black fly
 

hello all :D

i know this has been proberly talked about alot, but the season is getting closer, as its our first year here in nova scotia, we would like to know what works best for black fly.
we understand that they are nasty little ?????? but was wondering for for our daughter than us, we here that they leave a nasty little bite that is really ichy.

any advice would be great, just want to enjoy our new back yard and not to be hideing away inside :)

paul & joanne

hope you all well :thumbsup:

Re: black fly
 

After Bite is really good stuff, stinks but works on itchy or painful bites. Clothes (long sleeves etc) also protect against blackflies, of course it's much better to spray clothes, not skin, with repellent and a hat covered in spray also does the job. Good for keeping that strong sun off too.

It's already begun btw, I had a mossie land on my hand yesterday and saw a couple of blackflies this morning. They won't start biting for a few weeks though :thumbdown:

Re: black fly
 

I am so looking forward to my first summer in NS but I am also dreading the bugs. I am quite badly affected by bites. I like your idea of a hat sprayed in replellant.

Re: black fly
 

dont wear hats, but might start now :rofl:

Re: black fly
 

We have big gangs of mossies hanging around now - I sent my OH into a big group of them yesterday to test if they were biting yet....lol! Luckily for him they are not!

Re: black fly
 

Nobody told me about any black flies.....:ohmy:How come these things are discussed now that I've booked flights etc?:unsure:I think we'll postpone till November
The famous Scottish midges dont seem so bad now:rofl:

Re: black fly
 

They would be all the males then.

It's only the females that bite...now there's a surprise. :p

Re: black fly
 

yes always the female that gets the last word :) havent seen any of them yet here cant wait NOT :curse:

Re: black fly
 

You are wicked!! :thumbsup:

Re: black fly
 

believe me the ones in scotland have nothing on mossies/black fly in canada..:rofl:

Re: black fly
 

We find that Black fly bites dont itch they just bleed. Black fly tend to go for sweaty areas behind ears hairline neck etc, they tend to be near wooded areas, spray on repelents seem to work well, we use deapwoods OFF. This also works for mosquitos whos bites definetly do itch and swell. again wooded areas are worst and repellent works well. We use a bug zapper in our garden together with citronella candles it keeps the worst of them off, you can get bug lights for outdoor use (Yellow) which dont attract the bugs like normal white light does.

Unfortunately with Canada comes Bugs, you have to learn to live with them.

Most house windows have netting screens on them to stop the bug_gers:curse: getting in.

Black fly tend to be seasonal quite specific months, Mosquitos are here just after the snow departs until the frost returns.

Re: black fly
 

Since this thread might be read by a number of potential immigrants, let me just add that not all of Canada suffers from black fly or silly amounts of mozzies. I cite Richmond Hill as an example, but there are many others.

Re: black fly
 

yaaaaaaaa, but Richmond Hill is mega-bucks! Blackfly can't afford to live there, and nor can most of us.....:p

Re: black fly
 

Ah, that's it, is it? Nothing to do with being further south than the range of the blackfly, then?

Re: black fly
 

When our kids were too small to be comfortable smothering them in deet we bought "biteblocker", which worked pretty well...its one of the only deet free products to be proven effective in proper studies.

http://www.homs.com/deetfree.htm


For reclaiming the yard we bought a skeetervac several years ago, and it mostly does a good job, although it did break down once and required a replacement "engine". Despite that we persist with it, in fact Im off to track down supplies for it now. Mainly good for mozzies, but takes a chunk out of the Black Flies too, although BF season is mercifully short for us.
http://reviews.canadiantire.ca/9045/...6P/reviews.htm

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...k/DSC00745.jpg

Re: black fly
 

Why don't you post that photo of -30C, +30C again, Iain? There must be a new member who'd be interested.

Re: black fly
 

Am I boring you? Im so sorry:p Its one of my favourite "canada" photos...sadly the thing crapped out shortly after it was taken...

Re: black fly
 

are these things exspensive

Re: black fly
 

sorry forgot to ask, is this bite blocker stuff any good, does it keep black fly away too

Re: black fly
 

$300 ish for the small one...

Re: black fly
 

not bad thanks :D

Re: black fly
 

They need accessories too - Iain will be able to detail, but think they use a tank of propane every month or so....

Re: black fly
 

DONT GET THE SMALLEST ONE, the larger ones are about $450...should be in the link above somewhere, canadian tire have them

Only the intermediate and up ones have the electrical generator and fan to suck the buggers in.

In addition to a tank of propane every 3 or 4 weeks ($15), the sticky traps are $30 for a pair, and the octanol lure is $30 too, so thats about a buck a day on top of the propane costs. I spent $130 on 4 traps and 2 lures which should cover the majority of this years use. Best to buy now while they have stock.

As I said, we dont have much of a blackfly season, so cant really comment on the bite blocker efectivity against them, but it works pretty well on mozzies and you dont have to worry as much about kids sticking hands in mouths with that in them. You could always get hold of the military surplus permethrin and impregnate a set of clothes in it for outside wear...that shit kills most any insect that comes in contact with it for months...

Re: black fly
 

Including humans it seems :-

Iain - if you didn't have the skeetervac, would you still be able to use your yard in the daytime? Having arrived here just after the mozzie season, I only saw a few hanging around lights etc, didn't get bitten - I'm wondering how bad it is during daylight hours. We don't live that close to wooded areas, I'd say a mile away. I do have a nasty pool of stagnant water on top of the pool cover though that I need to get rid of sharpish!

Re: black fly
 

Whatever.

Re: black fly
 

<walking a very fine line there souv>

Re: black fly
 

Do I hear a ban ?

Re: black fly
 

Those who know me might kindly describe me a "frugal", and yet I still think the $400+ and $200 a year to run the thing was worth it;)

Without it the bugs were a nuisance on all but the hottest days, and evenings were no fun at all, with it the yard is far more useable. Its not quite a miracle device and there are still some mozzies around...I suspect thats inevitable living with a wooded hill behind us and a (stagnant) watering hole for the neighbouring farm not too far away, but at least we have reclaimed the yard for the most part.

Pemethrin is nasty shit and not to be used lightly, we came across it when it was a recomended precaution for a trip to malaria positive parts of the carribean and panama. Deet is no laughing matter either, and most of the risk with pemethrin is in applying it, once its dried to the clothes its not as bad... Id only go that route though if the bugs were really thick.

Re: black fly
 

Me? I'm much too cute and cuddly to ban.

Re: black fly
 

Yeah.

Re: black fly
 

Meh!

Re: black fly
 

Souv is starting a band? :thumbsup:

Re: black fly
 

we are not sure if we would want to get one of those, where we live we have other peopl's back yards near our's, so we would be treating them as well as our's, and im not doing that.
looks like its going to be the cream then and maybe some smelly stick thing;s :rofl:

Re: black fly
 

Having come across this(locked up and forgotten about) whilst working in a horticulture college 25+yrs ago, i would not want to put it anywhere near my body let alone on my clothes, its f**king lethal

Re: black fly
 

We have a bit of a "swamp" just down the hill... the snow has just finished melting and there's a very large, shallow "pond". That's where the bl00dy mossies breed! So, I have just dosed it with something called "AquaBac", a larvicide made in Quebec. It's supposed to destroy the eggs before they hatch, or something. It's completely harmless to other wildlife. And our dog, apparently!

I'll update you with how / if it worked. Last year we could hardly go outside because of the mossies, they were misery!

If the AquaBac doesn't work, a couple of bottles of liquid chlorine are on standby..... :)

Re: black fly
 

That makes no sense to me, you would rather suffer a plague of mozzies than reduce your neighbours population too?

Once they see how well it works they are likely to get there own. The more people have them, the larger the dent in the local mozzie population will be. Of course, as newcomers with no antibodies the mozzies will make far more of an impression on you than those exposed to the local bugs since childhood, so I doubt you biting your nose off to spite your face will spur them into action anyway...


In most places (certainly Ontario) you need special training / certification before you can purchase the bacterial anitmozzie agents. They are not as ecologically benign and harmless as the makers would like you to think I suspect. Pemethrins hazards are well known, its been around for years and years, but when used with care its not as bad as all that...better than getting malaria anyway...Ive not had to resort to using it domestically, but they do sell it here for hunters to use when they go deep into the woods.

Re: black fly
 

Not caught on to the Canadian neighbourly spirit yet obviously....

Re: black fly
 

That covers the East side, so what little critters with wings and large teeth..:eek: do you get on the West side of Canada...

Re: black fly
 

Re: black fly
 

No show on the image iaink...:huh: