Your Christmas Tree Could Be Carrying 25,000 Bugs

It's the season of sharing, and apparently sharing your Christmas tree with 25,000 bugs.

Livestrong recently reported that your Christmas tree could be infested with almost 25,000 bugs. Yup, tis the season to be GROSSED OUT. Your beloved fresh Christmas tree could have things like aphids, spiders, mites, and sawflies crawling all over it. There could even be praying mantis masses, that contain up to 400 eggs that will hatch after being inside for a few days.

If you're like me and are now paranoid that your home will become a bug zoo, don't worry, there are ways to prevent these bugs from getting in your home. The first thing you should do, according to Livestrong, is check the trunk and branches for masses and eggs and bird nests. If you find any, chop them off. Next, leave your tree inside a garage or shed and drape a sheet over it. When you're ready to bring it inside, shake the sheet off and vacuum up anything that falls off the sheet. Finally, you can put diatomaceous earth, which is an odorless powder, or neem oil on the tree to finish it off.

Thankfully, most of these bugs are harmless. The mites can cause branches to fall off earlier than expected, and you could have 400 new praying mantis children, but that's really about it.

Happy Christmas tree shopping!