OT---box elder bugs

[Bob S.]

Howdy,
The box elder bugs are covering the entire south side of my house, that time of year , but they are really bad this year. I have been using the Home Defense bug sprat,it's supposed to last for 3 months but I'm lucky if it does the job for 3 days. Any ideas what might work better? Fleet Farm has removed all bug sprays from shelfs to make room for Halloween & Christmas stuff, Jan 1st the swim suits come out, makes perfect sense in north central Wisc.
Bob S.

 

[Davy Fireball]

one year a guy in Des Moines set car tires on fire then used a blower fan to blow the smoke into the swarm that worked ( BUT IT SET FIRE TO HIS HOUSE) I bet that was hard to explain to insurance agent

 

[S2710]

I buy a product call Pestabs. I get them at the local Coop. They work real good on Asian beatles but they also work on box elder bugs. If you are using them on the box elder bugs you should put it on a little stronger. One application will last all fall H.T.H.
Bob

 

[mnjoe]

I've used Tempo spraying the outside of the house and inside. My problem is the asian beetles. The stuff still kills a year later.

 

[vjd]

Just mix up some laundry soap and spray it on they dont like it

 

[SCHMUCK 2]

Any type of soap seems to kill them. I had the same problems about 8 years ago. First year, they nearly covered the side of the garage. Couldn't even walk in without having half a dozen on you/in your eyes & nose. Mixed some dish soap and water in a garden sprayer and sprayed 'em down. A couple of days later, had about half as many again, sprayed 'em with soap again. That was it for that year. Following year, about half as many again. 1 time with the soap spray, not enough left to worry about. 3rd year, about half as many as the year before. 1 spraying, and haven't seen any since.

 

[Lefty]

Any soap,2 oz to the gallon of water applied to them will kil em dead,plugs up their airholes.Generally harmless,don't bite unless trapped,don't eat yer house garden,just live on "female" boxelder trees not male.Really do nothing but eat and breed and breed and breed.
Soapn solution is good,because it's cheap,effective,non polluting and won't harm any surfaces you might need to spray,unlike some chemicals.At this time of year they're trying to find shelter for winter.
Oh if anybody wants some,I get shipping per ice cram bucket full

 

[Bob S.]

Howdy,
Serious question----I would like to try the soap spray, but what happens when the rain hits the side of the house? I have new vinyl siding and don't want to have a streaky mess, what about the grass? We have had over 5in of rain in 24hrs, don't want soap suds floating all over the place. It just don't want to stop raining.
Thanks,
Bob S.

 

[SCHMUCK 2]

Bob, I put roughly 1/4 cup in a gallon of water and I never noticed any streaking/suds afterward. I had new vinyl siding back then, too. No change in the siding appearance after all this time, other than some sun fading.

 

[Anonymous-0]

let me tell you something about boxelder bugs. they are demons sent straight here from hell by satin. they multiply so fast they will take over your home in a heart beat. some people say dawn dish soap and water but I did this and a couple hours later I saw some of them moving again. you can put the dawn and water in a wet dry shop vac and suck them up, then dump them out, pour some diesel on them and have a boxelder bbq. i found an awesom product called demon wp which is very cheap on amazon. i sprayed this on them and it killed them right away. when i came out the next morning i found them dead everywhere. it has a long lasting residual effect so it will keep on killing them. great product. good luck