Why another "useless black fly thread"? Because that's a frequent question I get from folks from down state. Many hikers clear out of the woods until the black flies diminish and many appreciate the warning when they show up in the spring
On the other hand if you want advice on sharpening a chain saw, I highly recommend the Husqvarna roller filing guide and I tend to open up the clearance on the rakers well above the recommended amount except when I am felling as it makes it a bear to start a plunge cut.
I concur on the roller file guide. But the file condition is really important. I sharpen my chain daily, and more often when dealing with dirty logs or when cutting low to the ground and brushing.
Now, on the subject of Black Flies or Buffalo Gnats here is my acquired and manufactured knowledge of these beasties after living with them for the past 76 years here in the New Hampshire and Maine woods.
1. They are sensitive to the average daytime temperatures. They appear when the average gets to around 60 F and will remain active until the temp starts to be above 75. At those higher summer temperatures they then are normally found only at the higher mountain tops where the daily averages don't get consistently above 75 to 80 degrees.
2. If you happen to be bitten a large number of times in the early spring, they seem to not bother you too much after that. My father used to claim that your body built up some kind of natural chemical defense against them. He would do that self-inoculation ordeal every year because he was an avid Fly Fisherman and was against using repellents. He claimed that the Trout could detect their use and avoid the fly. I remember fishing with him in the 40s and 50s when he would be bug free and I would be in the midst of a cloud of the little biting buggers. He claimed that without that "natural" repellent the "Indians" would have never survived living up here.
3. IMHO Black Flies are solar powered. Ever notice that the head of a Black Fly is over-sized compared to its body? That's where the moniker "Buffalo Gnat comes from. And, as everyone knows, they are not active at night, and not much on cloudy days. But on sunny days with lots of solar energy available they are ferocious and many.
4. I was on a rescue turned recovery in the Pemi - Thirteen Falls vicinity around 1984 or 5 where the young guy was lost for several nights in the dense swampy area that the Thirteen Falls Trail (Old RR bed) bypasses, and he apparently died from allergic reactions due to thousands of insect bites. This was in early summer. So I would conclude that they can also kill.
5. WARNING: Several grains of salt might well be taken with the reading of my "Black Fly Natural Facts", written on a wet and boring Sunday afternoon.
