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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Feb 04 2006 at 2:12pm | IP Logged
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This may not be the post for you.
I am absolutely being driven to distraction by Ladybugs. Were talking hundreds of them climbing up the school room walls and windows, flying around the room, into my hair, making their way into eyes and noses. (They stink, by the way)The only recourse I have is the daily use of my trusty shop vac to suck them up by the hundreds. I have used it so much that I've learned to weild it like a light-saber, often striking down my foes in mid flight. This daily epic battle is starting to grate on the nerves, to say the least. As I write this I can see no less than a dozen more of the little ladies making their way up my walls once again, and I just turned off the vac!
Anyone else have this problem? What can I do? Our home is a very old farmhouse, so there is no way to seal all the cracks and crevices. I don't want to use any pesticides, and I don't think it would work anyway. Are there any traps like for Japanese beetles? I am desperate!
Help!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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mary
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| Posted: Feb 04 2006 at 2:22pm | IP Logged
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I had lots of them last year, but over the summer, we had our house (cedar outside) resealed. the painter caulked beforehand and i've had few/no ladybugs this year. you are also losing a lot of heat/air conditioning through those cracks, so it really would be worth the time to have them sealed. i don't know of any other way to keep the bugs/air out of your house.
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Sarah
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| Posted: Feb 04 2006 at 3:58pm | IP Logged
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Oh my! I'm wondering if these are our true ladybugs, native to America, or the ones the farmers introduced to take over pests.
We have a slighly reddish-orange "ladybug" that took over the native ones here. They come inside in the fall and winter. Some of my kids and dh even claimed they were bitten (?). I have nothing like what you are dealing with. We have several at all times in each room. And I know that smell. If one stinks. . .oh, what suffering you must be enduring.
Do you suppose they migrate there from us up north? We have them all summer.
I wish I could tell you what to do. Have you have these several years before? Or is this an unusual thing for you.
I agree with the bug spraying.
I just killed myself off yesterday, trying to deal with a flea outbreak. Throwing out rugs, vacuuming everything, including the dog, applying "Frontline", Ugh! 
I am so sorry.
I'll keep thinking. . .
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Sarah
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| Posted: Feb 04 2006 at 4:06pm | IP Logged
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Google search came up with. . .
infestation
and. . .
Asian ladybug
traps
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Dawn
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| Posted: Feb 04 2006 at 4:57pm | IP Logged
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Sarah wrote:
| We have a slighly reddish-orange "ladybug" that took over the native ones here. They come inside in the fall and winter. Some of my kids and dh even claimed they were bitten (?). |
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Oh my!! We have these every winter, mainly in our bathroom. I also thought they were harmless (cute even) and then last night one landed on my cat's paw ... the cat nearly jumped out of her skin, started licking her paw furiously (I think it bit her), and boy was there a strange smell left behind ... ick.
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Feb 04 2006 at 7:03pm | IP Logged
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Ugh! 
According to the articles it sounds like my home has all the perfect qualities for a Ladybug paradise:
Older, light colored, SW exposure, lots of cracks, Appalachian mountains...
I guess I'm doomed to vaccuum them up for awhile at least.
On the bright side, the school room is staying really clean 
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Mary G
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| Posted: Feb 05 2006 at 7:08am | IP Logged
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Theresa,
If it's any consolation -- my in-laws live just north of Clemson (about 1 hr south of Asheville). They live in a new-construction house and EVERY year in the Fall (and depending on the mildness of the winter, like now) they have them all over their cathedral ceiling and have to shop-vac them up. It's just part of linving in that particular spot. If they don't shop-vac them eveyr day or so, they fall off the ceiling (either dormant or dead, I'm not sure which) and then they're all over the cream colored carpet  -- the grandkids thing that's really COOL
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my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Feb 05 2006 at 8:47am | IP Logged
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Yeah, my Mom lives in Asheville and has the little ladies all up in her cathedral ceilings. I don't think I would mind that as much because they would be sort of out of the way. Unfortunately for us, our ladies have invaded our school room, which is pretty small, with a low ceiling, and where we spend the majority of our day. So they are very "in your face" to us.
Well, here's hoping for an early spring.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
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folklaur
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| Posted: Feb 06 2006 at 11:39pm | IP Logged
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OKay, please don't think for a second I am making light of your situation. I'm really, really not! I don't know if I could handle it nearly as well as you are (the picture of them all on your blog made me squirm!)
But I was trying to find a solution for you, and I was googling all combinations of ladybugs, and infestations, and natural remedies, and such, and I found this little article.
I hope it will at least bring a smile to your face:
"COPING WITH APHIDS"
Aphids, those pesky little creatures who feast on the leaves of your favorite fruit trees, can best be attacked at this time of year by releasing ladybugs, (available at most garden stores). Your ladybug infestation can then be taken care of by introducing grasshoppers, a population which can be easily controlled by frogs. When it's time to thin out the frogs, be sure to read next week's Gardening Tips: "Coping With Alligators."
~Laura in AZ
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Feb 07 2006 at 9:39am | IP Logged
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That's great!
(Unfortunately it reminds me of some of the lame-brained biological control efforts gone awry in Australia)
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: If you think Ladybugs are cute...
