mosquitos

[vegma]

I decided to start a new thread on this one, picking up from the ant thread! We have a lot of birds ... and a lot of mosquitos! And West Nile made it to our part of the world last year. How effective are the natural mosquito repellents? And how do you go about spreading citrus on your skin (as mentined in the ant thread)? I don't want my 3yo exposed to the mosquitos!! Thanks.

[alexis]

here's a body splash insect repellent made from essential oils mix 4 drops of thyme, 8 drops lemongrass, 4 drops lavender, 4 drops peppermint with a tablespoon of witchhazel or a dessertspoon of Vodka and dilute in 4 tablespoons of water. Or you could try 30 drops of lavender oil in 30ml of base oil and rub it all over exposed area...
Another way to keep the mozzies out of your house is to hang strips of cotton ribbon with one drop of lavender oil on each strip at windows...good luck with the mozzies....;)

[vegma]

Thanks for the info!

[thecatspajamas18]

Taking a B12 supplement makes mosquitos not want to bite you! I learned this from my grandmother (who isn't even vegan), and it works pretty well. I guess it makes you have a smell or something that the mosquitos detect and don't like... I'm not sure.
I'm not sure how long before you go outside youre supposed to take the supplement, but you can probably look it up somewhere.

[annie7]

Yes, that's true. When I was a child my mother gave me Brewer's Yeast tablets, because I was plagued with being attractive to every insect. In a room full of 30 people if there was ONE biting insect...it found *me*. We visted a greenhouse once and I leaned down and patted their dog on the head. Within the hour, I was covered with fleas (I'm sure the dog was happy to give them away!) A retired country doctor told my mother what to give me and it worked! Seems to me like it took just a bit more than a week before I really noticed a difference, but it did help! Loads!