brinka0

I'm curious, and would also like to help warn any travellers coming to my area, Muskoka, or Agonquin Park areas about the Black Fly season. While people are so concerned about the mosquitos, i find the Black Fly far worse, and i'm allergic to its bite, if they bite me on the eyelid, my eyelid is swollen shut for a good week!
I was wondering what other areas have these terrible bugs!!! They are so bad i'm literally a shut in, until they are gone.
We attempted a trip in one of the Yurts last year the first of June forgetting about the Black Flys.... the middle of Algonquin Park, in one of those and Black Flys so thick, needless to say they had a feast on me no matter what replellant i put on.... and i actually bare scars from where these suckers took chunks out of me....
Are they in your area???? and where would that be???
Thanks

ginn

I live in Kentucky and we do not have black flies. By the way, we are traveling to NS this summer. When is the Black Fly season? Thank you.

brinka0

Hi, our season seems to start in May and continues through June. Apparently the weather deterimines how bad they will be and how long they will be around. If we have a period of good sunny hot days they burn off quicker, but they seem to breed if its wet one day, nice the next, then raining again..etc...
I don't honestly know if Nova Scotia gets them or not, maybe scotiagirl will see this and let us know.
Atleast they don't stay around for that long really. It could be worse!

zootsi

Black flies are the bane of the north woods. They are found from approximately Massachussets up to the Artic Circle. Their season here in New Hampshire is mid May to early July. They hatch out of cool mountain streams, and are a creature of the mountains and forests, not as common near the seacoast or in urban areas. Although they are technically harmless, their bites can be extremely irritating, and cause blood to run down your skin. I've heard that in some parts of Canada they are so bad that they can almost cover exposed skin, and cause caribou to swim into lakes to get away from them.

brinka0

I was starting to think they were just here in, ( this part of Canada), your post was very interesting.
Yes, where i live they swarm you terribly, and animals must be watched, as they bite them without mercy, its been very popular to buy cases of a certain ( cirtronella based bath product ) from one of the cosmetic companies, to put on the underside of dogs,and especially our horses.
They seem to prefer some people over others, but i have never heard of anyone escaping their bites, young children often are seen with streams of blood from behind their ears, and the base of their head, running down...
Nasty Nasty!!!
In Algonquin Park, you have to be very careful this time of year to not hit a bear, a moose, dear wolf or many other animals as they tend to come out of the brush to get away from the bugs.
I am in a rural area, so they are worse here than say a city area such as Barrie or Bracebridge.
I like i say have to stay indoors and i do have to carry an epi-pen with me now because of how i react to their bite.

Pkoz

Try taking vitimin "B". I grew up in Northern Ontario where the black flies are very large. Vitimins seem to help some. Don't drink beer as it attracts bugs. They also seem to like the colour yellow. Muskoil is the repelent of choice.

darber

blackflies are absolutely awful in Nova Scotia until the first week in July....depends on rainfall. Unless there is a wind I stay inside or get down to the ocean where there will be a breeze. I've had it with the bug situation and am planning on moving back to (south coast) BC where the quality of life is far, far superior!

semiramis

Having had a black fly bite swell to the size of an egg - I share your pain. Yes they prefer some people to others. They hardly ever bother my husband (He swears that consuming large quantities of tomato juice and avoiding bananas works for him.) Scented shampoos attract them too.

mat54

I do react to black flies also with swelling and itching, but not everyone does. I'm not sure that they actually bite some people more, or if it's simply that some people react to the bites and others don't. They are a small fly and they seem to like to target the back of the neck and hairline (where you can't see them) and unlike mosquitoes, their bite is painless. Prevention is best - apply a high concentration DEET to exposed skin (also unlike mosquitoes they can't bite through even light clothes)- either Muskol or Deep Woods Off BEFORE going out.

They breed only in oxygenated water (not stagnant like mosquitoes) and are often worse near fast-flowing rivers. They don't last long though - they stop hatching once the summer starts to heat up.

In addition to Ontario in late May to mid June (or later farther north or in cool seasons), I have experienced them in New Brunswick on an early July trip once where we were staying adjacent to a major river. Otherwise, I've never had them, at least not to a noticeable extent, in Atlantic Canada.

By the way - I personally don't let them stop me from enjoying my favourite places. Using DEET appropriately, I can minimize the number of bites to a tolerably low level.

krp329

We have them here too, in Jasper in the Rocky Mountains. I actually don't ever notice them out in the woods, just in town near my house. I live near a creek, maybe that's why we have them in this area. I got bit twice yesterday, working in my garden. The worst experience I ever had with them was in Newfoundland, in July many year ago.

UTour

This National Film Board animated short sums up the blackfly nicely.

http://bit.ly/NFB_Blackfly

nfldbeothuk

Oh Lord, I love that film & song. And yes, Newfoundland is surely equal to Northern Ontario. UTour, if they seemed bad in July--don't go camping here in June!! Although maybe this year they will be a nuisance in July, since it's been so cold (last frost warning on June 24th) that they only started swarming this past week, and they'd normally be "bugging" us since the end of May. Usually they're a faint shadow of their former horridness by the beginning of July.

zootsi

Here in central New Hampshire, the black flies are now starting to let up, although the deer flies are now out in full force.