The Bug Patch: Does it Work?

If mosquitoes and flies are driving you up the wall, there may be a solution that doesn't involve any chemical sprays. It's called the Bug Batch and it claims to use a natural supplement to repel bugs.

Does it work?

Let's find out.

To test it out, we head to Hollywild  in Inman.  During the summer it's a place where the zebras, deer and rhinos take rest in the shade and the water buffalo cool off in the pond. 

The creatures there may slow down, but the humans continue to work like animals and their close proximity puts them in touch with some not so friendly pests.   

"You've got mosquitoes, black flies, gnats." said worker Bradley Ferea.

"I mean you get no break from it, it's just nagging you nagging you nagging you," he said.

The product claims to repel "mosquitoes, no-see-ums, black flies and yellow flies" by releasing vitamin B1 into your blood stream.

"The makers of the bug patch say in order to work it's essential that you sweat. That way the natural supplement is released from your body."

Not a problem for these guys...

"Oh no, you sweat constantly.  You walk from here to there and you're sweating," said Ferea.

The directions say to wear the patch for at least 2 hours and keep it on for a day or two, the longer you wear it the longer it lasts.

While the Hollywild staff tests it out,  we head to USC Upstate where 4 more testers have already been wearing the patch for a day.  

The control group with no patch admits  "you get some skeeters and other various things but it's not really that bad," said Vickie Smith.

And yet, we found 2 members of the test group had become lunch for a few mosquitoes.

"I've had it on for over 12 hours, and there's a mosquito on me right now, maybe a little more testing might be needed," said tester Steven Howard.

It's a fair assessment considering the directions advise adults and children over 80 lbs to wear 1 to 2 patches.

Our four USC Upstate testers slap on another one for 24 more hours.

HOLLYWILD RESULTS:

Back at Hollywild, tester David Strickland started off with 2, and it did the trick.

"I never got a bite.  I know it's crazy but i'm telling you the truth. I never got a bite. And for me that's unusual because mosquitoes love me," he said. 

Compare that to his patchless co-worker.

"I got bitten by a couple mosquitoes back there rumaging around," said control group tester Jeanne Peters.

"She was talking about she was getting eat up back here when we was doing this bear. And I swear I looked at her and I said I ain't kidding with you, I hadn't had a bite one," said

Ferea, a smaller build, says it worked with just one patch for him.

"I had nothing, I had no bites I had nothing and during the day I didn't notice anything land on me at all."

Some pretty impressive results.

So we asked the makers how they feel about this warning on the CDC website.  it says "Vitamin B... is not effective in preventing mosquito bites." 

Bobby Borland with the bug patch told us "They are basing it on taking B1 pills which do not work because they go through your gut. The patch goes through the blood and back out the pores."

Time to check back in with the grounds keepers at USC Upstate.  This time our return to the Susan Jacobs Arboretum is met with a very different but unanimous outcome.

Here are some of their comments:

"The patch really worked really well. Two of 'em seemed to do the trick."

"For the last 24 hours I haven't had any bugs on me." 

"I'm really surprised that the patch seems to work as well as it claims."

Across the board, our testers say, the right number of bug patches combined with a little sweat equity, can keep those pests from having a feast at your expense.

The Bug Patch is $20 for 24 patches. The makers are offering a money back guarantee.