Influx of mosquitoes or normal?

[Cake]

In Apokoronas, can't garden unless i spray my whole body more or less.
But that is just to much work and wears off in a couple of hours, so I sit inside mostly.

Are there better places on Crete? I know plakias has almost zero because of the wind, rather have the winds than the mosquitoes.

Mentally I'm ready to sell, those little critters suck the life out of me.

[paul g]

I know it sounds funny, but have you tried spraying with Avon's "skin so soft" it works for us on mozies and other things.

[moved 2 crete]

We also use the Avon product Skin- so- soft, it contains citronella which was used by filming crewmen and the Forces also found it useful in stopping stinging insects.

[chrissyg]

Thats strange, we just got back from there and had no issue with mozzies this autumn. Didnt get bitten at all and didnt see any. Maybe you have a manky pond nearby? I tried that skin cream last year when we had mozziies and i couldnt wear it, the smell was so strong.

[Eleni13]

Avon Skin so Soft Original works to an extent. I also find the repellant bracelets to be successful and less pungent than other measures. Do you have pine trees or wells nearby? They love pines, also standing water in the flower pots.

[Cake]

We have a pool nearby from the neighbors, but from what I've read the larve dont grow that well in a maintained pool. Does it mean they have no chance or that they are very little once out of the water? Also nearby we have house which is abandoned which has some places the mosquitos can hatch. On our own property we have many wet spots (dripping gardenhoses), the seem to enjoy places in the shade, there are the most, removing all plants and trees to minimize the shade is a road to drastic. We took some away, the thick moist bushes.
But it's not only us, its the whole street and the town i guess. Heard something about the local government not spraying ditches this year to save money.

I will investigate that cream your talking about, if it last not a whole day and have to use it all over it's to much work for me.

Edit: there are a couple of pine trees in the neighborhood but at least 50m away.

[Kilkis]

Try a Deet based repellent. It's not pleasant but it works. The higher the concentration the better. I tend to use a pump action spray or a simple bottle of lotion. The aerosol spray is too easy to breath in and I dread to think what it does to your lungs. Deet was developed by the US Army for soldiers deployed to Vietnam. It is a military grade repellent in both senses of the word. In controlled scientific tests Which? magazine found it was the only thing that worked effectively.

Warwick

[Eleni13]

Maintained pools containing chlorine do not interest mosquitoes in my experience. Dripping hoses with static puddles might, and yes they do prefer shady spots, under a stegi for instance. I make an effort to grow plants that they dislike, but I doubt that they make much difference. I suspect that lack of spraying by local authorities is the main factor in their increasing numbers, although I have noticed that they make an appearance in November, just when we think we will have some peace. I do stay indoors or wear long sleeves at night, that helps. We should be more concerned these days with the appearance of the West Nile Virus, which is not trivial.
If you have a bite which causes more trouble than usual, a pharmacist will be very helpful, with the caveat that you should go to a doctor should their remedy not work within three days. Personally, I wouldn’t consider moving to another area, unless you are considering one outside the Mediterranean.

[Kilkis]

... I have noticed that they make an appearance in November, just when we think we will have some peace...

I am not sure that "they make an appearance" but I do think that the mosquitoes that are around later in the year, while fewer in number, are bigger and cause much nastier bites. The very young daughter of a friend in northern Greece was bitten near her eye not long before Christmas. The reaction was so bad she finished up in hospital and at one point they thought she might lose the eye. Fortunately she recovered completely but ti was touch and go.

Warwick

[Cake]

Thank you for replies and help, been bussy, sorry for late reply.

They don't bother me now as much because of wearing long sleeves and pants.

Which is the brand i have to buy and where buy it? The deet anti repellent. I bought one before with 15% deet and it worked less good than a cheap 2,85 euro bottle without deet. I use Oskar deet free insect repellent, works well for 3 or 4 hours, not the whole day.

[Jean]

I find that this works well, but it's probably not meant to last the whole day https://www.vita4you.gr/en/korres-100-ml-19117