What does anybody know about B-12 as a bug deterrent? I ve heard that you start taking it days in advance. Can anyone tell me the effectiveness, dosage and advantages if any to this method? TIA scott

Forget about the B-12 and take out the deet and permethrin.
Those are the only things that work.
Citronella has a limted effectiveness if you want something more 'natural'

And all those rumors about Avon's Skin-So-Soft being good to repel mosquitoes? Just that, rumors. After some non-scientific but very painful personal experiments in south Texas in the summer, I concluded that there are only three things that keep mosquitoes away from you: DEET, a small thermonuclear detonation or not going out at all.

this is where wearing natural fibers comes in, deet attacks polymers (synthetic polymers) so if you're wearing a cotton smock, just slap the deet everywhere, all over you clothes, then you become a large deet smelling lump. worked for me in the north west of scotland

what is permethrin?

Permethrin (0.5%) is a clothing treatment. You douse your clothes with the stuff in a well ventilated area and let them dry before you put them on. It's proved very effective for me, especially in the thick underbrush that the ticks around here love. The brand that I use is Permanone Repel. I got it at WalMart.

Ed