Mosquitoes in Greece

[SAMYL]

Use Listerine mouthwash and sprinkle it around where you are sitting/working.

 

[grumpygit]

Take one Zirtec pill each day and apply Fenistil to the bite . . . this is to ease the itching!

 

[nimbusgb]

Malaria has been found in mozzies near Gatwick!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-135634/Doctors-malaria-alert.html

 

[rivonia]

I am delighted to say that there are NO mozzies, NO wasps here in Karpaz Gate Marina Nth Cyprus BUT we do get the no see ums and sometimes hords of little flies-which BITE ouch.

Peter

 

[Victoria Sponge]

What's the biting situation like in Turkey?

 

[macd]

Great, really glad that others are suffering!!

Here the 4 engined variety have departed

Now come on, them's Lancasters, not Mosquitoes. Oddly enough my dad was ground crew for both during the war, so I've no idea which was responsible for the malaria he contracted.

 

[BrianH]

I have just returned from N/E Italy where the mosquitoes are the worst I can remember for many years. We also had them all day so some must have been blown up from Greece. Lots of southerly winds this year in the Adriatic.

No, they're not Greek immigrants, NE Italy has enough of the home-grown variety, especially in the vast lagoon areas where I have kept a boat for 30 years and where they breed in the ditches that ring the flat lagoon complexes, which includes Venice.

I remember the area in the early 1980s when it was just not possible to remain above deck at dusk - the marina was covered by a cloud of mosquitoes. Fortunately the commune recognised the threat to the tourist trade and instituted an effective spraying regime and, in some static water areas, the introduction of a certain fish species that feed on the larvae. Now they are but a shadow of their former intensity and almost supportable by using repellents.

The locals in the Veneto-Friuli are braced for the inevitable invasion of what is a genuine immigrant and now prevalent in other parts of Italy, the zanzara tigre or tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) characterized by its striped abdomen and legs, which is more aggressive than the local variety and attacks at all times rather than mainly at dusk. It is alleged to have been introduced from Asia by the importation of old tyres for recycling that carried the larvae in residual rainwater within them.

 

[rivonia]

What's the biting situation like in Turkey?

We were in Marmaris-Wasps and Mozzies. They came round with a blower which was like a huge smoke gun. It drove the little blighters out of the hedges and guess where they went to---Yup they came to the boats.

Peter

 

[Davy_S]

Bit of a Greek update.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_22/10/2012_466932

 

[dslittle]

seriously, it's something you are born with, diet can help, try eating what the old locals eat, takes time but does seem to help, differant medications can also unsweeten blood.

I was told sometime ago that taking Vitamin B from a couple of weeks before contact helps keep them at bay. I did, and didn't get bitten as badly BUT it wasn't a scientific test so I really don't know if it was the Vitamin B or something else. Still I am sure that there were other benefits - apparently it is good for PMT but although I do suffer from it, I have never had it...

 

[macd]

I was told sometime ago that taking Vitamin B from a couple of weeks before contact helps keep them at bay. I did, and didn't get bitten as badly BUT it wasn't a scientific test so I really don't know if it was the Vitamin B or something else. Still I am sure that there were other benefits - apparently it is good for PMT but although I do suffer from it, I have never had it...

Several B-group vitamins have been suggested as repellants, as I recall, including B1, B6 and B12: amply provided by Guinness (and other non-filtered beers). Or perhaps you just don't notice the bites so much after a generous dose. Metabolites of banana are also suggested as mozzie attractants.

For the PMT, have you tried Evening Primrose oil? A large bottle skilfully wielded might render her inconscious.

 

[Sandyman]

''amply provided by Guinness (and other none-filtered beers)''

Real Ale. That explains why the buggers leave me alone lol.