Hey all, I've been trying to get out and drop some small trees and clear understory to open an area up for planting stuff I want, but we're just being swarmed with little bugs. They mostly don't bite, but they swarm my face, making it hard to see, breathe, and keep my calm.
I can wear mosquito netting over my hat, and that keeps some of them out, but it's annoying and not perfect. I could maybe wear repellent but I'm not sure what to believe about safety and efficacy. We have these electro-paddles for shocking the relatively fewer of them in the house -- mostly fruit flies, and I took one outside to see how it would do. If I stand around in an area for a while, I can thin the swarm, but it just replenishes from the next area over.
Anyway, is this a problem everywhere? What do you do about it? I'm glad mosquito season is over but this is almost worse. And it seems like it's vastly worse in the woods than in the garden. I don't know if that's just where they live, or maybe where there's no canopy, the wind takes them away, or something.
I feel for you Christopher. If your midges don't bite, then they're not as bad as Scottish midges! Thankfully the colder weather of Autumn (Fall) will soon put paid to them, but in the meantime I find ways around them.
I don't know whether North American midges will be similar, but this is how I deal with our local midges:
Know your enemy; it is the female midges that bite - they need protein for reproduction. They lay eggs on damp undergrowth, so don't need standing water. They track their prey with scent, maybe carbon dioxide, I'm not sure. Scottish midges can't fly in more than a very light breeze which is another reason they like the shelter of the trees. They also like low light levels -again woodland gives that nice dappled shade even when the day is sunny.
So one thing I do is avoid working outside in conditions that are prime midge weather. Do something else instead, just like you would if it were teeming with rain or excessively hot. You soon get to realise when it is a bad midge day.
Next, a good midge repellant on your skin - all exposed areas, especially around the ears (they make a horrid whining noise if they get in there). Midge Magic has citronella as the main deterrent so that is one that I prefer. It also is good against ticks, so that is a double whammy.
Thirdly, since all repellents will wear off if you are working, then midge resistant clothing is a good option. I have a midge hood, which can be easily carried in a pocket and put on if taken by surprise, and a full waist length midge jacket with zipper hood. Make sure it is a midge proof jacket. I also have one which is just mosquito proof and the fabric although fine, is not fine enough to stop the midges as I found to my cost. The jacket can be worn over normal clothes and most tasks can be carried out wearing it - like picking berries or pruning. Just be aware that you don't want to catch the fabric on the bushes.
Fourthly dragonflies are great midge eaters, even the sound of them is supposed to frighten the midges away, so if you can put in a water feature to boost the local population, maybe they will tip the balance. They like the sheltered glades in woodlands, probably because their prey does too.
2
