Know of an effective Bug Repellant ?

[LindaJean]

One got me again bad !
I never heard of a buffalo gnat until we moved to North Idaho a few miles from the river. The neighbors say " Oh those little things won't bother you ".
The first few bites left golf ball sized welts accompanied with flu like symptoms.
This time just one bite on the top of my head made a huge area of swelling. Day 2 I had Cro-magnan forehead , day 3 my eyes were almost swollen shut, day 4 the swelling moved down into my cheeks , and by day 5 my face looked like me again.
I wanted a malaria antidote but the doctor just said take Benadryl and use ice packs.
The wicked little demons bump against the window glass seeking entrance, terrorizing me...
It's sweltering hot but I always wear my hat and improvised long sleeved bee suit,
I need a heavy duty industrial strength repellant - got any ideas ?

[Rockporter]

Sorry that happened to you. We have DynaTraps in our yard. I originally started out with two 1/2 acre ones (one in front and one in back) and it works well. I needed to replace one after about 5 years or so and decided to get a 1 acre one for the backyard. I am glad I did because I am catching a lot of moths in there and these do control the mosquitos. After a rain of course if they can find the tiniest amount of water to breed in they will. I just go about dumping anything I can see that has caught water in it. I use mosquito dunks in the rain barrels too so that helps. Suffice it to say, me the person who is attacked everywhere I go by biting insects get to have a good ability to walk out into my garden and not be bit. But, like I said when the rains come the machine has to catch up to the insects and start it's process over again.

[Setec Astronomy]

Rockporter, do you replace the bulbs every year like they recommend? I presume if you had a 5-year old one it was before they had the LED ones. I got tired of changing the bulbs and mine still worked pretty good even with the dim bulb.

[LindaJean]

Lots of different models I will have to read about, THANKS for the idea.

[Rockporter]

Rockporter, do you replace the bulbs every year like they recommend? I presume if you had a 5-year old one it was before they had the LED ones. I got tired of changing the bulbs and mine still worked pretty good even with the dim bulb.

We only replaced the bulbs when they got really light. The new 1 acre one is the new LED one and the replacement bulbs for that is far cheaper than the original is.

[karstopography]

Sounds like an allergic response to the bites. I looked up buffalo gnat as I had never heard of them and found out all kinds of information. Seems like they are one of the biting insects that get lumped in with black flies and no-see-ums. There’s a Turkey gnat out there also. Lots of species around our great land . Evidently, these flies in general are of economic importance as they can literally drain poultry and livestock of enough blood to cause death. They can get so thick around airways that caged chickens cannot breathe and suffocate. The things one can find with a bit of poking around online.

Chatham, Massachusetts had awful amounts of no-see-ums this time of year. Window Screens did nothing to stop those so maybe buffalo gnats are larger. No-see-ums tore me up there and I would get a bite site reaction, a little swelling. Seems like I remember DEET was effective, as much as I hate putting on DEET sprays.

My cousins that have a pest control outfit around here and install home and garden biting bug control systems that operate on timers. The main biting winged insect here are mosquitos, but maybe there’s a similar option in your area for buffalo gnats. The systems are not necessarily inexpensive, but I hear they are effective.

I douse myself in DEEt or the newer Picardin products when the mosquitoes get especially atrocious. I’m a mosquito magnet, anyone sitting next to me is perfectly safe from being bitten as I get them all.

[bower]

We have blackflies here that bite off a big chew, but the mercy is, they only have a short season usually a couple of weeks when they're really bad. It's not a good time for gardening, even though it's usually just when you have so much to do.
After many years of fighting them off, I just don't go trying to garden on days when they're really bad.
As with mosquitoes, they are said to be attracted to carbon dioxide, and the heavier you breathe/more you sweat the more they gather to bite.
Traditionally we would light a 'smudge' that is a small smokey fire but not sure how that works, maybe confuse their sense of smell. Cigarette smoke doesn't attract them and is somewhat repellent but short term.
When I was clearing land here, I recall being driven indoors by the blackflies, and when I went back outside I saw a big cloud of them hovering over the pile of brush I had just made. So I actually snuck around and did some other things for awhile as they were waiting for me at the brushpile. IDK if freshly cut branches also give off CO2?
Family who isolated here during the pandemic quarantine went for walks in the woods wearing cotton masks - and they commented that this really reduced the amount of blackfly and mosquito attention. So unless you're working hard huffing and puffing, it might help? We wore bug jackets, bug hats, all of those things which they eventually find their way into. Nasty to wear, and unbearable when they get inside, although they stop biting and spend their time crawling on the net looking for a way out. Same applies when they follow you indoors, they quickly get off you and pitch on the inside of the window instead, where they are easily crushed.

[LindaJean]

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That's interesting that insects would be attracted to fresh cut vegetation - something that is continuously underway every time I go out. I've been delaying dousing the garden with fish fertilizer knowing the bugs are going to go crazy over it. They swarmed when I planted the roses adding blood meal, bone meal and Plant Tone.
My bottle of Herbal Armor is almost used up - it smells revolting but I'll have to buy another supply unless I find a more tolerable product.

[bower]

Hmmm I just checked the cabinet and still have half a bottle of something called chemfree "Deflector" insect repellant. I used to douse the brim of my floppy hat, and it did help somewhat, at least for maybe an hour, then you would have to re-apply.
Not good enough for a really BAD blackfly day, but helpful on a moderate day with a bit of wind, dryer and sunnier. These blackflies thrive on muggy weather and there's no relief if it's relatively calm. At least in the wind, they have trouble to pitch on you. Also there are no flies as long as the temperature is below 10C/50F. So you learn to love cold days and the cooler hours in the morning.
The "Deflector" says it contains 7 essential oils and guaranteed Citronella oil 1.3%.
It actually smells pretty nice!

Edited to add: Really good reviews on this solid type, long lasting blackfly repellent at Wayward Chickadee:
https://waywardchickadee.com/products/n ... -repellent
Effective ingredients are similar - essential oils that smell alright to us, but not to the bugs.

[pepperhead212]

I got something from Dollar General early this season, because it was cheap, and deet free. I hated having to spray myself with those deet loaded sprays, to keep mosquitoes and noseeums off of me - if I'd go out just to get a tomato or two, in the heat of summer, I'd be chewed up on the ankles, unless I sprayed that stuff on. I'd usually wait until late, after coating myself with deet, and do everything I had to, starting with harvesting, so that I could take a shower soon, to get it all off.

This stuff has Geraniol (a component of citronella oil) and Lemongrass Oil, plus some other things, and seems to work well against both mosquitoes and noseeums, though, as it says, it is only effective for 2 hours. I have noticed that it lost effectiveness after I went inside, and had dinner, and went back out several hours later, but never noticed it losing effectiveness while out there working, though it's early in the season, and also very dry. Still, I've only used about 2/3 of it, in about a month and a half, and re-applied it later, on many of the days I was out there a lot. I'd put it on the first time over UV blocker.
An insect repellent, $1 at Dollar General. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Update - I just went out for about 20 minutes this evening, but that time of the day that the mosquitoes are becoming very active, when the sun's getting ready to go down! I put some of this on, like I usually do (and as switch hands, I wipe the hands on my clothes, to get it on those), and did not get a single mosquito on me, or any noseeums on my legs, where they usually show up instantly.

[LindaJean]

That's something I totally neglected to do - now I'll make sure to re-apply the stuff after awhile. I don't put it on my skin, just spray it on my clothes and hat . When I got bit I wore my hat all day ,came in from working, went out just one more time to admire my work and forgot the hat = CHOMP !

[lindalana]

2 sides of my house are in the forest, mosquitoes are main problem. I did use dunks and BT in the spring as forest had some ditches/ lakes. It helped although spring was very dry so am not sure on how much.
I do wear double or very loose clothing even if temps are high and wear face mosquito mask when work outside. We did started clearing buckthorn in adjucent woods so now we have more air movement too.
Otherwise I make my own spray with bunch of essential oils and spray around the yard regularly.
I don't know about other bugs but mosquitoes like to stay close, within a mile radius, so clearing up potential growth areas helps tremendously.

[Moth1992]

If what you need is heavy duty it has to be DEET. But DEET is so gross.

I use picaridin, less effective but less gross. Or rain jackets and midge nets. Less confortable but less gross.