I've always found that if the noseeums come out that the best thing to do is to run as fast as you can. It's really the only thing that works.

Here are the physical effects of my noseeums. After 1 week, they've finally gone away.

Oh my, we just got home from Sanibel yesterday and I want to die, I itch and sting so bad. I made an appointment with the doctor tomorrow because I am so uncomfortable.

Oh yeah.....sanibel, the birthplace of the noseeum :o) They can be horrible there, downright nasty.

THIS TOPIC HAS THE MOST COMMENTS I'VE EVER SEEN.

MY EXPIERENSE IS THAT IF THE WIND IN BLOWING THEN YOU WILL NOT GET BITTEN.

OTHER THAN THAT USING NON-SENTED BUG REPELANTS IS THE ONLY WAY. ALSO, SKIN SO SOFT SEEMS TO WORK.

HAVE A GREAT VACATION, EVEN WITH THE BITS!!!!

I will be in St. Croix for three months, combination vacation and working with IRB, beginning in June. I love waking early, taking my coffee to the beach, digging my tootsies in the sand while I wait for my brain cells to activate. Can I do this without being attacked by NOSEEUMS? I just returned from Alaska and I purchased a quart of BEAR Grease (yes that is the actual name of the product) for my brother. Now I am wondering if I should just keep it and put it in my carry-on bag. Are these little creatures unique to this area ? I have never run into them in Hawaii, Cook Islands or Tahiti. Or were they there and I was so enamoured with the scenery that I didn't pay attention? I am looking forward to this trip to St. Croix and am staying at the Carambola. Oh by the way for anyone looking to purchase BEAR Grease....it smells like a wet bear on a humid afternoon (not exactly the smell of roses).

Lvwrmwthr,

Please let me know how the bear grease works! I suppose if both my husband and I use it together, it would be comparable to eating onions and garlic, you can't tell the bad odor if you both eat them together.

Molly

I will be in St. Croix for three months, combination vacation and working with IRB, beginning in June. I love waking early, taking my coffee to the beach, digging my tootsies in the sand while I wait for my brain cells to activate. Can I do this without being attacked by NOSEEUMS? I just returned from Alaska and I purchased a quart of BEAR Grease (yes that is the actual name of the product) for my brother. Now I am wondering if I should just keep it and put it in my carry-on bag. Are these little creatures unique to this area ? I have never run into them in Hawaii, Cook Islands or Tahiti. Or were they there and I was so enamoured with the scenery that I didn't pay attention? I am looking forward to this trip to St. Croix and am staying at the Carambola. Oh by the way for anyone looking to purchase BEAR Grease....it smells like a wet bear on a humid afternoon (not exactly the smell of roses).

No, they are not unique to the virgin islands. Go to Florida, they're everywhere. They come out, usually, after a good rain, when it's humid and no breeze. You never know when they'll come out, but when they do....run!!!

SKIN so Soft does not prevent no see um bites. It did nothing.

Hey Gang,

I am new to this site, and BOY am I learning quite a ton of info for my return visit in August. This is our 3rd year to return, married on the island the 1st year, Anniversary the 2nd and a friends Wedding the 3rd! I may just now be figuring out why I was itching the 2 times we were on the island! I thought it was something in the water that was getting me, like a small jelly because when I would get out of the water I would ITCH terribly on my arms and legs. There were these small tiny little things that looked like Jelly in the water and I had it in my head that they were getting me! The only concern I have though is that I never got red whelts like the pic above? I did get little red bumps though and they just itched and itched, did not hurt. I'm worried now that it will be worse this year when we return! OUCH!! 🙁

I will take all the advice yall have provided with the Skin So Soft, Citronella, Bendadryl and Deep Woods, and hopefully one of them will work for me! If anyone is going week of August 7th e-mail me and maybe we can meet at our favorite place "Woody's" for a Rum Punch! 🙂

For some reason, any bug that bites will always go after my wife first and worse. She got a couple dozen bites on her lower legs during our second day on STT and I got none. I felt real badly for her because she was itching like crazy. She used Banana Boat brand gel called "Sooth-A-Caine which is a aloe gel with .05% lidocane to stop the itch. It helped a little. Then she got some Benedryl cream and that helped a little more, but nothing really stopped the itch. The rest of the trip we used Cutters bug repellant with 30% deet and that worked pretty well, but if you get your legs wet at the beach you need to re-apply right away. We saw some people on the boat during our BVI day trip that had so many no-see-um bites on their legs they looked like they had a bad case of measles. So they are pretty bad this year.

When I am planning an excurtion into a biting bug enviroment I eat lots of garlic. This may not be good for your night life but I actually like the smell of garlic. My wife is picking up on it too. It has helped her also. While I may get a test bite every so often I get very little of anything that I need to itches more than a couple seconds. My dad says it is in our family DNA and it doesn't seem to work for everyone. Everything you eat comes out through your skin via your sweat and everyone in your group needs to agree to eat the garlic or put up with the smell ! lol

In IL. they bite even if the wind is blowing. They are drawn by the carbon dioxide that your body gives off (they really like the head/neck area because of this).

The only thing that we have found to keep them partially at bay (including deet products) is Vanilla. We mix vanilla and water in a spray bottle and spray it on face, neck, behind ears, arms,legs. Apparently they don't like the smell of vanilla or the vanilla masks the carbon dioxide.

Also on a tip from a friend, to help with the itching when you don't have anti-itch cream.......stick deodorant, any kind. Rub it over the bite area and it really helps with the itching, don't know why.

Simple inexpensive things to try, seems that not everything works for everyone but these work for us.

We just returned from a week on St. Thomas and I prepared myself with Off (w/Deed) and also knew we should be inside around dawn and dusk per everyones suggestions! Well never used the Off and was up at 5:30 every morning for the sunrise on my terrace/deck and at dusk having cocktails on our terrace every evening!!! NOT ONE SINGLE BITE! I was thrilled!!! Left my can of OFF under the kitchen sink for the next renter who might not be as fortunate!

u

i agree... yeahhh flip flops are sexy...

Little late for most of you people but some good advice for current/future visitors. Just had a trip to St Thomas and my wife and I were bothered by the noseeums again, but found a local professionally made bug repellent selling in the Marriott shop......it worked, expected it to as it was 'born' on the island, worth a google checkout (The Solid Bar Company) and you can get it online so we're get some sent back to home (FL) where we need it real bad too;-) ps. for those wondering what the heck we're talking about here, they also have a fact sheet https://thesolidbarcompany.com/blogs/rebeccas-blogs/5-facts-on-mosquitoes-noseeums-problems-and-repellents

The major drawbacks with anything other than a repellent which contains Deet are that (a) they don't work for everybody - and trying out something new on vacation isn't a good idea - and (b) they have to be reapplied way more frequently than Deet-containing repellents. Just something to be aware of and bear in mind. Enjoy your vacation!