Lady Bug Infestation

The beetles were the worst ever last fall. They made the most unbelievable mess on windows and house siding. I don't believe that birds eat them. My chickens wouldn't touch them and who would blame them the beetles smell so bad. It's terrible when you can't sit on your porch, have to run a gauntlet to be able to go out to get the mail and come back in. They have been coming out into our kitchen mostly all winter long. We have caulked everything we can. I will try the cotton balls soaked in camphor. I used to love our native ladybugs. Ugh I hate these!!! Rita in TN

My wife has had moderate success with mulberry scented candles. I prefer good old Raid. One thing I did notice, last summer we insulated the great room with blown in cellulose. The cellulose is treated with boric acid. We haven't had but one or two bugs in that room.

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To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.
-Theodore Roosevelt

So, we moved onto the farm just over a year ago. When I saw the first one, I thought, "how cute, a ladybug!" Yeah, right. A month later, it was "Those @#$& bugs are everywhere! What the @#$%???"

I have long, curly hair, and occasionally, one will fly smack into my head, get caught in my hair, and buzz wildly right next to my ear until I can knock the thing out...I real treat, I can assure you. :haha:

The following fall, the chickens were in feathered bliss eating all those little bastards when they started swarming. You see, when I was brooding them the previous spring in the basement, I would throw all of the bugs I could find to the chicks...I guess they developed a taste for them!

This fall, the swarming was even worse, but I have noticed considerably less in the house this year.

I'm all for less (preferably, no) pesticides, herbicides - heck, all "cides" for that matter. I'm an organic market gardener, to boot! But really, this is just f-@#&-ing insane!! Ya'd think that all these "educated" biologists would learn a lesson or two from all those other uber-successful "imports" mentioned in previous posts!

Dat's all I got ta say 'bout dat.

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April

Gardener Chick, Poultry Wrangler, and Goat Mama!

QUOTING MARVELLA:

the lady bugs you are seeing are beneficial insects that you should want to have around. believe me, i know how annoying they are. this winter has been so mild they never got frozen out. they are good to have around because they eat aphids and all kinds of other things. the best way to control them is to use a clean vacuum bag, vacuum them up and release them outside. the reason they bite (really a little nip that goes away pretty quick) is because they are looking for water and are tasting you to see if you fit the bill.:-)

That is so interesting. We have released the plastic containers a few times, and they DID seem like they were biting us! I have wondered and wondered about that, and now I know! I still like them though, but these are imports?

We have lots of mantids, so I guess ours don't get out of control. We have walking sticks and agariope spiders too.

hollym

I haven't had them bite me, but they do like to get in the house. I scoop them up and put them into a container on the back porch where they can live until Spring. I do know that we haven't had to use any incecticide on our wheat crop in years for "green bugs", These green bugs are aphids and they do a big number on wheat when it warms up in Spring if they are present in any quantity. We have mantids too. I'd rather have a ladybug hit me in the head in the house than a mantis. I enjoy the ladybug's help with the peas too. I usually have so many aphids my pea plants shrivel and I get few good pods. Last year I had a wonderful pea harvest. The ladybugs were all over it. One point for the ladybugs. (too bad they aren't native though.)

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Linda


Don't misunderstand, Love is a verb. If you want to be loved, love.

If you want a true friend, be a true friend.

Wow, thanks all for the great information. Somehow it helps to know that I'm not alone in my fight. Now to go find that caulking gun.

We also have plenty of spiders, mostly those large yellow orbweavers. In the Fall we get those round orbweavers that build a web so big it seems like people can get caught in them. I'm sure hummingbirds could get caught in them. I hate their webs, but I'm sure they are beneficial. I take them off the porches though so we don't smack into one in the early morning. They are scary, and spiny looking. We have brown recluse and black widows here too, but I doubt they make an impact on the ladybug population. They hang around tool sheds, under houses and woodpiles and such. We have more of them since we decided to do away with the scorpion population near the house. We had a nest of them here. Maybe lots of nests. I used to find dozens of them in the house in a single week. They sting hard. Worse than a wasp. My solution for spiders is chickens.

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Linda


Don't misunderstand, Love is a verb. If you want to be loved, love.

If you want a true friend, be a true friend.

Oh yeah, we put that clear weatherstripping tape on all the cracks of the windows (where they open) where we couldn't calk the windows. The tape catches many ladybugs. They die there, but it cuts down on the nuber in the house.

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Linda


Don't misunderstand, Love is a verb. If you want to be loved, love.

If you want a true friend, be a true friend.