by Melissa Brunner

Summer has arrived and so have the bugs!

It's kinda cool on the nighttime walk with the dogs to see all the fireflys flickering in the sky. We like to call them our "pup-arazzi" because it looks like flashbulbs going off on a celebrity red carpet there are so many of them!

What are uncool are all the mosquitoes. I think they lick their lips (do mosquitoes have lips?) like they're at an all-you-can-eat buffet when they see me coming! Our walks these days are filled with plenty of back-slapping... and legs, and arms, and necks, and anything else that's exposed!

Yahoo! posted a link to a Consumer Reports article on the best insect repellents, just in time for my misery. The best news they have is that all of them seem to do the trick if you're going to be outside for a couple hours. They advise using the better-rated products if you'll be out longer.

Here's a link to the article: http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/631/best-insect-repellents. Meantime, any old wives' tales for beating back the bugs that you've found successful?