The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Beeducked on April 02, 2014, 11:33:22 pm
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So spending a lot of time in the lambing shed but I am being eaten alive by midges etc. At this time of year!
So what is the best insect repellent people use?
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A mosquito/midgie jacket with hood!
I suffer terribly with midgies and I have tried every lotion and potion ever conceived and none worked but now I can be out and about with out getting eaten, it does get a bit warm in it though.
it is early for midgies though, we haven't got any yet......famous last words probably!
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After trying a few different things that didn't work very well and made me smell like a tarts handbag. I found this and it works for me.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mosi-guard-Insect-Repellent-Cream-100ml/dp/B009M3Q8RU/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1396504624&sr=8-11&keywords=mosiguard (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mosi-guard-Insect-Repellent-Cream-100ml/dp/B009M3Q8RU/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1396504624&sr=8-11&keywords=mosiguard)
If anyone knows of anything to stop clegs biting let me know. I don't like those little sods at all.
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Mosiguard is what works for me too. I live in midge heaven - seriously, you sometimes can't breathe for them and I have to have screens on the windows.
I spend the summer (May - Sept) totally doused in Mosiguard. It lasts about 8 hours too, which is helpful. Skin so Soft works for about 15-20 mins.
I do have a midge jacket for a quick foray outside without the 10 mins Mosiguarding up...........
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100% deet works! but mind it on plastics, it melts some! -fir this reason I tend to spray on old hat and jacket rather than my skin.
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Deet certainly works, but the day I came in, answered the phone, and then realised that I'd dissolved the phone screen that had been against my face, I started to wonder if it was really something I wanted on me so regularly......
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Smidge (or Smidge that Midge) to give it its full title
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smidge-That-Midge-Insect-Repellent/dp/B00413715E (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smidge-That-Midge-Insect-Repellent/dp/B00413715E)
Midgies absolutely love me, and yes I've already been bitten a couple of times this year. I have tried everything in the past from natural bog myrtle and citronella, to 100% DEET and yes it does melt plastics (and is banned in some countries due to long term liver and kidney damage) Avon Skin so Soft is also one I have used.
But I was given some Smidge last year and was extremely sceptical. However it actually worked. It was developed by a team of midge researchers at Edinburgh Uni knowing what they did about Midge physiology so I guess they had a head start.
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Best solution is to buy a train ticket 150 miles south!!
I visited Kilder once - and was denied any more than 1 night stay on the camp site by a lady spraying insect repellent. That night I overheard in the pub that ambulance crew refused to drive onto the campsite but did take 2 scouts with bites away to hospital. Rubbish I thought.
Next day I had to stop at a pharmacy in the borders - felt so ill I could not drive then spent the remaining 2 weeks of a holiday in and out of cold showers !
That was the last time I ventured north of Watford.
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I know a few people who swear by this, I'm planning to get one this year...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermacell-Appliance-flying-insect-repeller/dp/B0031ESIVK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1396696064&sr=8-4&keywords=thermacell (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermacell-Appliance-flying-insect-repeller/dp/B0031ESIVK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1396696064&sr=8-4&keywords=thermacell)
I've also used these (below) myself and found they work really well - I usually get bitten non-stop, but not when I used these. The only downside being the cost of buying them if you need to use them a lot.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000RTJCL2/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2B5U9PRPV5CBL&coliid=I221CF7XKB56S6 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000RTJCL2/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2B5U9PRPV5CBL&coliid=I221CF7XKB56S6)
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By pure coincidence I've just seen this on Facebook... Gotta be worth a go!
HOMEMADE MOSQUITO TRAP:
Items needed:
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 gram of yeast
1 2-liter bottle
HOW:
1. Cut the plastic bottle in half.
2. Mix brown sugar with hot water. Let cool. When cold, pour in the bottom half of the bottle.
3. Add the yeast. No need to mix. It creates carbon dioxide, which attracts mosquitoes.
4. Place the funnel part, upside down, into the other half of the bottle, taping them together if desired.
5. Wrap the bottle with something black, leaving the top uncovered, and place it outside in an area away from your normal gathering area. (Mosquitoes are also drawn to the color black.)
Change the solution every 2 weeks for continuous control.
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Smidge (or Smidge that Midge) to give it its full title
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smidge-That-Midge-Insect-Repellent/dp/B00413715E (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smidge-That-Midge-Insect-Repellent/dp/B00413715E)
Midgies absolutely love me, and yes I've already been bitten a couple of times this year. I have tried everything in the past from natural bog myrtle and citronella, to 100% DEET and yes it does melt plastics (and is banned in some countries due to long term liver and kidney damage) Avon Skin so Soft is also one I have used.
But I was given some Smidge last year and was extremely sceptical. However it actually worked. It was developed by a team of midge researchers at Edinburgh Uni knowing what they did about Midge physiology so I guess they had a head start.
Hi - I am still up in the Shetlands but have already had a couple of bits, and will soon be going to the West Highlands and Western Isles. I have put in a bulk order for Skin so Soft and Vit b tablets and patches, but as I am extremely susceptible to bites and have bad reactions I was interested in the Smidge also. Their website seems to be non functioning - do you know where I might get some? :fc:
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Yep Midges are out in Midlothian already. Been bitten in the house and ended up coming in early yesterday as they got too much. Might try the skin so soft. A friend has a home-made recipe, I need to get it from her and give it a try.
Dans
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I have tried skin so soft and helped but not enough, ended up putting so much on the midgies just slid off me!
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:roflanim:
I tried a repellent once and the blighters all congregated on my eyelids which was the only bit of me I hadn't smothered.
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Smidge should be available on Amazon or is now stocked in almost all outdoor activity shops, Tiso, Cotswolds etc (and at campsites)
I'll be stocking up again this year.
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do you think the traps would work for non biting midges?
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You mean like gents and ladies traps? The female of the species is more deadly than the male :innocent: