Harvest mites.

Interesting, ROMILO. I have a lot of red, itchy bumps and have been using Anthisan on them to stop the itching but have no idea what is causing them as I've not seen anything flying around although I've spent a lot of time outside, particularly in the garden. Perhaps it's tiny Harvest mites, also called chiggers apparently.

Does an insect repellent work? I'd like to find one that is organic and natural if possible.
Perhaps someone will have suggestions.

Just looked at some comparison pictures and mine are probably midge bites.

If these are harvest mites, I would expect almost all of the bites to be on parts of the body where clothing is tight, such as top of socks, elasticated parts of underwear, waistbands etc.

OIf that is the case, the best solution I found (after finally - working out what was causing it ((which took me years!)), was to have a really good shower after spending time in the garden.
I can only presume that it removes the critters before they have bitten!
It almost completely eradicated the problem for me.

And yes, those certainly were very red and dreadfully itchy bites!

I used to get these if walking or sitting on the grass. Very irritating.

Same as JenniRen with red itchy bumps on exposed skin and using Anthisan. Harvest mites could well be the reason as the dog has been scratching like mad ( not fleas) as well.

ROMILO

Every year from July to OctoberI am plagued by harvest mites. So far this year has been particularly bad . Extremely itchy swollen red lumps that get worse as the season progresses. Has anyone come up with any solution that works. I am now at the stage where I really dont want to go outside as I know the following day several more will appear. I have tried most of the usual things so I'm just hoping someone has something different to suggest.

At this time of year our dog gets them during walks ( causes pink itching in ears, between the toes, and his undercarriage) . We have a dog anti-mite routine (ear cleaning stuff, plastic hood ) and if necessary the vet prescribes pills.

We don't get mite bites but thats because at this time of year we cover our legs and feet to avoid ticks, another summer hazard in the Highlands.

I'd suggest you don't go bare legged in nature areas, even grass, and don't wear open sandals .

I read today that there is an abnormally low population of wasps this year and this is causing a higher than average number of flies and other insects, as wasps live off insects and no wasps means lots of other insects, presumably like harvest mites.

MOnica that is interesting that there are fewer wasps, could explain why this year seems worse than usual. I think my main problem is my extreme reaction to the bites. I get raised red , itchy lumps the Size of a 2p that take about 10 days to clear.
Maybe I should have a word with the pharmacist to see if any particular oral anti histamine is more effective than another against insect bites.

I don’t think I ve seen a wasp this year but lots of bees
I ve never had those bites or bumps snd never actually heard of harvest mites 😳they sound unpleasant

We don’t usually see many wasps until August so am preparing myself.

I was bought up in the depths of the country surrounded by farms and used to play in the stacks of wheat at harvest time, never had a bite, and I’ve never even heard of harvest mites. Will google!

Harvest mites /chiggers:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombiculidae#:~:text=Trombiculidae%20(%2Ftr%C9%92mb%C9%AA%CB%88kju%CB%90l%C9%AAdi%CB%90%2F)%2C%20commonly%20referred%20to&text=commonly%20referred%20to%20in%20North,are%20a%20family%20of%20mites.

I think they are called harvest mites because of the time they are active July to September when harvesting takes place.

There have been loads of wasps in my garden the last couple of weeks. I have a plum tree and the wasps always arrive as soon as the first plums begin to ripen. They quickly eat into them, with up to half a dozen wasps feasting on any one fruit at the same time.

As always, I picked as many as I could each day that hadnt yet been claimed by the wasps, freezing most to use later. The wasps probably eat about 25% of the crop overall.

But now that the plums are all gone, the wasps have gone too!