Box Elder Bug Problem

[Tom R S]

For the last 2 years the Box Elder bugs have been getting more and more out of hand here in SE Wisconsin.
Now with the mild winter they've gotten worse. A day in the 50s or better they come out onto the siding in droves and show up IN the house.
I would like to spray something around the perimeter of the house but don't want any toxins lingering for people or the dog.
Does anyone have any safe suggestions?

 

[Burkie]

For the last 2 years the Box Elder bugs have been getting more and more out of hand here in SE Wisconsin.
Now with the mild winter they've gotten worse. A day in the 50s or better they come out onto the siding in droves and show up IN the house.
I would like to spray something around the perimeter of the house but don't want any toxins lingering for people or the dog.
Does anyone have any safe suggestions?

Same problem here. I use the leaf blower to scatter them about 30' from the house. Don't know why, but doing this kills about half of them.

 

[DaveBN]

I have them VERY bad. Only real solution is to cut down all the box elders. But that's a big job. I do have some spray that is affecting but I don't remember the name right now. Sorry
Dave

 

[wore out]

I have them VERY bad. Only real solution is to cut down all the box elders. But that's a big job. I do have some spray that is affecting but I don't remember the name right now. Sorry
Dave

Tempo?

 

[jon f mn]

There is a product called Bug Stop sold at hardware stores and Walmart and such. You can spray it right on the house both indoors and out and it leaves no trace. When the bugs craw across it they die. Stays active til washed off. I spray it around all the windows and doors both inside and out on my house every year. Works on Asian beetles too.

You can also mix up some Dawn dish soap and water in a pump sprayer and spray them. It will kill any you spray but doesn't have residual so you have to keep spraying.

You can also spread diatomaceous earth around he house and those that crawl across that will die. That is perfectly harmless and will also kill Asian beetles and a ts and such.

 

[1948CaseVAI]

For the last 2 years the Box Elder bugs have been getting more and more out of hand here in SE Wisconsin.
Now with the mild winter they've gotten worse. A day in the 50s or better they come out onto the siding in droves and show up IN the house.
I would like to spray something around the perimeter of the house but don't want any toxins lingering for people or the dog.
Does anyone have any safe suggestions?

My grandmother always put a few hedge apples around to keep them at bay. Can't hurt.

 

[Steve in VA]

My grandmother always put a few hedge apples around to keep them at bay. Can't hurt.

Same with my grandparents

 

[KL in Wi]

I use a product called Demon. Spray in on the buildings and it will last up to 90 days. It does an excellent job.

 

[johnlobb]

When I bought my home 24 years ago, we had millions of them crawling all over the south side of the house on a warm late fall day. I sprayed them with dish soap and water out of a pump sprayer, and it suffocates them, but you have to keep after them. It really made a difference when I and the neighbors cut all the female Box Elder trees down on our properties. The females have the seed spinners. Now we have just a few, and I go after them relentlessly...

 

[Cash4Toys]

I use a killer called Seven . Works good and last quite a while. Hardware stores sell it, easy to find

 

[Tim in New York]

X2 on Demon. We use it here to spray the house to kill the Asian ladybugs. It gets applied the middle of August, kills cluster flies then, and is still effective on the beetles in October. Only downside is that it leaves a white residue on anything that is not white.

 

[IHRedRules]

Mix some dish soap and water and spray on the bugs where you can. I mix about 2 tablespoons of soap to a handheld sprayer (16 oz or whatever size they are). They’ll be dead in 5-10 seconds.

 

[db4600]

Tempo?

Agreed. Tempo has the ingredients that is in barn white wash and worked on bugs back then. Don’t know if barn white wash is even a thing anymore.
If you think the visible bugs are bad tear vinyl siding off a house.

 

[moresmoke]

Pyrethrin works well to kill them. Still an insecticide, but it’s natural for whatever that’s worth.

 

[marloweg]

For the last 2 years the Box Elder bugs have been getting more and more out of hand here in SE Wisconsin.
Now with the mild winter they've gotten worse. A day in the 50s or better they come out onto the siding in droves and show up IN the house.
I would like to spray something around the perimeter of the house but don't want any toxins lingering for people or the dog.
Does anyone have any safe suggestions?

Biofin

 

[Russ from MN]

Permethrin is what we used for termites here in Arizona, but it works for many other bugs too.