Stinkbugs!

[Skins_Brew]

Anyone else in the mid atlantic doing combat with the unbeatable stinkbugs today? I have killed maybe 30 of them today and my house is not nearly as bad as some of the pictures I have seen on the internet. For some reason the warm weather today has really stirred them up. I got one window sealed up pretty well and saw at least 8 more stink bugs land on the screen in 10 minutes. These things are starting to get crazy! We were able to slow their advance in the house today, but it looks like they may have taken the shed! Anyone have any tips for killing/preventing these things?

 

[philmin9]

I've been battling these little demons. I'll tell you what though, the bluegill i keep in my native fish tank sure love the little buggers.

 

[dataz722]

The little feckers are just out of control. We have had them somewhat bad in our house for the last couple years but this year is just crazy. I think we are supposed to get cicadas again next year too.

 

[Skins_Brew]

I just ordered this bad boy. I bought a cheap $12 bug vac a few months ago to deal with a minor earwig problem and have since been using it to suck up the stink bugs. The stink bugs are pretty strong and hold their ground pretty tight, so you gotta shake them loose with the vac. The one I ordered has an electrocution grid so I can stop smashing them! It got a few crappy reviews on amazon, but if it sucks, I plan on modding it to use a bigger battery.

 

[Germelli1]

yes...my mom blamed the hops drying in the garage

 

[dataz722]

You smash them? They smell like skunk and sulfur. I just flush them.

 

[cyclist]

Stinkbugs must DIE!

I have been battling them for at least a month here. They were congregating on my pepper plants (sweet and cayenne). I don't like using pesticides, so I first made a concoction of dish soap, ammonia, and water. Flicking them into a bowl of that stuff killed them in seconds. But there were just too many of them to keep that up. Dish soap and water in a sprayer worked, but not nearly as fast.

All in all, I know I killed more than a hundred.

If I sound a little over the top, please know that the war started when one got into a glass of my beer! I am surprised that I did not go around the neighborhood hunting the b&*#ards down after that.

 

[Skins_Brew]

You smash them? They smell like skunk and sulfur. I just flush them.

To be completely honest, I have yet to smell them, nor has my wife (knock on wood) and I smashed well over 30 of them today. My MO is to suck them up with the bug vac and then shake them onto a paper towel, fold the towel and SMASH and immediately throw away. At one point I had like 9 of them in the bag and not a single one released any stink. Maybe we are just immune to the stink?

 

[dataz722]

We have had them for about 2 years now. I smashed one when they first showed up and haven't done it since. My wife said don't smash it, they stink. Well I didn't listen.

 

[hungrymonkey]

I am going to have to google search stink bugs. I have no clue what one looks like.

 

[Skins_Brew]

I am going to have to google search stink bugs. I have no clue what one looks like.

you sir are pretty damn lucky!!

 

[hungrymonkey]

you sir are pretty damn lucky!!

After a google search. I believe that we have them out west. But I have never noticed them as a nuisance. I also did not know they stink when squished.

 

[brewingkitty]

i will trade you tarantulas, crickets, cock roaches, and 20 species of scorpion looking spiders/odd colored black widows/etc for the stink bugs??

 

[hungrymonkey]

you must be in Texas.

 

[Skins_Brew]

After a google search. I believe that we have them out west. But I have never noticed them as a nuisance. I also did not know they stink when squished.

If you have them then they must be native and have natural predators. Out here in the mid Atlantic, they are a non-native species and nothing out here really keeps them in check, so they multiple and multiple and multiple. As it gets colder, they start invading your house looking for warmth.

I have been doing a little research and apparently garlic is a good remedy against these buggers. Mix two cups of water, and 4 tsp of garlic powder and put into a spray bottle and apply around doors, windows, plants, etc. I also read that if you add 10 drops of dish soap that will help also. I am mixing up this concoction tomorrow and will apply it to the outside of my windows and doors where I have high concentrations of stink bugs. Keeping my fingers crossed!!

 

[bmckee56]

Check out this site for some info on battling the bugs.

I purchased the Cyper TC on-line and use it in a sprayer. I kills em but not immediately.

Check the info and you will see: http://www.bugspray.com/article/stinkbug.html

Salute!

 

[WCrane]

Got them here big time in eastern pa. They don't smell all that bad. you want bad go smell some doe in heat of fox piss.
I just pick them up and toss them back outside or in the crapper.

I can't stand how they sneak into the house. their like mini david blaines. And the sheer maginitude is almost like the 7 yr secadas

 

[dataz722]

Has anyone gotten bit by the feckers? I usually just pick them up and toss them in the toilet and a couple weeks ago I could swear the little sumbitch bit me or pinched me or something. Surprised the hell out of me.

 

[BubbaK]

I spray the outside of my house with CyperWP or something along those lines.. last year it worked pretty well, but this year it doesn't seem as good. I think I have them coming in through the fireplace, so last night I lit a fire just burning newspapers and anything I could find that really smoked and got hot. It sounded like it was raining inside... they are pretty funny when they start flopping around the base of the fireplace. I'm going to spray my house again this weekend.

 

[BubbaK]

I am going to have to google search stink bugs. I have no clue what one looks like.

I can send you a few if you like.

 

[Germelli1]

My local news ran a story on these guys...Apparently the wet spring and dry summer allowed their population to just explode this year

 

[Germelli1]

Here is the video from the news report:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid180211731001?bctid=610768764001

 

[TxBrew]

I got sprayed on my way into the house the other night. No major issue, it just smelled terrible. No major influx since.

 

[Skins_Brew]

Has anyone gotten bit by the feckers? I usually just pick them up and toss them in the toilet and a couple weeks ago I could swear the little sumbitch bit me or pinched me or something. Surprised the hell out of me.

I have not been bit but the extensive research I did online said they can indeed give you a nasty bite.

 

[dataz722]

I have not been bit but the extensive research I did online said they can indeed give you a nasty bite.

Huh, guess I wasn't losing my mind afterall. I really didn't think they could bite until I thought one did.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

We're having a lovebug flight here in Florida right now. Sounds like stinkbugs are a bigger nuisance though. At least the lovebugs are gone in a few weeks.

 

[Mischief_Brewing]

I've found a few inside the house, I just take a cup and knock them into it and toss them back outside.

Of course, now i'm wondering if I'm just dealing with a few of them that keep finding their way back in. I guess it's toilet time...

 

[Hang Glider]

I've found a few inside the house, I just take a cup and knock them into it and toss them back outside.

Of course, now i'm wondering if I'm just dealing with a few of them that keep finding their way back in. I guess it's toilet time...

Not a problem here - the centipedes that keep coming in (where, how?) are a pain, and they stink when you kill' em.

but - my brother in NC has ladybugs like crazy - he keeps a glass of hugely soapy water near the sink. Then he just knocks 'em into the glass -voila. Might work for you.

 

[Germelli1]

Not a problem here - the centipedes that keep coming in (where, how?) are a pain, and they stink when you kill' em.

but - my brother in NC has ladybugs like crazy - he keeps a glass of hugely soapy water near the sink. Then he just knocks 'em into the glass -voila. Might work for you.

man if I had a lady bug problem, I would just relocate them to my hops!

 

[jgln]

We don't get them in the house until we start bringing in firewood. They must hibernate in between the wood pile and when we bring in wood to burn they warm up and start wondering around the house. It could be freezing out but when we bring in the wood they are there and still alive. Now we bang two pieces of wood together to try and knock off any bugs before we bring them in. We get those fuzzy jumping spiders in the house in winter the same way.

I have a question on the side kind of related. Last spring I was lazy and left a couple pieces of firewood on the tile floor by the wood burning stove. When I picked the wood up to put back outside there was wood dust on the floor and what looked like powder beetle holes. Do you think they could have come out of the wood and got into the wood of the house?