6/16/21 – I’m happy to report the black flies seem to be about done for the season (knock on wood).  They generally stick around for two to three weeks each spring trying their darndest to push us to the edge of our sanity.  I’m hopeful that this season’s bumper crop of flies translates to a bumper crop of blueberries.  According to Mark Sparky Stensaas, in Wildflowers of the BWCA and the North Shore, we can thank black flies for pollinating the tiny white bell-shaped blueberry flowers in the spring.  We had a good three-week onslaught of the pesky bloodsuckers, but I’m happy to say they seem to have subsided substantially.  Now we just have to cross our fingers for a little rain to plump up those berries!  -Jessica