stink bug control????

gwithrow · #1 04/04/14, 07:48 AM

this is not a new topic, but a huge new problem to us...we have stink bugs coming in the house, all the time....a lot of them....I have to vacuum my bedroom every evening before bed and still there are some I miss...like a dozen or more every day....they are actually in all the rooms as well....

I don't think they are coming in from outside, but rather migrating in from under the siding where they wintered over?...I am not an entomologist so I am not sure of their habits, but I don't like this at all....I hate spray but where would I spray anyway?...to keep them from not coming in?

it is plenty warm enough outside now for all living creatures so they are not seeking safety from cold...

does anyone have any suggestions as to how to keep them out?...or get rid of them all together...I imagine gardening this year will be challenging...

I don't like to spray poison inside the house, but if that's what it takes, then I suppose we will have to....

katlupe · #2 04/04/14, 09:40 AM

I have learned to live with these stinky creatures for 15 years now. Like you, I do not like poison to get rid of them. If I did that, I'd have to do it every year. They come in during the fall and will go out in the spring. What we do to control these bugs is to pick each one that emerges in the winter, (they don't just hibernate anymore like they used to) and deposit it in our wood stove. Just don't let them squirt you with their stinky spray! Upstairs in my house, I keep an old jar with a lid and I scrape them into that and put the cover on. I accumulate a lot of them that way and they just die in there. Even my cats won't go near them.

The only way you can control them would be to block up every single little hole in your house so they cannot get in. But they seem to find spots along the window casings. When we get new windows I hope I can at least cut down the amount that comes in. In the fall, they hide in my laundry when it is hanging on the line. We have to check everything, every single bit of each piece of clothing. In the spring, they are trying to get out to feed, so they don't do that. Good luck with them! If you find a non-poisonous way to get rid of them, please post it here.

Shayanna · #3 04/04/14, 11:54 AM

Our dog finds them and eats them. Makes for stinky dog breath, but the dog likes them.

mrs whodunit · #4 04/04/14, 12:22 PM

I believe stinks bugs are attracted to black lights.

So one can fashion traps involving black lights or there are plenty of trap designs on the net

powercat24 · #5 04/04/14, 12:22 PM

I am just throwing this out there but guineas are great for pest control.

Harry Chickpea · #6 04/04/14, 01:04 PM

Stink bugs and Asian Lady bugs, the fix should be more or less the same - during the fall season when they start to look for places to overwinter, spray the OUTSIDE of your house, especially around cracks. Using this technique we practically eliminated the Asian ladybug problem, and the interior of the home had no odor.

chickenista · #7 04/04/14, 01:40 PM

I just read a study finding from Va Tech that says light is the key.
A turkey roasting pan with water and bit of dish soap and shine a desk lamp, or similar, over the water during the nighttime hours to trap them.

I suppose that could work in the garden as well..hmmmm. Interesting thought.

simi-steading · #8 04/04/14, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry Chickpea

Stink bugs and Asian Lady bugs, the fix should be more or less the same - during the fall season when they start to look for places to overwinter, spray the OUTSIDE of your house, especially around cracks. Using this technique we practically eliminated the Asian ladybug problem, and the interior of the home had no odor.

Same thing I've been doing.. I caught them this past year as they were flocking to the outside of the house and starting to crawl under the siding.. It was wild watching thousands of them fly to the house..

We've been fighting them for a year and a half now.. getting better.. very few live ones in the house.. When we got the house and I peeled back some wall board when gutting the house.. OH MY.. it was unreal how many were in the walls.

nelsonpitter · #9 04/07/14, 12:54 AM

Often people afraid of pets and think about killing them but this approach lead to a danger.
Most of home owner use fumigation and other chemical treatments. But the other side of coin is that pests showing resistance to some chemicals. Hence we should think about green methods of pest control. My pest control davis team is working on some bio methods to control pests.

Jim-mi · #10 04/07/14, 08:19 AM

I have been trying to teach them how to swim in the toilet . . . .
Thus far no luck . . . .

sapphira · #11 04/07/14, 09:10 AM

Stink bugs breathe thru holes in their sides. If you spray the area where they house, with a soapy spray (I trust dawn dish liquid) it clogs their holes and they die. I had trouble around the porch where the wood meets the screen but not well, and it works.

ProHuman · #12 04/30/14, 08:37 PM

We tried soap, traps, vacuums, and nothing works, we may get rid of sioe, but there are many more that keep coming back. The things crawl into the house through plumbing and furnace vents, I found carcasses in my furnace last winter when I cleaned it out.

Shayanna, I wish my dog ate them. We got a dog and 2 cats that ignore them. We recently got 3 chocolate runner ducks that I am hoping to eat them. I heard of the guinea hens enjoying them, but aren't those destructive chickens? I wouldn't want them digging up my gardens.

We have learned to live with them. Putting lids on all food, using cups with lids, and shaking out clothes before wearing them. It is a real burden, but not much can be done about them when they are so thick in numbers.