$"IN* Midges

quarryman · *$"*IN* Midges

Ok, so apart from Napalm are there any other ways to deal with these little feckers.
We were doing very well, so far this year, they would only come out late in the evening, so I could work away in the garden all day. Then, two days ago I was working on the polyshed and clouds of the little ba*$"%*s decended. I was eaten alive and even my wife, who never gets bitten, was covered in red dots within minutes.
So now we can only work in some parts of the garden when it is breezy or raining.

We use Autan spray,[ works for a while,] Feverfew leaves, the local population of Pipestrelle bats [very effective].

So any other ideas or methods apart from "Nuke the Feckers".

Still scratching in South Sligo...................

blowin

Yeah , really bad these past 2 days .
I still swear by Nivea "Soft" ( intensive moisturising cream ) . Not only is it very good as a barrier against bites , you can smear it over your eyelids and in your ears and any other sensitive place the little buggers get to ! Trouble is that when they are that thick they tickle you to death anyway . I tried a liberal coating of Tea Tree oil beneath the Nivea -- seemed to help but still no fun .
As you know , I bought one of those expensive " Midge-eater" machines . The bag they get sucked into holds about 1/2 litre and it was stuffed full to overflowing in one night . That must be tens of thousands of the beasts .
That has just reminded me that I put them into the deep freezer to kill them quickly because I need the bag back . Better get them out before MOH goes there !
I once had a spare bag . When it was full I put it on a shelf in the barn and something ran off with it in the night . Must have been a lot of protein in there I guess Laughing

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quarryman

Was reading in "Exploring Irish Mammals" by Hayden and Harrington, that Pipistrelles eat approx 3500 insects each, per night, most of which will be midges.

We have a couple of colonies here so I must encourage them to breed and multiply.

We love Pipistrelles !!!!!!

lofty

you should visit the gardens at the castle at glenveagh national park. I spent some time working there, never seen anything like it, 24/7 midgies. We had to wear nets over our heads to work. They have some sort of system thats attracts them that clears them for two hundred yards around.

quarryman

Blowin has one of those up at his place. It certainly works but I think he needs another ten to do the job !

blowin

As you say !
Here is a pic of the bag of midge I mentioned earlier --- removed from the freezer and displayed on a dinner plate . That is 2 nights' catch . They weigh about 11 oz / 300 g . According to the manual the m/c only catches the females so every one of those little feckers is a biter Twisted Evil

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The m/c was expensive to buy and costs about 40 euro a month to run but you can see that it would sometimes be impossible to work outside without it .

lofty

that is amazing. there is nothing worse than the midge. they have ruined lives . 40 euro a month is a small price to pay for having all your blood

tringle

Does smock get rid of them. OH uses that as a excuse to light a cigar on Sunday evenings in the garden

quarryman

Won't get rid of them but will keep them away while the smoke is about. At the barbi the other evening, when we sat to ea,t I put Sage, Rosemary and Oregano leaves on the coals and the smoke kept the midges away and smelled quite nice.

GB

Try rubbing yourself down with a drier bounce sheet, it works for gnats where I grew up and they are just a sand midge.

quarryman

Good one. It will be the best I have smelled in years Laughing

BT Graney · Midges and all thing bitey

I'm so glad to hear it's not only me who gets eaten alive. I have had to go to the doctor's twice with blood poisoning from, I think, horse flies! My arm swelled up like a balloon and about a month ago my right hand looked as though I had elephantitis! I find that any 'natural' cream doesn't work for me. It has to be 'Jungle Formula' with Deet! It's so expensive too.

Last night I was sitting weeding our parking space with 2 citronella candles about under my nose and one Christmas Candle that gives off some sort of pong. It worked for a while but then the attacks came again.

Someone told me about some Avon body cream so I duly bought some. It smelled ghastly and didn't work either!

I need some sort of full net body suit. I have tried working in an old bee keeper's net but you can't really see through it very well. I think the device mentioned, expensive or not, would be worth it if it kept them off me!!

blowin

blowin · Re: Midges and all thing bitey

BT Graney · Bitey things

Thanks for all your advice Blowin. I might give the cream a go before I shell out for the machine. A kilo is an awful lot of midges!!

God in his wisdom made the fly
And then forgot to tell us why! (Ogden Nash)
xx

quarryman

Blowin and family going out to strim Laughing

blowin

blowin

Pleased to report that the fish in the pond only took a couple of days to get used to the sort of iceburgs of dried midge I have been floating across it . They now come onto feed straight away and take them with an aggressive rolling swirl . Difficult to see the fish in this dirty water but I am pretty sure they are putting on weight . Still no more than 6 oz at a guess but something bigger went across with a pretty impressive bow-wave ...

GB

You might try packaging them for the tropical fish trade, as you have them in such numbers they might get you a penny or two. After all, it sounds like they have had their pound of flesh off you so "turn abouts fair play" Wink

BT Graney · Midges

I am truly considering getting one of your midge gobbling machine.

Yesterday teatime/evening I ended up weeding with a bee keepers hat on. I did look a picture and, being green, I couldn't see much through it, but it certainly kept the blighters off me! Our neighbours came up and fell about in hysterics! Can't think why....

blowin

GB

TASTE THE WILD
100 % natural dehidrated midges
sutable as snacks for cold water and tropical fish
use as part of a ballanced diet

BT Graney · midges

There you go, job done!

GB

Oh, BOTHER Exclamation

I forgot to say local Laughing

can you call them organic?

Graney

GB

true enough but can you say organic without some sort of bloody stupid paperwork to back you up Rolling Eyes

blowin

Those labeling suggestions are great but I wonder whether it would be sufficient to meet "the Regulations", whatever those are . All of the products I inspected gave the same sort of detailed info so I imagine it is a statutory requirement .
In fact it has become academic because I have also discovered that the dried midge re-hydrate quite quickly then take on a most peculiar smell . MOH went nuts when she found the first batch in the freezer so I am abandoning this particular project ! Laughing

But that one was actually Plan C / Wink

Plan A/ would almost certainly have led to physical assault ( on me ) so that is out too Laughing

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Plan B/ will definitely make a few euro for little effort . I just need to check something then I'll tell you what it is and you can try it too .
Plan D/ is an enlightened refinement to C/ and should , I am sure , earn something but involves some preliminary graphic design . Nothing too fancy -- probably within any home publishing package -- but a little beyond my own capabilities . So if anyone would like a serious chat about that as a joint venture with minimal set-up costs other than time , drop me a pm if you are daft enough Wink

Camile

Just bumping this one up to help about the midges control machine ..

*$"*IN* Midges

Midges and all thing bitey

Re: Midges and all thing bitey

Bitey things

Midges

midges

$"IN* Midges