When do the black flies disappear in Copper Harbor, Mich.?

When do the black flies disappear in Copper Harbor, Mich.? - Kathy, Lake Villa, Ill.

 Funny you should ask that. It was in Copper Harbor, on my first Circle Tour of Lake Superior, that I encountered black flies for the first time. I was playing tennis, and suddenly I felt itching along my hairline from a row of bites, which bled when I scratched them.

Not fun! That was late June. June is the worst month for the nearly invisible little critters; they should be gone, or mostly gone, by the Fourth of July. However, the Keweenaw tourism folks say they may appear for a day or so at other times, when conditions are right — for example, a still day after a recent rain.

For more about the Keweenaw Peninsula, see Copper Harbor refuge and Digging the Keweenaw.