How to Exterminate Boxelder Bugs

Boxelder bugs are a perennial nuisance to many homeowners. They find their way through foundation cracks, siding, clapboards, and splits in screens as well as unsealed windows. Any way boxelders can find to get indoors, they will use.

Boxelder bugs like the warmth of the sun and the warmth generated by any electric light or heated object in the home. They will hover around your lamp as you read a book in the evening or float in front of the TV screen during movies. Boxelders are harmless, but these behaviors can grate irritating after a season of cohabiting with the boxelder in your home.

Luckily, there is a perfectly safe method of ridding your home of boxelder without the use the use of dangerous insecticides and without taking a large hit in the pocketbook.

Tools Needed:

Dish washing liquid
Spray bottle or larger garden tank sprayer as needed

How to:

Outdoor boxelder bugs:

Make the mix. Using a typical two-gallon bucket for a reference, add 2 tablespoons of dish washing liquid to the pail and then fill it with water.

Transfer the mix to your spray bottle. If a large outdoor spray bottle is not available, you can use the 2 gallon bucket but you will inevitably use more mix. A larger spray tank of the garden typically proves more useful.

If you encounter a large "nest" of boxelder bugs, apply the spray liberally. This is helpful as boxelders do cluster, particularly around wood steps and trim. By pouring excess mixture all around the "nest," you kill the exposed boxelders on the outside and have miniature rivers of mixture running into the cracks and crevices where more bugs await.

Indoor boxelder bugs:

Deal with the occasional boxelder bug inside by spritzing it with a small bottle of mixture. Deal with an infestation by attacking them before they come in.

Locate their entry path. Check all possible areas that are in the vicinity of the largest concentration of the boxelder bugs. Spray or douse this location with your soap mixture and repeat this process for several days. If they are entering through a small crack or gap, seal the gap after the initial infestation is dead.

Results from the dishwashing soap mixture:

Initially you will notice an immediate stop to the menacing bugs as the soap mixture kills them practically on contact. I have known people that fought with these creatures with harsh chemicals, only to give up or call an exterminator. See it for yourself and you will be amazed at how effective this simple method is for eradicating the boxelder bug.