OT/MISC Black Fly season in Michigan —UGH!!!

[Jubilee on Earth]

Funny thing... I’ve lived in very northern Michigan for the past 7 years, and have been vacationing in the upper peninsula for well over a decade. I don’t know how, but I’ve never encountered black flies before. I’ve heard everyone talk about them. They aren’t horse flies or house flies. They’re small, tiny flies with hump-backs that only come out for about three weeks in late spring. They bite, and they swarm, and they annoy worse than mosquitoes.

My hubs and I went camping this week, and OH MY LORD. We experienced them for the first time. Apparently, I’m allergic to the venom because the bites resulted in huge, softball sized welts with bloody, pus-filled blisters that were so painful I could have cried. You should see my skin right now. It’s unbelievable. My lymph nodes got swollen, I had a bit of a fever, and I felt down right sick.

We tried everything. DEET, permathrin, essential oils, Skin So Soft, Thermocell, you name it. Nothing worked.

Anyone have any old timer recipes or tips/tricks on how to protect oneself against these nasty buggers? I don’t plan on going up there again until they’re gone. I don’t know how the old loggers and pioneers managed in the olden days. If it weren’t for Benadryl, Calamine and After Bite, I’d be in bed whimpering like a little baby.

 

[poppy]

They are called Buffalo gnats here because of the hump on their backs. Some people say vanilla extract dabbed on your hat and shirt collar will repel them but I've never found it to work very well. Others say Absorbine Jr. on a rag hanging around your neck does the trick but I haven't tried that yet. A product called Buggins sprayed on your hat and collar does work well and I use it about every day. It is not chemicals and contains vanilla along with rose oil and something else I think. If you're going to be out for a long period of time, it will need to be reapplied every couple hours or so. Hardware stores, lumber yards, and feed stores sell several cases of it daily here.

 

[Faroe]

Sorry. That sounds miserable. I've worn netting over hats that was effective at deterring them.

Suffering from some bad reactions to too many bites (mystery bugs - I don't know, and BF is bite free) myself right now, but nothing like you describe! Been using a Benadryl cream liberally the last few days (first time - I never use any drugs). Agree, I don't know how I'd cope w/o it... the itching is CRAZY.

Hope you feel better soon!

 

[Hfcomms]

Yeah, they're bad right now. Can't gripe too bad considering that it was winter up here yet about a month ago.

 

[zeker]

they just started here cpl days ago

I generally swell up at the first bite, but after that, all is well.

they are brutal when thy first come out

 

[ShyGirl]

Here we are dealing with ticks. The population seems to be more than normal. I hate ticks!

 

[Displaced hillbilly]

We have them in NH as well and they are awful. They have calmed down a bit since they first came out, but they ate truly awful creatures. And some ppl are very allergic to them. My papa swelled up something awful from them.

 

[China Connection]