Just out of curiosity....

[KMCloonan]

Does anyone else have problems with Box Elder bugs? In the summer they are all over the outside of our house, in the flower beds, climbing the siding, etc. I spray the bugs with dish soap and water (kills them almost instantly), but for every 1000 I kill, another 1000 seem to replace them. I have caulked anything I could that looks like a potential ingress route to inside our house. In the fall they start looking for ways in, and many of them are able to get inside. In the winter, they climb up out of the basement and warm themselves on our south facing windows. We vacuum them, squish them, but they keep coming. Also, they vomit brown droplets, which stain the woodwork. We have even taken down a nearby female box elder tree that was on our property, and we are considering asking our neighbor if he would consider cutting down his tree.

I thought I would ask this awesome experienced group if any of you have any suggestions.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[rixstix]

I feel your pain. In our 20+ years in North Idaho, we never found a workable solution. Some years were just worse than others. FWIW, there was no box elder tree within miles of our house on 10 wooded acres, 3/4 mile off the paved road.

Good luck.

 

[Mortalis]

How to Get Rid of Boxelder Bugs—and Stop Them From Coming Back

Thankfully, there are easy ways to remove this pest from your home.

www.realsimple.com

 

[KMCloonan]

How to Get Rid of Boxelder Bugs—and Stop Them From Coming Back

Thankfully, there are easy ways to remove this pest from your home.

www.realsimple.com

Thanks. I also found this article this evening. We have tried the prevention (caulking), soapy water (which does kill them, but they just keep coming back), and removal (shop vac). I ordered some diatomaceous earth from Amazon. We'll see how that goes.

 

[1080Wayne]

Not much point in taking out local box elder if they have a lot of other local food sources . Have never tried the diatomaceous earth but it is probably the best bet . They do have one saving grace , which is to carry the species of fusarium fungus which gives box elder that nice red colour , from tree to tree , thereby giving us some very nice wood to waste our time upon . Also , the statement in the article that they don`t damage the tree , is incorrect . I often have dead branches caused entirely by their larval feeding .

 

[Woodchipper]

Kill one and all the relatives show up for the funeral. No easy answer to unwanted critters.