Home Bar Blog

It’s that time of year again here in Wisconsin when on warm autumn days those red and black beetles know as Box Elder Bugs begin forming large groups in search of a place to over winter. They don’t bite, but the shear numbers are frightening and create a major nusiance. Don’t mistake these bettles with Asian Beetles that look like Ladybugs. If you have an outdoor pool or bar area, both varieties will attempt to find a crevice in which to spend the winter. The don’t harm structures and perhaps they act as additional insulation for older homes (grin).
I’m sure you are wondering how to get rid of those red and black Box Elder Bugs, and if you’ve tried bug spray, you’ve already found that it does not work. They seem immune to the stuff and just keep on crawlin’.

The only way I have found to eliminate them is using an Ortho Sprayer filled with several cups of Era Laundry detergent. Yup, you read right, laundry detergent. Set the sprayer on the 2oz setting, just so the mixture creates a foam. For some reason, this concoction will kill them in their tracks. I’d love to know how this really works and I found this by accident while cleaning some garbage cans. At 1 to 2 oz per gallon concentration, the spray does not seem to hurt plants & trees. I told a few people about this and now the whole neighborhood is in on the Box Elder Bug War. Ajax dish soap also works as will any non-phosphorus detergent. If there are any Entomologists out there that can answer this mystery, feel free to comment.

Here is the gruesome aftermath of a good detergent wash down. You don’t need the volume of suds shown in the photo, 1oz per gallon of liquid soap should kill 98% of Box Elder Beetles.

Increase the dosage if needed.
Very effective and leaves a fresh clean scent!

Here’s you chance to show off the best photos of your completed home bar. We’ve received literally thousands of great pictures (all of which can be view from withing the membership site) so now we’ll review one a month outlining specific design features and ideas that have grow out of our community builders brain trust. If’ you have completed your bar construction phase and the decor phase and your bar has a few good miles on it, send your photos to barphotos@ barplan.com (be sure to remove the space after the @ symbol, added to deter spammers).