Wow. I'm from the mosquito-ridden heart of Canada, and I'm still alarmed by the fact that there are mosquitoes flying into my place every night now (the first one I saw this year was in February!)

Does anybody in Belgium use screens on their windows? If so, where can you find them? If not, will I be forced to close my window from May until November? Does anybody have a line on a good mosquito-netting supplier in Brussels?

Hopefully a more seasoned expat has [successfully!] wrestled with Belgium's bugs...

Hello! Well, I can't tell you where to get screens, but I can tell you what solved our mosquito problem last summer. All of the shops (for example, Delhaize) have these plug-in things that hold cartridges filled with liquid mosquito repellant / poison. They are effective even if you have your windows open. (One issue -- you of course want to keep the liquid away from your kids, and not use the plug-in in a room inhabited by a child under two.) So you just put the plug-in thing into an outlet, put the cartridge in it, and voila, no more mosquitoes!! (The plug-ins are even designed to only run 12 hours a day, and you pick the time by pressing a little button; you'll see what I mean when you find them.) Anyway, I could not believe these actually worked, and I was THRILLED. We had tons of mosquitoes, and for whatever horrible reason they particularly adore my blood, so I was suffering miserably until we found these plug-ins. They're not too expensive (less than 10 euros for the original plug-in, then even cheaper for refills), and each liquid-filled cartridge lasts 45 days. Oh, I'll also tell you that we first heard about these plug-ins from some native Belgians at my husband's workplace, so I guess they're what people here, who are used to this issue, tend to rely on in the absence of screens.

Well, of course there are screens for windows, doors etc. everywhere around! Try a normal Do It Yourself store and you'll find them in all sizes, even to assemble or make them yourself.