"David Rance" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 18 Sep 2010 Sacha wrote:

Went down the lottie this afternoon and have come home with about 20
bites. The buggers even got through a long sleeved top! Anyway, I
recall a discussion last year when an Avon product was mentioned as the
best way to keep the little sods at bay. Could someone please remind
me what it was?
TIA

Skin So Soft. In this country they're not allowed to advertise it as an
insect repellent, as far as I'm aware. But it is. It works, IME.

I'll tell my wife about that. Most insect repellents just don't seem to
work for her and going out into the garden from teatime onwards is just
misery for her.

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
http://rance.org.uk

If she's getting them from tea time onwards and you are not just meaning
midges: I would say you should be looking out for blackfly ('Buffalo Gnat').
They are only 'supposed' to live near running water, but our garden and
allotment are made almost unusable by them around dusk. They are small, and
very quiet and have bitten through your jeans and left a huge weeping
swelling before you realise you have been bitten. (Unlike horse flies which
you can feel bite into you very hard, but in me at least, don't leave much
of a swelling.) Throughout the world they are a menace, and they are
becoming increasingly common here. I sent samples of ours to the NHM for ID
when we first started getting bitten, and they were quite pleased to have
them to help in their battle to find ways to control them. The only
effective control I have found is to come in as soon as the light begins to
fade.

(Interestingly the Wiki says the 'Blandford Fly' version was eradicated at
Blandford with Bacillus thuringiensis - which was the favoured 'organic'
control for cabbage white caterpillars until the GM companies got hold of it
and started sticking its toxin genes into everything, so that eventually
they will just breed resistance to it and the 'organic' gardener will be
defenceless...)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simuliidae

S