Scandinavia mosquitoes

Want to avoid mosquitoes? Travel in winter time. :)

As a kid I had huge problems. The bites would itch and they grow with the scratching. After taking up biking and the camping that comes with it I realized that the sami people were right. Get enough bites early in spring and you are immune for the rest of the year. How much is "enough"? Well, after a camping weekend with the Swedish BMW club in May I could count 200-300 small red dots on one hand. Sounds weird, but when you get that many you just give up scratching and the immune system can't cope with all of them so they don't itch as much as single bites. Just make sure you protect your feet and inside of your legs or you won't do much biking or walking for a few days.

Be prepared to clean your visor a few times a day. ;)
 
Across Southern end of Sweden from big bridge to Stockholm in July I cannot remember seeing a mozzie at all.
 
In Russia we called them "flying crocodiles", they could bite you through denim jeans. Don't remind me...
 
Bladerunner, the mozzies are not that common and not that large south of Stockholm.
 
I went up to Nordkapp last year and the only mozzies were at a wee campsite right in the south of Norway that was near a lake
That was in June ,but it was proper cold at the top
 

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We must have been extremely lucky last year travelled late july and through August (Went up through Sweden and Finland). Think I got bitten once but no more, never had much on visor and rode with it up mostly. It is beautiful there and well worth the effort
 
Waking up an old thread, I know... But the mosquito season is starting here!
The good thing with our version of these little pests is that they don't carry any lethal diseases...

Some areas are almost mozzie free, some are really bad. As previously stated, the midges (where they are found) are much worse.
When camping or stopping, try to be at dry, windy and sunny places. Wind is the Mozzies worst enemy when they are hunting.

If you get a strong reaction to the bite, it's most likely an allergic reaction to the mozzie's blood thinning injection. Start taking normal prescription free allergy pills a few days befor your trip, and keep taking them every day. Doing this might get you down to recieving a small bump that itches for a few minutes, or even no reaction at all to the bite.

At the campsite, use one of these can be helpful:
http://www.thermacell.com/

Any DEET product works fine on Swedish mozzies.

/J
 
Any DEET product works fine on Swedish mozzies.
DEET is the dog's for repelling mozzies. Avon Skin So Soft works about half as well, but its effect lasts less than 45 mins.

OK for midges because they get stuck in the oil it leaves on your skin - probably chip fat would work as well.
 
The midges here will crawl into your hair and bite your scalp.
They also love to bite you on the eyelids near your eyelashes, causing the eyelid to swell up. Not the places were you want to smear repellant.

Mozzies have a little tube that they insert in your skin to feed. Midges are more brutal, and bite their way into your skin....
 
Just choose your time wisely. We usually did Scotland and Norway in early May to avoid midges. If the sun shines it's a bonus :D
 
I started the thread but we had a change of plan when we got wind of the Air Canada bike shipping promo so we are going to Canada, Alaska, and some of the lower 49 States instead. The mosquito are reputedly even bigger in Canada plus there's black fly, deer fly, Bears, and Caribou to look out for. I am being loaned a Canada spec bug jacket by a Canadian when I get there as he said anything from UK would not be up to it.

I dropped the bike of at Air Canada this morning and we go out on Wednesday to be reunited with the bike - all being well.


Sent from my iPhone with a smile :)
 
I started the thread but we had a change of plan when we got wind of the Air Canada bike shipping promo so we are going to Canada, Alaska, and some of the lower 49 States instead. The mosquito are reputedly even bigger in Canada plus there's black fly, deer fly, Bears, and Caribou to look out for. I am being loaned a Canada spec bug jacket by a Canadian when I get there as he said anything from UK would not be up to it.

I dropped the bike of at Air Canada this morning and we go out on Wednesday to be reunited with the bike - all being well.




Sent from my iPhone with a smile :)


The Caribou in Alaska migrate north to escape the mozzies, then have to dash back before winter closes in.

I once read that if a man stood in the Alaskan tundra in his pants in summer he would have no blood left after 10 hours.

I have experienced midges in summer on the west coast, but I have to say the only time I've been bitten is early morning getting out the tent without my skin so soft on.
Swarms of them in the vestibule all locked on to the carbon dioxide and desperate for that bloodfest required for reproduction.

But coming home from Anglesey at the end of June, I decided to camp sunday night at Llyn Gwynant in Snowdonia.
Pitching by the lake on a windy, sunny evening was fine, but the damp, still & muggy morning that followed was hell - The worst I have ever known!
Even when I got home they were still buzzing around as I tried to unpack.

Mozzies are bastards but slow, midges just beat you with shear numbers.
 
My favorites pests are horseflys/gadflys (Paarma in finnish) Those suckers bite hard! You cant even splat them with hand, wont die.

Correct. We drove through northern Finland from Sweden to Inari where we stayed one night, then further to Kirkenes in Norway and jadajada long story.

The second we stopped anywhere, a cloud of humongous horseflys circulated around us. Anywhere and everywhere. We passed two pedal bikers, all covered in mosquito-net-burkas... Poor sods... Well above 30C too...
In Inari, there mainly "only" were large regular mozzies. The Swedish repellant "MyggA" worked excellent, thank all gods possible.
 


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