Bug Spray

Maybe it's the appearance of all the flies and other biting bugs outside has led me into a bit of a blending frenzy this morning - and believe me, I've nothing against insects generally and rarely kill one, but certain ones do seem to love to bite me - and my horse!

I have two blends that I tweak year to year - one for humans and dogs, one for horses. This morning I mixed up two 1-liter bottles of the horse blend and one 8oz bottle of the human blend. They smell SO much better than store bought bug sprays. SO, So much better! IN fact, the smell is so much better that the horses will run off if I pull out a bottle of the store-bought brand, but they love it when I spray them with mine.

Now I can't reveal all my secrets, but let's just say that my base is an aloe vera gel base, mixed with one third water, and the secret ingredient, one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Added to this is a combination of a whole bunch of essential oils; some are the same for both humans, dogs, and horses, but some are very horse specific. They are generally exposed to a greater variety of biting flying insects, so I hit them with the full arsenal, so to speak. Humans and dogs are generally not exposed to things like horse flies and bot flies, for example. Bot flies lay visible eggs on the hairs of horses, usually on their legs. You can actually see the individual yellow-colored eggs, which must be removed or when the larvae hatch they burrow under the skin of the horse (!) And worse, if the horse scrapes the eggs off with their teeth, the larvae can then hatch in their mouth and the larvae burrow into their gums. Ugh!

We discovered this problem when living in Alabama. Our poor chestnut horse's legs were covered in these horrible yellow eggs. I had no idea what it was then; it was a quick and steep learning curve! But fortunately my essential oil journey was already underway and I stumbled upon a specific oil that deterred the bot flies from laying their eggs on my horse EVER AGAIN! It was in fact just one essential oil, diluted of course, but then sprayed on his legs every other day. From the first day we discovered this, he never had them lay on him again (phew). The manager of the stable he was boarded at asked me to please share the secret with her as she had another 16 horses dealing with the same issue and scraping bot fly eggs off 16 horses is no joke!

The secret? Atlas Cedarwood essential oil - Cedrus Atlantica. Always check the Latin Name when you're buying essential oils to make sure you're getting exactly what you want. I use maybe three 30 ml bottles each summer in Alabama. Now I use it as part of my horsefly blend here in Pennsylvania. email: nyrbhalla@gmail.com I web: us.nyrorganic.com/shop/tracybhalla I www. LogHouseAromatics.com

Other essential oils that are good for keeping the bugs off include Lemongrass (Cymbopogon schoenanthus), Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus Globulus), Citronella (Cymbopogon nardus), Lavender (Lavandula Angustifolia) to name a few you should have heard of - again, and I cannot stress this enough - make sure you check the Latin names, the ones in parentheses, to be 100% sure you are buying the right thing. If you buy a "copy" at the very least it could be from a different plant entirely and therefore would not have the same therapeutic benefits, and at worst it could just be a completely adulterated oil and have zero benefits at all.

A few that you may not have heard of, or didn’t know of this particular benefit, include Basil (Ociumum basilicum), Thyme ct. Linalool (Thymus vulgaris ct. linalool), Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis ct verbenone), Catnip (Nepeta Cataria) and Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin). All of these will repel insects of one form or another and sometimes it's a bit of trial and error to find the mix that works best for the locale that you are in. At the very least though, you know that you are not poisoning yourself and your family/animals with all the horrors that are in commercial products. Happy blending!

Tracy Bhalla, independent consultant with NYR Organics and founder of LogHouseAromatics.com; after 25 years of using homeopathic remedies, it was time to take charge and complete my Aromatherapy Certification, which I achieved April 2020 and since founded LogHouseAromatics.com as a source for useful essential oil and general natural health information and a place to purchase certain products. email: nyrbhalla@gmail.com I am here to answer any questions you may have.