Insect Bites

[sleepyowl]

I got bitten by a horse fly the other day & my leg swelled up to the size of your average water melon, I didn't realise how painful they were I'm now on a series of antihistamines which make sleepy, forgetful & make me English speaky bad. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[Annpan]

Oh, brewers yeast? I've never heard that top-tip before.... and I have some of that lying about somewhere...

I usually just get bitten and get cranky

[MKG]

Oh c'mon, Annpan - what's getting bitten got to do with it?

But yes - the smell of Vitamin B, as in yeast, does seem to put the biters off.

Mike

[Annpan]

Oh c'mon, Annpan - what's getting bitten got to do with it?

Oh you charmer you

[Mrs H]

I got bitten by a horsefly last summer on my foot and it swelled up huge!! I mixed up a paste of bicarbonate of soda and spread it over the bite and left it to dry. It worked a treat, I did it for a couple of days. Apparently it draws the infection out and eases the itching. I used it on the kids chicken pox and it worked a treat for that too!!

[boboff]

I've lost the post with the link to making a horse fly trap, any ideas? Sorry

[Helsbells]

I got bitten twice on Saturday by a horse fly, one on each leg they are so sore and painful, I may try the bicarb of soda solution. I hate horse flies grrrrr woke in the night scratching and have something that now looks like a huge horrible bruise.

[RuthG]

Does the brewer's yeast work for midges too? I react badly to midge bites when in Scotland (and spend the whole summer there when I can), but have never heard of brewers yeast as a preventative.

[RuthG]

I can accept that it changes your smell - it is reccomended NOT to eat bananas in Scotland because the smell from your pores after you have eaten them (that we dont notice) is attractive to the midges.

Will try the brewer's yeast idea. Fingers crossed it works.

[Millymollymandy]

Oh bloody hell, I eat a banana every day and get bitten by our midges here throughout the year! They LOVE me. Awwwww I'll have to keep off them for a bit and see what happens.

[RuthG]

There are midges in Brittany? Last time I went it was June, but weatherwise it was more like November, so I guess the midges stayed in bed! However Im about to go again, to San Potan (about an hour west from San Malo); are we going to be inundated with midges?

[Millymollymandy]

There's midges everywhere aren't there?! I have water, hedges and lots of trees so we have them all year round unfortunately. Can see great clouds of the things.

Watch out for the harvest mites here though - never encountered them in England before but they are a horror during the summer and early autumn here. It's bug heaven here I reckon! Bring your decent insect repellant from the UK cos the stuff sold here doesn't do a thing.

[RuthG]

Thanks MMM.

Note to self: must stock up on Skin So Soft before France.

[Millymollymandy]

It may just depend on where you go and more importantly depend on you - I seem to be a magnet for biting insects and am covered with Jungle Formula (can't buy here!!) from July through to early October and have been bitten by spiders here about 4 times, found ticks on me and found I am hugely allergic to red ant bits, yet my husband hardly ever gets bitten by anything! Yet he's the one that is paranoid about mossies and has to have a bug zapper on at night and spends ages flapping about trying to swat mossies - yet I hardly ever get bitten by a mossie here (neither does he actually) - probably the least of my worries.

[grahamhobbs]

Isn't the brewers yeast (or Marmite) and mosquito thing, a complete myth. Seem to remember (well that's almost impossible for me) something about it arising during the war in the far east. Anyone got a better memory than me?