midges

Surely its not just up here in the North of Scotland that they are so bad..... Its ideal weather for them at the moment warm and humid

I get them in my garden here in North Yorks because it's quite shady, so I get clouds of the little horrors.

This is perfect weather for them - warm and damp.

OMG - I'm in NE Scotland too and they've been absolutely mental of late, really annoying me and my 2 dogs, biting their faces  hopefully with the sun out today, it'll dry the ground a bit, and keep them at bay a little.

I think we should do a midge meter 1 to 10. 10 being shear hell when they are in your face,eyes up your trousers Screaming point. I remember being well out a hill once in a summers evening after a shower of rain we got out of the landrover and lasted ten minutes. They could use midges as a form of torture!!

Is this a peculiarity for the the northern part of the UK?-I vaguely remember something in the Three Men in a Boat tv show-sounds awful.

We do have the notorious Blandford Fly not far away-which is nothing to boast about

http://www.rentokil.com/blog/the-blandford-fly-is-back/

We used to live in Argyll (Tighnabruaich) and I'm sure  the mother of all midges lives  there.  The only thing which gave us some relief when we wanted to be outside was Avon's Skin-so-Soft oil.  The midges still landed but they didn't bite. All the men who worked outside used it. 

After several years of the dreaded things we'd had enough and left.  I really do miss Scotland, but the thought of the midges keeps me focused.  Where we live now has mountains, lakes and bracken - but no midges.  Heaven....

The people who bought our house use midge machines - one at the front and one at the back.  They attract the midges and leave the house and its occupants alone.  I believe they paid quite a bit for the machines but they work.

I was the avon lady for a brief time and sold gallons of skin so soft and although it worked Id say when they are really bad nothing works!! Its really bad if you have a dog especially a damp one they cling to them and then they come in the house..We have one of those machines at work, Im indoors at that time so I dont know about them.

I Live in west Wales and no it's not just scotland. I noticed clouds of them in January buzzing above the grass. We have several springs popping up here and there, and with the chicken manure I have dotted about on the plottie, They are everywhere. When I go to put the hens away at night, I have to cover up as much as poss. During the day when I am gardening the blighters attack me, so I bruise and rub ground elder leaves or mint and rub that everywhere exposed. Less of a problem then. 

We are in south yorkshire and get our share when it is warm and damp also in the evenings when it has even been dry and sunny, but in the damp it is definatley worse.Though I do think there is something in some suncreams that attract them. The last very hot day we were blessed with my husband put on suncream and he was pestered none stop was covered in bites after out walking. Whilst I forgot to put it on -they left me alone.So I see it that I either keep away from suncreams and risk skin cancer ( but have no lumpy bites)  or have a bit of colour and the bites. Has  anyone else found this happening?  I also find that some repelents attract the midges too .

Just read the other replies - me thinks I will try the Avon idea , wheres my nearest Avon Lady ?

i agree with you lucky.................. On dr's orders i have to use sun lotion factor 50 on the back of my hands and forearms. Why can't some companies make a sun lotion that has insect repellant in it. Like tea tree oil. or sommat similar.

backyardee wrote (see)

i agree with you lucky.................. On dr's orders i have to use sun lotion factor 50 on the back of my hands and forearms. Why can't some companies make a sun lotion that has insect repellant in it. Like tea tree oil. or sommat similar.

They do already-Boots sell one under the soltan range

http://www.boots.com/en/Soltan-Moisturising-Suncare-Lotion-With-Insect-Repellent-SPF50-400ml_1207066/

Oh reading these messages takes me back to many happy holidays in Scotland. I remember the midges very well! The worst we had were at a caravan site near Loch Maree. You just did not go outside after 5pm! Even the dog didn't want to have a tiddle at bedtime because he was swarmed with them. I'm very allergic to bites and my face blew up all swollen and red. What a miserable time we had. We get monster mozzies down here, about an inch long with a very nasty nip, but nothing like Scottie midges!

Grrrrrrrrr  the midge, this is an every day accessorie here in the Outer Hebrides!

Very Fetching  . Miss B x

We have the little buggers in north northumberland. I tend to find that all the various repelents actually attract (well they do on me)I come out in big lumps when bitten by them so much so you could read me if you could read braille. I have used skin so soft and it works (must remember to order some more) 

got bitten very badly last week (Shropshire)  bought a clicker thing from Aldi which gives a tiny  shock each time pressed and really helps the itching and swelling,   very good.  So now I make sure I have anti-mossie prep on before I venture outside !!   

I tried one of those clickers but the bits I get the clicker wont work on I have to be really careful they dont go septic otherwise a trip to the doctors its strange its only the last couple of years bites have got worse ever since I had celulitis the only thing that kind of works is skin so soft trouble is we live on a beef farm and there is a huge shed next to our cottage so flies and midges and any other flying nasties end up around our garden so I just have to balance the amount of bites to the amount of time I have to spend in the garden and my wife only very rarely gets bitten so I ask her to do most of the outside work

skin so soft in the blue bottle from avon works wonders,i do a lot of fishing and other outdoor stuff and never get bothered.and if run out of it i get some american military insect repellent off ebay which is great.