After posting treatment for ticks and offering to do the same for chiggers I received several requests for the information on chiggers. As we are all outdoors and prone to these pests (in addition to many others) I thought it might be worth sharing with the LIST. The information that follows is excerpted from: CHIGGERS!, Nina Bicknese, THE MISSOURI CONSERVATIONIST, August, 1990, Volume 51, Number 8, pages 2 - 5. Chigger facts: -Chiggers are not a 'bug'. They are the juvenile (or larval) form of a mite "Trombi-culidae" and belong to the arachnid family. -Chiggers are tiny, almost invisible to the unaided eye, less than 1/150 of an inch in diameter. -Chiggers are small enough to penetrate the meshes of your clothing, but they usually stay on the surface of your clothes until they come to an easy opening. -Chiggers are born red; they do not become red from feeding on blood. An engorged, well fed chigger changes to a yellow color. -Chiggers do not burrow under the skin and die within the tissues. There are pests in southern states such as the jigger flea or chigoe which to attack by burrowing under the skin. -Chiggers DO bite, by inserting mouth parts much like ticks. Usually at skin pores or hair follicles. -Women and children get more chigger bites than men. Men, women and children all collect the same number of chiggers on a walk; women and children thinner skin and are more easily bit. -Chiggers are most active when the ground temperature is between 77 and 86 degrees. They become inactive when substrate temperatures fall below 60 degrees and are killed below 42 degrees. "The reason the bite itches so intensely and for such a long time is because the chigger injects saliva into its vicitm after attaching to the skin. this saliva contains a powerful digestive enzyme that literally dissolves the skin cells it contacts. It is this liquified tissue, never blood, that the chigger ingests and uses for food. A chigger usually goes unnoticed for one to three hours after it starts feeding. During this period the chigger quietly injects its digestive saliva. After a few hours your skin reacts by hardening the cells on all sides of the saliva path, eveantually forming a hard tubelike structure called a stylostome. The stylostome walls off the corrosive saliva, but it also functions liake a feeding tube for the hungry chigger. The chigger sits with its mouthparts attached to the stylostome, and like a person drinking a milkshake through a straw, it sucks up you liquified tissue. Left undisturbed, the chigger continues alternately injecting saliva into the bite and sucking up liquid tissue. It is the stylosome that irritates and inflames the surrounding tissue and causes the characteristic red welt and intense itch." Prevention/Treatment: -Wear tightly woven socks, long pants, long sleeve shirts and high shoes or boots. When you get home, change your clothes as soon as possible. -Regular mosquito repellants will repel chiggers. Apply them around openings in your clothes, such as cuffs, waistbands, shirt fronts and boot tops. Re-apply every two to three hours. Sulphur is the most effective chigger repellant. Powdered sulphur, called sublimed sulphur or flowers of sulphur can be dusted in the same areas the mosquito repellant is applied. -Take a warm, soapy bath with plenty of scrubbing as soon as possible after exposure. -Warm soapy water is all that is necessary to remove and kill chiggers. There is no need to apply kerosene, turpentine, ammonia, alcohol, gasoline, salt or dry cleaning fluid. -Attached chiggers are removed by even the lightest rubbing. If you are away from civilization, frequent rubbing with a towel or cloth can remove attached chiggers before they do much damage. -No lotions are completely effective in releiving the itching. The only ultimate cure is time. You can do nothing to dislodge the feeding tube, the true cause of your itch. -Local anesthetics, such as, benzocaine, camphor-phenol and ammonioum hydroxide may provide you with several hours of relief. -Nail polish dabbed on the welt will not smother the chigger as it has not burrowed into your skin and probably fell off hours of scratching ago. -Chronic scratching will only further irritate the stylostome and probably cause secondary infection. Sorry for the length. This was basically a synopsis of the article which was very inteesting reading. Good luck and happy beekeeping. -- John Taylor -- Wild Rose Creek Apiary Southeast Missouri When in danger, or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout!