The UK's No.1 Midge Repellent
We Need Your Help! COVID-19 might have cancelled or delayed your summer holiday but it won’t stop midges and ticks from being a nuisance! As many people are taking advantage of the outdoors for their daily exercise, we are hearing reports of ticks starting to emerge around the UK. So, we thought we would try …
Read more
The COVID-19 outbreak is going to have a serious impact on tourism, but it certainly won’t stop the dreaded midge from appearing! The 2020 midge season is fast approaching. We would expect to see the first batch of midges around May peaking in June. However, we have had a very wet and stormy couple of …
Read more
We wanted to give our customers an update on what’s happening at Smidge with the ongoing COVID-19 situation. Everyone at Smidge is working from home for the foreseeable future. As such, this is having an impact on shop orders. We are still open and accepting orders, however, there will be delays in getting these posted …
Read more
Public Health England (PHE) have found tick-borne encephalitis virus in ticks found in Thetford Forest and the Hampshire-Dorset border in England. Tick-borne encephalitis virus has already been discovered around Scandinavia, Asia and mainland Europe but this is the first report of it in the UK. It is possible that it has reached here via migratory …
Read more
Researchers from the University of Glasgow have discovered previously unknown viruses in the Scottish midge population around Loch Lomond. These viruses are not a public health concern but show the potential for midges to transmit diseases to animals, such as birds and cattle, in the UK and Europe. It was only a few years ago …
Read moreYou’ll be glad to know that it’s nearing the end of the midge season! Numbers are starting to decline around the country, with fewer and fewer reports coming into us of midge activity. This means that the Midge Forecast is soon to shut down for the season. It’s at this stage that females will start …
Read more
New estimates suggest that cases of Lyme disease around the UK are possibly three times higher than was previously thought. This is according to a new paper published in BMJ Open. This research found that there could be over 8000 cases of Lyme disease in the UK by the end of 2019. This is compared …
Read more
Smidge will be on a road trip around Scotland from Monday next week (15th -19th July). If you are a small business (B&B, local shop etc.) and would like to try Smidge for your customers for the first time, we do great starter packs with a mix & match, or products or for larger businesses …
Read more
First off, I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Jay and I’m just getting started here at Smidge as a new research assistant/assistant accounts manager (a bit of science and a bit of business!). I have a background in midge and mosquito behaviour research going back to my undergraduate years. I’m not all that new to …
Read more