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Welcome again to another episode of the faith pest control Podcast. I’m Mike Stewart. And we do this podcast for all the fine folks in Jasper, Georgia, Blairsville, Georgia, Blue Ridge, Georgia, big canoes, anywhere in the north Georgia mountains. You know, if you’re here or especially in Jasper, Faith pest control is your one stop shop for pest control. And Fred Talley is the pest expert that knows what he’s doing. And he’s the guy you need to call to take care of all your pest problems. So Fred has already told me what he’s going to talk about today. So I’m gonna let him get right to it. But this podcast is being published in the fall. And I believe the fall is when the box elder bugs become a problem. Box Elder bugs, Fred, what are they what do they do? What problems do they cause? And what do you guys do to make sure they’re not a problem? So Mikey boxelder bugs are actually fairly common throughout the United States, but they tend to be pretty problematic. Here in the north Georgia mountains. The Box Elder bugs we most commonly find just for a crude description there are about a half inch long, black flying bug and they have like narrow reddish orange lines on their back. They’re very distinctive. If you ever seen one, you probably won’t ever forget what they look like. They primarily feed on sucking juices from surprisingly enough the box elder tree they that’s that’s their primary source of nutrition but not their only source. They can eat from Maple, maple trees, ash trees, fruit trees, Buckeye trees, as and this the part that I found ironic or that I really didn’t know is they also will eat on grape vines. When this happens, especially on fruit trees, though, it can cause minor deformities in in the fruit. Not what we’re here to talk about. But I found that interesting. In the late summer, and in the fall, large numbers of adult and juvenile boxelder bugs will come together. And before making their trek to an overwintering site. They will either fly or crawl to a suitable area for to overwinter. They tend to seek out and find almost any crack or crevice in walls, doors, window casings, rock piles, here in North Georgia. Dry stack rock is a common foundation cover. They will get in those cracks and crevices not holes. The trees hollows of trees, block foundations of houses an overwhelmingly large number of places they’ll congregate adults, the adults after from overwintering sites will emerge in there in the early spring. They’ll feed for about two weeks prior to mating, then females will begin laying their eggs in in the cracks and crevices near the host plants where they will be able to feed. When the boxelder bugs build up to build their populations, hi, they can be found and seen crawling on the exterior walls of your home. Generally speaking, they’re on the southern and or western walls of the home where the the setting sun warms the side of the house. However, some do get inside if they’re if they’re two of the population is to a point that they’re getting inside of your house. You do have a major problem at that point. They’re they’re generally just considered a nuisance pest just because of their numbers because they neither state nor transmit disease and generally not known to buy. They do very little damage indoors. They’re just a nuisance. They can they’re faecal deposits can stain curtains, and other you know, light colored sites resting sites that they might might use. But if you kill them inside, if you crush them, if you see them and smash them, they do have a foul odor.
Like I said earlier As winter approaches they’ll seek out protection from are cold. And to do this, they can fly up to two miles to find a suitable location to overwinter. And again, they’ll overwinter tree stumps, not holes, hollows of trees, wall voids in a house attics of your house, unheated garages. And they will remain you know, throughout the winter, mostly inactive if they, if they happen to be in a wall void that’s on the heat, you know, one side of it’s heated, they might become active prior to early spring when the temperatures begin to rise. It is generally best if you notice a problem with boxelder bugs to begin control. By treating the infested trees during the early summer months. When the bugs are immature, it’s much easier to control them in the immature stages than when they become a become an adult. Ironically enough, the general public a lot of times won’t seek out the hell the help of a pest control guy until the populations build to such high levels that they get overwhelmed. And it this time that they are pretty much gathering in masses along the foundation walls deciding the base of trees and inside the house, they can normally be controlled relatively easily with with residual insecticides. However, if if they are an annual problem at your house, a better or a much more permanent long term solution would be to remove the host trees that are near your house. That being said, if you’re living in the subdivision, the problem that you have at your house may not even be created on your property, the real problem may be on your neighbor’s property. Obviously you can’t go further and start harvesting trees or killing bugs at their house. Boxelder trees are actually fairly common in nature, as well as other areas that you probably can’t have any control over. There is evidence that suggests that the boxelder bugs may fly as far as a half mile just to find a suitable building that has a sunlit surface warm surface on which to live. Planting trees which are not hosts to the box elder bug to shade the the southern or western walls of your house could could be another viable long term solution if if they bother you that much. If you have a persistent boxelder bugs and problem, it could make sense to treat some small voids and or other appropriate areas in your house that might serve as overwintering sites for these bugs. In faith pest control, we do offer a free consultation and we offer a 100% make you happy money back guarantee. Do you hire faith pest control to get rid of your box elder bug problem? In the 30 days, you’re not 100% Happy, we’ll come back and retreat your home for free. We’ll keep on trading it for free until you tell us that you are happy. That doesn’t make you happy. We’ll give you back every penny you spent on the original treatment for the box elder bugs. Plus we’ll give you an additional $25 for your time in trouble just for fooling with us. Bottom line. You’ll be happy with the service we provide or you won’t pay a penny period. If you feel like what I’ve said today make sense to you please call fetes pest control 770-823-9202 and asked to speak to me Fred Talley. I’ll be more than happy to speak with you and answer any questions that you may have.
Well, Fred, as always, you are the past expert. And we produce this podcast as a community service for all the fine folks in Jasper, Georgia and surrounding areas in the north Georgia mountains. You can get this podcast in your favorite places Apple, Amazon, audible Spotify and Google or on the web, you know on in a web browser, anywhere you can find a podcast you can subscribe and listen. In fact, you were just telling me that a new residents moved into the Jasper area found your podcast and listened to every show. And after listening to every show they made a decision that you are the past expert but we knew that anyway. So be sure to To call Fred. If you have any questions whether you do business with him or not, he’d love to hear from you. And we’re going to continue making this podcast to populate the internet with good, true, helpful information. And now you know about the box elder bug and I’ll see you next time on the faith pest control podcast.
