Someone older than me?

Nah that prize goes to Auld Yin.

I am going to try Mosquito Barrier - concentrated garlic. A Canadian told me it was good so it must be true! I will let you know how we get on.

Also, we sprayed listerine all over our deck last night and didn't get bitten once (everything crossed). They have been tucking in like crazy so far.

http://www.mosquitobarrier.com/

Blackfly will have gone, but mozzies will be in full on attack mode
July is usually our hottest month, so the humidity will probably be their biggest worry.

I had not heard about Mosquito Barrier, will look at that one. My mother told me about Listerine, crazy eh?

I am considering myself very lucky today, the swelling on my arm literally went as far as far as the Doctor had drawn and then stopped, I am now covered in gauze and tape with a good dollop of the prescribed antibiotic cream on. Hopefully this means I cannot accidentally scratch anything, I have four infected bites, within 12 hours of being bitten I get cellulitis, I only get this with mozzie bites!

On the same vain, has anyone got an suggestions on where you can buy the best value window screens (either supply only or supply and fix) - we have a few windows where we need to install them soon!

It is - 3 days ago it was 30 degrees (C), yesterday it was 17 degrees (C). I put it down to (1) me buying some maternity shorts (the minute I put them on, the clouds came out); (2) me waxing my legs in preparation for said maternity shorts (ditto the above); (3) us going away tomorrow night to the Lake District (at least the hotel has a pool / health suite if the weather's bad!); and (4) it's Bank Holiday Monday in 4 days...

Apparently it's the eucalyptus in Listerine that they don't like. I have started a list that I am working through in my war against the mosquito (not that I am paranoid about them or anything......


Palmolive soap. Ivory soap
Soya bean or Canola Oil
Vit B-1 and B-6
Garlic supplements
Avon so soft,
baby oil - they cannot get hold of you - they just stick!
rosemary,
Beautyberries
Sage
Linseed oil
Mint
Sesame
Thyme
Vanilla (vanilla and water spray in bottle)
Rub bounce sheets on self
Caress soap
Vinegar

1 part clove oil- 1 part peppermint or spearmint oil- 15 parts water

Rubbing alcohol

Marigolds
Basil
Lavender
Geraniums
Lemon Thyme
Citronella Grass
Chamomile
Lavender essential oil

Vanilla extract on pulse points

Mix 1 teaspoon of soybean oil (available from your grocery store) and one quarter of a teaspoon of Palmolive liquid soap into one cup of water. Mix well and spray onto your arms and legs and wipe on your face and neck.

Neutrogena body oil with some body lotion

Fan on low speed when eating!

Geranium essential oil

Plants – mosquito shocker? Purple plant - lemon geranium
Guinea hens
Beauty berry bush
marigolds

1 part vinegar, 1 part oil, i used mineral oil but you can also use baby oil to make the smell better. mix together in a spray bottle and spray away

I use a special mosquito avoidance suit and so far it's working quite well.




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Not to Poo Poo your list, but the ONLY things CLINICALLY proven to have any effect on mosquitos worth worrying about are

1. DEET
2. Soy/ Geranium Oils (as found in bite blocker)
3. Picaridin
4. Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus
5. Er
6. Thats it

Anything else is just old wives tales with little or no science to back it up.
http://www.snopes.com/oldwives/skeeters.asp

Comparative study results...
http://www.homs.com/NEJM.pdf
http://www.homs.com/July2004_USDA_marked.pdf
etc (see links from here), all of which show that even the best non Deet based products simply dont hold a candle to DEET in terms of level or length of protection.

For little kids who put their hands in their mouths its worth avoiding DEET...bite blocker was good as long as it was applied fairly often, but DEET is really the way to go, that and local mosquito eradication around your home.

http://www.muskol.com/en/home/

What about the marmite theory? My husband gets eaten alive but they don't seem to like the taste of my blood... I put it down to lots of pick 'n' mix and marmite!

I've never been bitten by a mosquito. I was bitten by a red ant when I was six - does that count?

No.

I used to play ant wars when I was six. You get a bowl of water put two big stones or broken bricks in it and a bit of wood across the the bricks as a bridge. Put black ants on one brick and red on another then watch em fight it out. If you can only find black ants then dipping them in paint seemed to work.

We used to sometimes put a bunch of red ants in a black ants nest to watch what happens. But I think I prefer your method - it is a bit more cerebral.

hmm - am looking for an envy smilie!

I worked in Finland for a few months and Mosquito Milk was great & better than anything else I have ever used.

Deet & geranium extract - just googled to check.

I can get really bad reactions, especially if near a joint so have to have anti histamine as well.

BTW - don't mix anti histamine & travel sickness tablets - was near Niagra once & was completely spaced - much to the amusement of my friends.