According to organic gardening and pest control company, Safer Brand, as many as 25,000 bugs could be living in your pretty green tree.

SAY WHAT???????

When you bring a freshly cut evergreen tree into your home, it’s easy to forget that you’re also bringing home a living tree with the thousands of little insects that are hibernating inside of the tree. When bring your Christmas tree inside your house, all of its creepy crawly residents will wake up thinking it’s spring.

(Video courtesy of Wallstreet Journal)

The good news is most of these insects are harmless and die as soon as you bring the tree home.

There’s bad news, among the ones that live, the most common will be aphids, spiders, mites, praying mantises, bark beetles and sawflies.

Here’s how to prevent or reduce the risk of bringing any of them home…

Examining your tree’s trunk and branches for bug nests before buying it
Leave it in your garage for at least 24 hours before decorating.
Before bringing it inside, shake it out over a white sheet to dislodge any bugs. And most importantly, do not spray aerosol pesticides on it, as these can be flammable.