Thankfully we do not get midges here. A few mosquitos but nothing too bad. I remember when the kids were younger we went to Scotland camping, it was horrendous. We only stayed a couple of days it was so bad . We packed up and went down to The Lake district to get away from them !
Midgies are attracted to mammals (basically ddark colours, sweat and breath). The average commercial midge eating machine costs around £500. They use a CO2 canister (to mimic breath), 'sweat pellets' and have a vacuum fan to sook the midgies in. Some machines have a flashing light to mimic movement. There is a little known but much cheaper alternative which costs almost nothing. The only difference being that these do not have a vacuum or a flashing light, but work almost as well (or so I'm told). Here is a link to 'How to make a midge eater using only two plastic bottles, some yeast, sugar, water, a sweaty sock and some black paint. I also live in Argyll, home of the fierce 'Highland Midge', so gardening, sitting outside or even just nipping out to the shed is a nightmare at the moment, so this is going to be my project for this week. N.B. It can take a couple of seasons to break the midge life cycle in a small area. http://www.glasgowsciencecentre.org/online/make-a-midge-eater.html
Kirsten there is a natural skincare company based in the Elgin area called Mary Jean and they make a body lotion called Highland Midge Lotion which is supposed to repel the little biters.
Posts
Well its certainly not midge weather today its only 9c so far and bucketing rain.
The weather is to improve next week so it will be ideal for the midges lovely damp ground and warmer ...
Midgies are attracted to mammals (basically ddark colours, sweat and breath). The average commercial midge eating machine costs around £500. They use a CO2 canister (to mimic breath), 'sweat pellets' and have a vacuum fan to sook the midgies in. Some machines have a flashing light to mimic movement. There is a little known but much cheaper alternative which costs almost nothing. The only difference being that these do not have a vacuum or a flashing light, but work almost as well (or so I'm told). Here is a link to 'How to make a midge eater using only two plastic bottles, some yeast, sugar, water, a sweaty sock and some black paint. I also live in Argyll, home of the fierce 'Highland Midge', so gardening, sitting outside or even just nipping out to the shed is a nightmare at the moment, so this is going to be my project for this week. N.B. It can take a couple of seasons to break the midge life cycle in a small area. http://www.glasgowsciencecentre.org/online/make-a-midge-eater.html
Kirsten there is a natural skincare company based in the Elgin area called Mary Jean and they make a body lotion called Highland Midge Lotion which is supposed to repel the little biters.