Yesterday when I arrived home from work I decided to do some work in my sons bedroom upstairs. As I was inspecting the ceiling, I saw a spider. I have been preaching lately that you should not kill spiders. You should bring them outside. But yesterday, I went against my word and killed the spider.

Because of that, karma came back to me directly which resulted in thousands of Box Elder Bugs, mating in my back yard and up against my house.

It was so steamy, I feel like Marvin Gaye should've been playing his hit song, "Let's Get It On." Now I am not saying that I am against animals breeding with each other. But it's hard for me to accept the fact that they're multiplying by the thousands directly outside of my living room window.

I immediately asked you on Facebook, what I was up against with these insects and the post popped off.

I had an array of responses and figured out that these bugs aren't physically harmful to me but the amount of them made me immediately feel like I needed to poison them.

So, I found this video below online on YouTube after watching it, I went to the hardware store and bought poison.


 

 


Lizzy Snyder
Lizzy Snyder via Facebook
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But before I fired up the poison, something changed. I saw a comment from a friend on the thread and she completely changed my mind.

She said the following,

It's probably too late to tell you to not use poison to kill these guys. They can act as pollinators as they forage for food. They don't hurt anyone. Pesticide is poison and by using it, you're poisoning the environment and potentially other pollinators, like bees.
How about using these guys for inspiration and reaching out to your local Cooperative Extension office to learn about Maine's native pollinators. Write a story about how people can rid themselves of unwanted insects while preserving the lives of Maine's native bee species and other pollinators?
Facebook Commenter
She was frank and honest and opened my eyes to trying something different. I am always trying to become better then who I was the day before and I will learn what I can about these bugs.
Here is the tip that I uncovered so far that will help avoid killing these bugs. They're is a tree/bush called the "Box Elder Tree" and if you can find it and cut it down, it will decrease your bug problem by a lot. Here is how to identify and remove a box elder tree. 
If you have a box elder problem, you can also visit this report put out by the University of Minnesota Extension with more helpful tips.
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