Our store of frozen blueberries finally gone, Charlie strung even tougher mesh around his large blueberry patch hoping to keep the hungry birds out. Somehow we have never managed to steer them away from the garden to the luscious bird feeders hung just for them. The outer barrier has held so far, and only one robin and one starling have found their way into the crop.
However when he went out to pick berries he found several bushes looking poorly, including one that looked as if it had been sucked dry. Looking more closely, he found hundreds of the above pictured critters. Thanks to his camera phone and Google, he quickly identified the culprit as a box elder bug.
We avoid all pesticides in our yard to keep our dogs and birds safe, so we were quite concerned to be confronted with our first infestation by a new predator.(I have been wanting to use “infestation” for a long time in a post. Not sure what that says about me!) To Charlie’s delight, a simple mixture of water and dish soap sprayed on the bugs kills them quickly. Off he went, a warrior on the advance. He returned triumphant having begun to decimate the hoard. (Another great heretofore unused verb!)
Now we just need to remember to rinse the soap off before we freeze the new bounty.
Saved By Words 
Soapy water is good for getting rid of aphids too. Glad to hear it worked on those bugs.
Best wishes, Pete.
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We don’t have aphids right now, but we will remember that.
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Yuck! I have never seen or heard of a Box Elder.Good to know how to treat an “INFESTATION “ should the dreaded need arise. Love Me P.S.Thanks so much for the coupon to have my I Pad worked on.😘
Sent from my iPad
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Apparently, watered down washing up liquid (which I translate to be your dish-soap) is good for a lot of bugs I use it for the greenfly on my roses too Pete.) I also use it on my window-sill basil when it gets bugged, because it’s easy to wash off later by holding the pots sideways under the tap. (I use the biggest basil leaves as salad leaves with the baby spinach and romaine, but it doesn’t like to grow outdoors here.)
Next door has a cherry tree, but if we’re not quick to harvest the cherries, the birds can clear them all in a day!
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I have often wondered what “washing up liquid was.” No I know. I think we will try in on other bugs in the future.
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I like the masterful use of all those big words. Impressive.
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Got to keep my SAT practice vocabulary words in use, even 70 years later!
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Good to keep in practice. Yesterday Shawn quoted Logan, “Mom, don’t try to sound like Anne using all those big words.”
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LOL
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Oh my, well done
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Thanks. I have learned from other comments that this works on other bugs too.
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OK!
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A handsome photo and a tale of triumph. My ridiculous reason for avoiding the word “decimate” is due to a pedantic piece of obsolete teaching I received in my youth. “Decimate means to kill ten per cent of the enemy.” (Think Latin derivation.) We tend to believe our first teaching on matters of language, and sure enough, I did. But for decades (perhaps forever) “decimate” has also been used to mean “slaughter the whole damn lot” as any dictionary will declare. And as your little critters will discover as they float away on soapy water.
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I think I once knew that and actually paused before using the word. I am still amazed that I have lived long enough that words’ meanings have changed during my lifetime.
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It’s good to know that you didn’t send the bugs unwashed to meet their maker! Who wants to return dirty to the dust from which we came? 😀
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LOL
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Charlie must have felt like a successful warrior! Thank goodness for technology.
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It is amazing how many non medical issues are successfully solved with Google. However, it is pretty alarmist about symptoms of people!
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It’s a two-edged sword.
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Good thing you found a way to eliminate those pests.
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And without poisoning the animals.
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Box elder bugs are prevalent in the West. I suspect you also had them when you lived in Oregon.
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Sure never saw them, but he wasn’t growing berries then either.
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That’s a very good photo of Mildred you’ve captured!
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I wondered if you knew her!
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I picked our first few blueberries a few days ago – most are still green. Ours are not low bush berries but rather tall swooping branches laden with berries. I try to pick them before the bears and the deer get them.
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Remember that kid’s book “Blueberries for Sal?” We have a boat load of berries this summer and so far no bears on our side of the river.
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I vaguely remember the book. Our berries are ripening at a slow pace and so far none of our animals are eating them.
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Hi Elizabeth, I am glad the bugs are easily dealt with.
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He keeps finding new ones, but he likes dispatching them with soap and water.
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In my garden, it’s a contest between me and the critters for our tomatoes. Hooray for not using pesticides.
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I am glad a good solution was found.
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