Scents to keep insects away

[classicnyer]

It's that time of year again... does anybody know what are good scents to keep little flying things away? I know that citronella is good for that, and I'm told that lavender keeps mosquitoes away... are there any other good ones?

 

[dissn_it]

I have heard that lavendar also helps to keep wasps and hornets away. We were starting to get bothered by hornets on our back porch. I had some lavendar oil so I put a few drops of the oil on and set them near where we sit out on the back porch. So far it does appear to be working pretty well.

 

[Tecca_Nina]

Some more that help are basil, mint, rosemary, sweet woodruff and tansy.

 

[gar]

I'll just use insect spray for this back when I didn't knew that neem tree can drive away mosquitoes. Now I just have neem tree in pots and put it wherever there's a way for mosquitoes to get in. It sure minimise the quantity of mosquitoes out site our house.

 

[Myrrh]

I seem to find citronella in almost any list of scents that can be used to drive insects away. Lavender and mint are also known as insect repellents.

 

[Isabellas2007]

Citronella in my experience attracts the bugs! However, what I found best to get rid of them is Lemon grass or Lemon plants in general.

 

[Suzie]

We use Raid. I know, it's not the healthiest and it's probably the most harmful to the environment, but boy does it work! I'd like to try mint this year.

 

[Isabellas2007]

I have never tried Mint, but like I said before I have had great luck using Lemon for the insects. When I use this I do not have to worry about the pests anymore.

 

[Lyra]

I've heard that catnip is good for keeping the skeeters away.

I will have to make note of all these suggestions. I've been hearing that the bugs are going to be really bad this summer, since it was such a mild winter.

 

[classicnyer]

I've never heard of using mint, but I'll certainly try it. Mint and lavender... sounds awfully pretty, haha!

 

[britwade]

I just recently learned that vanilla mixed with water will help keep mosquitos away. My son's baseball coach just sprayed all the kids with it at practice one day and I will say I haven't seen any bites on my son since so it really seems to work. All the info is great in this thread. I will give these a try.

 

[Maverickhope]

There are several great herbs that repel the bugs. I am working on several recipes this year mainly to repel fleas since our winter was so mild this year. Herbs great for repeling the flying insects citronella, wintergreen, peppermint, cedarwood, and eucalyptus. I mix in a spritz bottle a lightly spritz when outside, mainly on my clothes. If you have a hornet nest, or any type insect you can see, a mix with pyrethrin will kill them almost instantly. Pyrethrin is from chrysanthemum flowers and is harmless to all birds, mammals, and reptiles. Pyrethrin is great for killing, but I have had little luck with any repellant qualities. My best suggestion is to try different mixes until you find one that you find pleasant to smell and also keeps the buggies away. I have listed a few great herbs there is a multitude as some others on here have mentioned.

 

[Pat]

We usually use Raid, have seen some really large skeeters in the home lately. Will get one of the suggested plants for the deck so that we can enjoy it without the pest eating us up.

 

[shaunche]

There are some good recommendations in this thread. I will have to try some natural scents because we have an ant problem on our patio and the ants are starting to come inside. I don't like using artificial insect repellant.