and keep the mesh out of your face.
I don't know whether it's the same with you, but we have about a week when the mosquitoes are horrendous, preceded by a week or so of horrendous black flies. Those darned black flies like to crawl up under your clothes, don't they? I'll wear high socks to make them really work for a bite. I must admit I'm too vain to walk around with my pants tucked into my socks like they recommend! lol
So, it is now officially mosquito week and I've got my bug shirt on unless it's windy or raining hard ......or I'm indoors!
Sandy
My method is just to ignore them...although I do come in from gardening with little trickles of blood puring off me......but I never get itchy from bites of any kind...
Sanannie, I have no vanity when it comes to bug protection! I got into the "tuck pantlegs into socks" routine when living in a Lyme disease hot-spot in Pennsylvania. I still managed to pick up the occasional tick when gardening or hiking (behind the ears, behind the knees, and under the wristband of my watch were the usual places to find the little horrors), but luckily no illness ensued from the bites. I have not encountered any ticks since we moved back to Ontario, for which I am grateful, but I still do the tucking-in, just in case. The one item of protective clothing that I least like is the hat, which does horrible things to my hair but is most necessary during deer-fly season. However, I enjoy counting the number of deer-flies stuck to the fly-paper on the back of my hat and squashing the b*st*rds one by one. The record last year was 29 caught in one day. When I am unlucky enough to be bitten by a deer-fly (normally on the neck or between the shoulderblades) the bite itches for a week. What's your secret, threegardeners?
no secret...just too stubborn to admit they're bothering me, I can focus away from them, onto my task at hand. The only time I get flustered is when one or two get in behind my glasses.
My bites always swell up and itch like crazy and that's why I'll cover up. June, no vanity, eh? Okey dokey, how about posting a pic of you with your pants tucked in your socks? hehehe
Sanannie, this weekend I'll arrange for my husband to take a lovely photo of not only my tucked-in pantlegs, but also the wildly unfashionable boots that I wear for gardening! If my mesh hood arrives, I could be wearing that as well.
Excellent! I'll get one taken, too. (don't expect tucked-in pantlegs, though) :-)
Sandy
Now starring in "The Creature from the Blackfly Lagoon"....
Co-starring 'Mosquito Bandito'......
Smart outfit, sanannie! You could be in "Star Wars". I, on the other hand, wearing my oldest, baggiest clothes, would fit perfectly into a low-budget horror movie. I was having a bad hair day, too.
I was having a bad hair day, too - but who can tell! lol Love your boots and your fantastic pond. No wonder the bugs like to hang out at your place!
Sandy
garlic, eat garlic.......
keeps bugs and friends away, lol
heh, heh .... garlic .... So, do you rub it on your skin too? I think my get-up scares enough friends away! ;-) (Can't speak for June, though)
Sandy
I'd love an excuse to eat garlic bread and use more garlic in my stir-fry cooking, but I'd draw the line at rubbing raw garlic on my body. I'm not sure my marriage would survive that!