So you think mosquitoes are a pain? How are these midges?

After a harsh winter and near-record spring floods, the Minnesotans are now experiencing waves of biting "bison midges" that seem insensitive to the usual insect repellents.

"I would say that historical levels are close," said John Walz, coordinator of black fly control at the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District.

Minnesota has 15 varieties of black flies, which most people call midges. Four have an appetite for human flesh, including southern simuliida, the one Walz says is "hammering us right now."

The buffalo midges, who have a lump on their backs, are known as bird bites, but they are just as happy to nibble people. They do not transmit the disease to humans, but Walz explained that children with many bites can develop fever.

Kim Husband is an independent writer who enjoys working in Bloomington at this time of year. Usually, she will apply a mosquito spray once in the morning and once in the afternoon. But this year, she said, even the Deep Woods Off formula can not control the midges. She tried a hand-made insect repellent with mouthwash and Epsom salt and wound up wrapping a bandanna around her face – something she'd never had to do before.

"I feel defeated," said her husband. "I hate to waste time outdoors on a beautiful day, but I can not work if I put my hands in front of my face."

Gary Wyatt, an extension agroforestry educator at the University of Minnesota, said he was hit by a swarm of black flies over a greenhouse he recently visited in New Ulm. Locals asked for citronella or lemon basil as a natural repellent, as well as Bug Soother, a repellent made by a family business in Columbus Junction, Iowa. The spray contains water, lemongrass oil, lemon, vanillin, castor oil, glycerin and vitamin E. The company says that people like the smell, reminiscent of vanilla ice cream, but the insects hate it.

Typically, the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District reportedly treated the black fly larvae of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers in early May with a bacterium naturally present in the soil. But this year's floods have prevented it. The first generation of black flies then became adults and flew to look for a blood meal.

The district does not treat adult black flies, which survive for two to three weeks. The biting midges, who lay their eggs at the edge of moving water, usually have four to six generations per season.

"It's a pretty ugly year so far," said Walz. "They are very bad right now and I know it, but I can not do anything about it."

Walz, president of the North American Black Fly Association, said the mosquito control district would begin treating larvae as soon as the rivers returned to normal. Target # 1 is the Minnesota River, which has seven treatment sites, he said. Walz said he hoped to use up the annual budget of $ 100,000 allocated to treating black flies this year and that he would have to find other funds to carry out his work.

Minnesotans like to hate their mosquitoes, which some jokingly call the state's bird. But black flies can be more annoying, Walz said. Mosquitoes, which also begin to emerge, perforate the skin and siphon a meal. Black flies use their trunk as a scalpel to slice the skin, injecting it with anticoagulants and painkillers so they can tap into a pond of blood on the skin.

Is there an advantage to the swarm of black flies?

"It's good for the fish," Walz said.