Stink bugs!!

[mystreba]

If you live in the mid-Atlantic area, you know what I'm talking about. The slightest bit of warm weather and the little buggers start coming out of the woodwork, the siding, the soffits, etc. etc.

Around the house I find that if you "flick" them in the head real hard with your finger, it stuns them and then they die without releasing their odor. I've also been working hard to seal things up so they won't get in. It's an impossible task, I know, but I'm trying it anyway. We've had to start covering food with mesh covers as we cook because we had one crash-dive into a warm pot of mashed potatoes the other day. I keep a cup next to the water cooler - saves on the dirty dishes - but unfortunately I got a glass of water recently without looking and swallowed one of the buggers whole.

Anyway, it's going to get nasty outside this year. I can already see them coming out of the soffits and swarming on the siding. sigh....

 

[Jetblast]

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeell that's the last time I take any sips of water before performing a 12 point inspection. Anyone know where I can get an X-Ray machine for my food?

 

[173abn]

yoo,that does not sound like a tasty recipe.I thought I had it bad with the lady bugs...russ

 

[RobertBrown]

I've consulted with the resident bug expert at my house and discovered that stink bugs and squash bugs are the same thing. She (resident bug expert) has constructed small towers (30"-40") of bright yellow color. These devices are said to attract stink bugs. She also indicated that these pest are easily and safely killed using a solution of ivory dish soap and water.
Now the real problem MUD WASPS These little Bast@@ds get in everywhere and make nests of mud in the most inconvienent places, like an exhaust port or air cleaner or carbuerater. They can be very destructive and difficult to clean up after. Un fortunetly I have a pond that keeps them supplied with mud. Does anybody know how to keep these things out of one's garage?

 

[mystreba]

I've consulted with the resident bug expert at my house and discovered that stink bugs and squash bugs are the same thing. ... She also indicated that these pest are easily and safely killed using a solution of ivory dish soap and water.

Correct, they are members of the same family, but the brown marmorated stink bug was recently introduced to the mid-atlantic from Asia and is overrunning us unchecked - it has no natural enemies, and no known method of control.

An Ivory/water solution does do the trick, but unfortunately the "solution" does not scale. There is in fact no scalable solution to the stink bug problem. You could keep bowls of ivory/water solution handy and drop the occasional captured bug into it. But we're talking THOUSANDS of bugs. You might find a hundred a day just in the house alone.

I know some people who keep a small shop vac handy, and fill it with an inch or two of this solution. The problem is that you can't just let it sit there - it stinks. You have to empty it out every day, clean and refill with solution. A total PITA, but it works nonetheless. It would work even better if there were a cordless shop-vac, because running to get the vac and then finding an outlet also doesn't scale.

There are legions of entymologists at the USDA and in academia working to find a chink in their armor. Until that happens, I'm afraid the only thing to do is learn to live with them at this point. Last night the kids came into my bedroom at 2am complaining that stink bugs were landing on their heads.

I have the mud wasps too, though not likely on the scale you do. And unfortunately I don't have a solution for them either. But I'll take a garage nuisance over bedroom/kitchen pests any day of the week.

 

[BKBrown]

Check out the Dust Deputy by Oneida - it goes between the inlet hose and the shop vac and uses cyclone to capture dust and debris before it gets into your vacuum - a solution of the soapy water in there would allow easy dumping.

Just one suggestion.

 

[mystreba]

Check out the Dust Deputy by Oneida - it goes between the inlet hose and the shop vac and uses cyclone to capture dust and debris before it gets into your vacuum - a solution of the soapy water in there would allow easy dumping.

Just one suggestion.

Yep, it looks as though it would do the trick. But it would also significantly hamper the portability of the operation, which makes it a non-starter.

 

[BKBrown]

OK -- Just a suggestion.

The Dyson portable would be good too, but EXPENSIVE !

http://www.get-rid-of-pests.com/how-to-get-rid-of-stink-bugs/

 

[mystreba]

OK -- Just a suggestion.

The Dyson portable would be good too, but EXPENSIVE !

How To Get Rid Of Stink Bugs

Funny link - I love it when they run foreign-language content through auto-translation software and then post the result:

"The reason, certainly, is that there's a good option you already contain stink bugs indoor your fortifications."

But the page did have an interesting link to a bug vacuum that may be worth trying. The built-in "zapper" might kill them before they can release their "stink". The issue with most vacs is that they make the bugs release their stink. In the case of the home carpet vac, the brushes kill them in a rough way that releases the stink. In the case of the shop vac, there is no roughing up but the bugs feel threatened and release their stink.

 

[RobertBrown]

An Ivory/water solution does do the trick, but unfortunately the "solution" does not scale. QUOTE]

What does "scale" mean?