On Sun, 19 Sep 2010 Spamlet wrote:

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.

(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...)

No, not eradicated. Here is what the wiki actually says:

"In the late 1980s, Dorset County Council asked the Institute for
Freshwater Ecology (now the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology), then
based in Wareham, Dorset, to investigate a means of ameliorating the
problem. They suggested using a biological insecticide, Bacillus
thuringiensis israelensis (Bti), which was sprayed into the weed beds,
resulting in the destruction of 80–90% of the Blandford fly larvae and
a corresponding reduction in the numbers of people bitten."

Not the same as "eradicate"! :-)

David

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