What Natural Remedies Are There For Stopping Insect Bites And Stings?

Persistent creatures, those creepy-crawlies. And you can die from a mosquito bite-of malaria!
There are various essential oils that are nearly as effective as DEET, the familiar strong-smelling chemical used in most off-the shelf insect repellent creams and sprays. A word of caution, however. Essential oils are very concentrated stuff indeed and should always be diluted in other oils such as almond or even good old culinary olive oil before use. Add several drops to a larger amount of vegetable oil base. DO NOT USE THEM NEAT AND DO NOT SWALLOW THEM.
Here is a list of commercially available essential oils that work against insects if applied in diluted form as above:
Citronella oil. This is a lemon-scented plant from Asia. This may make your skin more sensitive to the sun, so use it in the evenings when the mosquitoes usually come out, not during the day whilst sunbathing.
Citrus essential oils. Bugs seem to hate the smell of oranges, lemons and so on. Again, only use these in very diluted form.
Crushed fresh basil (ocimum basilicum) is used in Greece and India to repel insects.
In Greece they say that if you put a large pot of fresh basil on your windowsill at night, mosquitoes won't come in. However I would think the sap from crushed basil applied directly to your skin would be more effective. If you are using an essential oil of basil, dilute it liberally with a neutral vegetable oil before use.
Crushed lemon thyme also works apparently as an insect repellent.
I have found citronella-scented candles, which are sold all over the Mediterranean countries and in Asia, to be quite effective as an outdoors insect repellent for barbeques etc. Make sure that you have enough of them burning, especially i n areas where mosquitoes carry disease.

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