Box elder bugs are black with red stripes and they are everywhere. They like to hang out on the side of the house on a sunny afternoon. They are harmless or so the experts say. They don’t bite or carry disease. I don’t like having
them in my house and I have no idea how they are getting in but I don’t imagine they need much of an opening.
If you belong to “Nextdoor” or a Facebook neighborhood group you will find posts from people asking about the bugs.
There is one home remedy that will kill them without harming bees or butterflies or anything else. Put some water in a spray bottle with a squirt of dish soap or laundry detergent. If it doesn’t work you didn’t put in enough. The mixture doesn’t kill the bugs on contact but they will die.
However, there are so many of the critters I fear it is a losing battle. A person could go out and buy some kind of poison to kill the bugs but that seems like a waste of money.
The first hard frost will kill some of them off but some will get inside and survive. This is the time of year when various critters work hard to get into your house to stay warm.
