Talkback: Ladybirds

I don't know anything about ladybirds but every December I get ladybirds appearing in my bathroom. Yesterday I again found my first - is this normal? I've no idea where they come from or how they get in.

Wildething - Your ladybirds are looking for a warm place to hibernate. They come into our houses via air vents, open doors & windows or down the chimney. Often in great numbers but unniticed. As the temperature rises in the Spring they will wake up & find their way out again. Flys do the same thing & can be a problem when they seem to suddenly appear from nowere & cluster around window frames. When the central heating is turned up they are tricked into thinking that Spring has arrived & leave the chimney where they were hibinating.

Making the ladybirds a home last winter paid off on the allotment. We had an abundance of lady birds and lady bird larvae. I made some staging out of some old wood and there they where, snuggled down in the grooves. I plan to do the same thing for them every year and encourage others to do the same. Bamboos nuzzled together in an old pipe work fine.