Mosquito
It really can be a jungle out there, especially during the times of year—notably spring and summer—when biting, stinging insects and toxic plants abound. Keep your eyes open and keep a supply of natural remedies at the ready.
No matter what part of the country you live in, there is definitely some insect menace that is going to set its sights on you and come calling—and leave you with a red, swollen, itchy memento. Even in the busiest city, you will encounter the stray mosquito or bumblebee. Country and suburban homes alike are beset by mosquitoes, black flies, deer flies, ticks, deer ticks, spiders, bees, wasps, and hornets. In addition, Southerners have biting fire ants.
DON’T BUG OUT
You can keep mosquitoes and most flying insects away by applying oil of citronella, lemon balm, catnip, marigold, basil, and lavender to the skin.
Mosquito
Ease the Itch: Treat itchy mosquito bites with an application of aloe gel, apple cider vinegar, baking soda paste, raw honey, or a hot compress of black tea.
Soothe the Sting: When honeybees sting, they inject venom and leave their stingers embedded in the skin. First remove the stinger by flicking the edge of a playing card over it, then wash the wound with mild soap. Neutralize the venom of bee, wasp, and hornet stings with lavender essential oil, baking soda or Epsom salt paste, toothpaste, meat tenderizer (the enzyme papain breaks down toxins), honey, or crushed basil leaves. Use ice to reduce swelling. Anyone with an anaphylactic reaction to insect stings needs to carry an EpiPen.
Natural honey
Repel Icky Ticks and Invasive Fleas: Ticks carry diseases—most notable is Lyme disease, carried by deer ticks—that they transmit when they bite into their hosts and engorge themselves with blood. Fleas often come inside on humans or pets, and begin feeding. Keep both biting nuisances away by using lavender, garlic, pennyroyal, pyrethrum (chrysanthemum), sage, and eucalyptus.
Spider Woes: Gardeners sometimes get swollen spider bites on the face and hands, but most are harmless. (It helps to learn to identify the poisonous spiders in your region.) Clean a minor bite with mild soap. Draw out toxins with baking soda, aspirin, or activated charcoal paste, or prepare a grated raw potato poultice.
POISONOUS PLANTS
If you enjoy gardening or hiking, it helps if you can recognize toxic plants such as poison ivy, poison oak, and sumac. Otherwise you are at risk for a nasty, lingering rash. Every part of these plants contains urushiol, an oil that causes an allergic reaction, or histamine response, in most of the population. This rash is characterized by red, swollen skin, weepy blisters, and severe itching. Although the rash will clear up in one to three weeks, the oil lingers on tools and clothing indefinitely. Gardeners who fear exposure to poison plants should always wear cloth gloves—the urushiol can penetrate latex.
Poison ivy
Triple Threat: Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) has pointy leaves arranged in threes that turn red in fall. Poison oak leaves (T. diversilobum) are a cross between oak leaves and poison ivy. Look for greenish-yellow or white berries; the plant is on the West Coast only. Poison Sumac (T. vernix) is a woody shrub found in the Southeast, with odd-numbered leaflets in pairs and glossy, pale yellow berries.
Treat the Rash: Wash with strong soap if there is exposure to toxic plants. If a rash appears, apply compresses of black tea—its tannins reduce inflammation—apple cider vinegar, or witch hazel. Ease intense itching with a compress with a few drops of jewelweed, geranium, rose, or lavender oil. Bentonite clay and colloidal oatmeal baths are also effective. A compress of one part echinacea tincture to three parts water can lower histamine reactions.
Jewelweed