Customer Reviews
Goners 
2008-06-05
I also released at night and found none in the morning and my plants are FULL of aphids. The company did not want to hear from us, we are extremely dissapointed.
Hungry and lively little ladies 
2008-05-22
Well-packaged and shipped quick as a wink! My ladybugs arrived healthy and were positively raring to be released into my 3 1/2 acre vineyard (there were surprisingly few DOA ladybugs in my shipment). We don't use pesticides, so these little beauties will supplement the ladybugs already present in the war against aphids. They seem to have made themselves at home...I've seen them patrolling the vines in the days that followed their release. I will not hesitate to order from Hirt's in the future. :)
Great bugs, not so great container (depending on what you're getting them for) 
2008-05-15
I purchased these ladybugs for my daughter's 4th birthday party which had a ladybug theme. At the end of the party we let all the ladybugs go and I gave each child 3 ladybugs in a container to take home to release in their own garden. It was a big hit! I ordered the ladybugs a little too early but I followed the instructions that came in the box and rinsed the bag w/ cold tap water and put them in the fridge. 10 days later, I took them out and as soon as they warmed up they were active again (except for a handful - but we had 1500 ladybugs - not a bad attrition rate!). Amazing! My only disappointment was the container they came in. The picture shows a clear butter-dish type container, which I was going to decorate a little and use as a centerpeice. But, instead, they came in a perforated bag. So, I had to purchase a bug house to transfer them into the day of the party. Not a big deal, just a little disappointed. But, if you're just getting them for the purpose of aphid control in your garden, who cares, right?
I think they flew home..... 
2008-05-13
The lady bugs arrived quickly. It looked more like 100 then 1500 in the small container. My husband wanted to know how they counted them. Most seemed to be alive and active. We waited until the sun went down and distributed them on all my fruit trees and garden plants. By morning we could not find one, that's right, not even ONE on our plants or land anywhere. I was so dissappointed. I wanted to see if they would work their magic so I would not have to use pesticides. Now I'll never know... Too bad......Great idea, I wonder how you make them STAY.
Natural bug eaters 2008-05-04
Aphids eating your tomato leaves? Got you some scale? Or mealy bugs? How about leaf hoppers? If you have a garden and you slaved and toiled over making that dirt just right, and lovingly dug holes and planted all those little baby plants, you want them safe. Right?
What better way to keep a garden clean of nasty little varmints than nature's own bug eaters: Lady Bugs!! Order by the 1500's and you have plenty for the duration of your garden. Pluck out some from the container just before sundown and place at the bottom of the plants. Because ladybugs don't fly at night, they will crawl upward and stay as long as there is food. They feed on aphids, leaf hoppers, mealy bugs, and scale. As they feed, they lay eggs which will hatch and continue feeding on the bad bugs.
Because lady bugs are a natural killer of bad bugs, you will not want to use insecticide on your garden while you nurture them. A container of 1500 costs just $12.99. It is cheaper than pesticide and all-natural!
Prompt service from Hirts 
2008-07-21
Received the Lady-Bugs very quickly, two days after ordering.
The bugs all seemed alive in the bag they arrived in which included a small square of something looking like foam & also a small wad of straw-type material.
The instructions were pretty clear but I was dis-appointed that there was no mention of "lady bug attractant" and/or how to use it. I expected information about this "attractant" because of a response that someone from Hirt's had written to another reviewer. Hirt's had asked the reviewer...... "did you use the lady-bug attractant?" when that reviewer had complained none of the bugs were in their garden the next day after putting the bugs out in garden.
The instructions did say to put the bugs out into a well watered, pesticide free (for at least 14 days) garden and only to put them out at dusk, as they do not fly at night.
I followed these instructions (I never use any pesticides so that was no worry) and I would say that the bugs were around my garden for about a week. I also put the straw material & the little square of foam into a couple of the pots I placed lady bugs in just in case either of these items were "the lady bug attractant".
I have a lush garden with lots of "food" that the lady-bugs could eat so I was a little sad they were all gone so quickly. I found about a dozen shells of dead lady bugs in one or two potted plants but the others were, presumably, off to a different garden.
A couple weeks after not seeing any lady bugs I tossed the foam square & the (by then) soggy straw into the trash.
Also, as another reviewer stated "her husband wondered how they counted the lady bugs"....(lol) well, my husband asked the same thing! We both studied the bag they came in (still full of bugs) and neither of us could imagine that there were anywhere close to 1500 in this bag.... I guessed 200, my hubby said possibly 200 but he doubted it.
For the price paid I am not upset about this experience but I doubt I'd purchase this bag "1500" of lady-bugs again.
NEVER RECEIVED THE ORDER 2008-07-01
I SENT FIVE EMAILS BEFORE I RECEIVED A RESPONSE FROM THIS COMPANY, THEN
IT WAS A VERY HATEFUL REPLY. I BOUGHT THESE LADYBUGS FOR MY ETERNAL FRIENDS GRAVE, AND THE COMPANY NEVER SENT THEM TO THE CORRECT ADDRESS.
I SENT THE CORRECT EMAIL ADDY THE DAY I ORDERED THEM WHICH WAS OVER A MONTH AGO, THEY FINALLY EMAILED ME BACK LAST WEEK. I NEVER RECEIVED A REFUND, OR A I'M SORRY RESPONSE. HOW SAD IS THIS?
ladybugs 2008-06-21
most of the lady bugs seem alive, I put it out at night after it rained recently but the lady bugs flew away. I wished that it worked for me.
Wow! That is a lot of ladybugs. 2008-06-18
I really only wanted about 100 ladybugs but 1500 was the only amount I could find. Hirt's shipped them very quickly and I had them in less than a week even being shipped to an APO address. My wife about killed me for getting the bugs. I was surprised when I opened the box and saw all the ladybugs moving around. I thought several of them would be dead, but it appeared all or nearly all of the bugs survived. I rinsed the bag and refrigerated the bugs like the instructions said to do. Then I released them right before it got dark. All of the ladybugs seemed to crawl around and find a place to stay.
I am very happy with my purchase from Hirt's.
Well worth trying if you have an aphid problem 2008-06-15
We had such a bad aphid problem that it made our backyard impossible to use without getting covered in little green bugs in a matter of minutes. I purchased one package of the ladybugs. They arrived alive and wiggling in their container w/almost no (if any) loss on route. They come with easy to follow directions including washing them upon arrival, refrigerate and release at dusk. We released them three days ago. While I don't actively see many of the ladybugs now (most I assume headed for the tree where I think most of them were), there is a huge reduction in the number of aphids in the yard to the point that my husband was able to sit outside and enjoy the yard for a few hours yesterday. I will probably buy one more package in a week or so to get any straggler aphids.
