DG Names.....What's your real name??

wow never saw a green bee before ..... thanks for the info

Ha green bee ryhmes with queen bee.

So now I know why green bea casserole is so popular !

You eat green beas in Long Beach?

One time we had an English girl who came to work with us one summer in the field. She tried to tell the cook - a southern black woman and very traditional southern cook - how to make Yorkshire pudding, which the cook made for our evening meal.

When she served the "yorkshire pudding" the cook said to the English girl,

"You eat this stuff in your country?"

I think that particular yorkshire pudding lost quite a bit in the translation.

I remember an episode of "Northern Exposure" when they were wearing and eating garlic to stave off the bugs. Don't know if there is any truth to it.

Not for me. Tried that too.

Welcome to all of the newbies, have been away, read the thread about Carrie, do not know what happened, anyway I am glad it is back to normal! Clemen

The Skin So Soft lotion works pretty well for me, and I rub it on my dog Molly's tummy to keep the little bugs & fleas off of her when we're in the woods and it does a great job for her.

It has been said (and I have no evidence to support this) that mosquitoes will bite through your clothing, but black flies will not.
So, if that is true, then long pants and sleeves will give protection. Not much help if it is hot. I think I have tried this and I still manage to get bit. It is much worse than a mosquito bite.
Also, another bit of totally useless information, we have 40 species of black fly in Maine.
My main defense is still Deet. They bite about 3 weeks here and will start biting about 2 weeks after you first see them.

when i had my horse .... black flys can bight through jeans as well as skeeters

ya'll have some pretty intense bugs where you are !

JD - when i lived in Yorba Linda, there was a flying beetle that usually showed up in late April to end of May, or at least that's when i always noticed them. They made a humming sound while flying - sort of similar to how a substantially sized housefly might sound, and loud enough to hear from the other end of my house. Do you have these in your area? I was living on a christmas tree farm at the time, so i don't know if this beetle had a preference for Firs or what...

cicada?

Katye...yes, those are the 747 beetles I referred to a few posts back.
They're actually beautiful when you see them up close...the flouresent colors are amazing.

Gloria: No cicadas here...but they do have them in the mountains and foothills here, but not the huge swarms I've seen them in, in videos, etc.
Those suckers are LOUD !

sounds like our June bugs to me, JD

Never saw one up close, but heard them: they always sounded like they were approaching the runway.
cicadas - used to see them in Northern California by the orchards. They are very loud & BIG. But the biggest bug i have ever met were the Buffalo Roaches in Hawaii. I think they wear Nike's.

I love cicadas, picked one up to show DH, and he wondered why I would touch that, but didn't like spiders.

I can't stand those things! YUCK! We were at a party once and they were like kamikaze dive bombers! My brother thought it was funny to tie a thread to it and watch it fly...

I don't have a pic of it, but I found this online. I remember the ones here to be more iridescent green.

Anita - while we don't have any mosquito problem (a few bites is nothing compared to what some people have), do you have those dumb summer flies? They sit there while you can go and get a fly swatter and come back for them. The other ones I hate are the ones who bite and then change biting spots - much like what was mentioned above - the sweat flies but these don't go for sweat spots - anyplace will do.

I only have an empty shell.

that is creepier then the live look

We get "may flies", in May of course, along the Mississippi. They are so thick they need to be plowed off the bridges, they are a hazzard! When they are out, it looks like it is snowing.(At night in headlights). Becky

Plowed off the bridges? Wow.

Cicadas are the music of the summer in the deep south.

My black flies don't sound so bad, now. Boy, they are out in force today.

I agree with debilu - "Plowed off the bridges". That's too much like Hitchcock.

...maybe they should try importing bats! ☺

Anita, that is certainly a boy type of thing to do. My brothers tied a june bug with a string to the kitchen light.That poor bug flew in circles all night long. I had a fit and made them untie it.

Did he fall down from dizziness??

I think he fell down permanently.

On the subject of flying in circles, anyone know why bees do that to you when you're walking along? Suddenly start flying in fairly close circles around you? It's kind of unnerving, especially if you're allergic..

Yes it is. I've had a huge bumblebee hovering about 1 ft over my head for the past few days.

It's the bees just tempting you to hit at them......it's their double dog dare.....and if you do strike one, it's an open invitation.

Hi 2Zeus.

Double dog dare. Funny Sharon.

Hi Polly...Yep, you can't turn down a double dog dare, you know.

And especially not a triple dog - even when it involves your tongue on frozen metal...

Oh I did that one! But the worst one was, "Hey gloria, stick your hand down this hole and see what's in there!

O.K. I said.

I smelled like skunk for a month.

Sounds like the normal male childhood, Victor.

We always just double dared, what's the difference between a double dog dare, and a double dare, Sharon? Probably just about 800-900 miles. But maybe putting that dog in there makes it really daring.

Yes, I never heard about a dog dare until I saw Christmas Story.

Yep, I'm right. Here's a quote from a website I googled.

"I remember, only faintly, that as a child (about 70 years ago) we used the phrase I dare you, which was a mild challenge. I double dog dare you was a challenge you couldn't dismiss since, if you did, you were really "chicken". Where does this come from?"

It goes on further to say, the worst is "I black dog double dare you".