Midges - do they effect you in the garden/house?

Murrell

Hi,

I was wondering if the midge can be a problem in the home/garden or is it more at the coast/woodland areas?

We are looking at moving to either Fort william, Oban or Inverness area and wondered if we can get any inside information on these area on the midge. My husband always get bitten badly and we were wondering if it would be safe to sit in the garden in midge season.

Also if anyone from these areas knows which areas to avoid buying in please let us know.

This information will help when we go up in July to start house hunting.

Thanks in advance
Sandra

scbk

TBH you find them all over the place but near water/wet areas (like bogs) is worse. I live out in the sticks about 15ml from inversneckie and they're just starting out here. Can't say I've evere really noticed them much in built up areas

Don't worry though, you can help to eradicate them in a localised area though. Equipment costs about £400 then about £20/month to run

wallacebob

One tip I was given was to avoid yellow.
This may seem silly, but workers on sewage facilities or near farm animals were insects are concentrated, have found that wearing railway type vests, i.e. orange, instead of the normal flor yellow, they don't get bitten as much.
I tried a unscientific experiment last year, when wearing yellow my arm was covered in midges!

littlereddevil

Very few midgies on the east coast mostly on the west coast

carriebradshaw

don't get them in the house but do have them in the garden

Trixxie

wallacebob wrote: »

One tip I was given was to avoid yellow.
This may seem silly, but workers on sewage facilities or near farm animals were insects are concentrated, have found that wearing railway type vests, i.e. orange, instead of the normal flor yellow, they don't get bitten as much.
I tried a unscientific experiment last year, when wearing yellow my arm was covered in midges!

Navy/dark blue is also v BAD!!

I think midges have got a lot worse over recent years as our winters (central belt) just haven't been cold enough to zap any of them!

Trixxie

Tigsteroonie

If you leave your windows and doors open then, naturally, the midgies will come into the house!

Depends really on how bad they are in the area you choose, which depends on whether you have wood / water / damp ground nearby.

I live in "midgie hell". For the summer months, I survive on repellent (Avon moisturiser), anti-histamines, citronella, with closed doors and windows ... but it's worth it for the other 9 months of the year. And after 8 years, I'm sure that I'm reacting less to the bites!

I read somewhere about rubbing sodium carbonate on bites to lessen the effect, does anyone know anything about that?

Murrell

Hiah,

Thanks everyone for your replys. Glad they aren't around all year!!

Tigsteroonie - sounds like you get it bad, where abouts do you live?

Thanks again
Sandra

Tigsteroonie

Argyll, down the side of a loch! Our choice ... you get used to the midgies after a while ...

arealhighlander

Midgies aren't attracted by colour - they're attracted by Carbon Dioxide so its the "scent" or breath of people that attracts them (some more than others )

You will get midgies in all the areas you mentioned. Worst around July/August time. Any kind of breeze keeps them away. Midgie Eaters that are now sold burn bottled gas to attract the midgies and "suck" them into a big bag that you empty every now and then. They are effective, especially if you can persuade 2 or 3 others round about you to use them, but do take a few months use to kill down the population.

Any kind if breeze and they get blown away, during the day the heat rising in summer is also too much for them, so worst time is dawn and dusk.

You can buy Midgie Hoods to wear while you do gardening and yes, they will fly into the house if you leave your windows open (but you can get screens to go on the inside to keep them out). We get them here in Skye every year, a bit of a nuisance but no that bad.

Avon Skin So Oft is what you need as a repellant.

Bean_Counter

Murrell wrote: »

We are looking at moving to either Fort william or Inverness area (possibly Inverness/Aviemore/Nairn or Alness)

My parents stay just outside Nairn, not far from Alness.

I never noticed it to be a particular problem to be honest. The corn flies can be a nuisance for a week or so in August from what I recall.

Nairn also seems to have it's own micro climate, and the weather can often be a lot better than further along the coast in both directions. Possibly something to do with the weather going along the Moray Firth and not on the land. I'm sure that there must be further information on the internet though and might be worth checking out.