Sirs:
After hours of searching the internet for info on stink bugs, I was glad to see your pages on controlling these bugs. Since I’m not quite sure which approach is best and products to purchase, I thought I should explain the situation.
My wife and I live in a rural community in SE Penna. Our main part of our home is about 150yrs, 2 stories with an unfinished attic. The attic has some floor boards to walk on but there are parts where the floor joists are open. This floor is not insulated either. At the peak of each side is a half window which is closed during winter but we drop the screen to allow air circulation from mid March to mid Oct. It appears this is the area where most of the bugs congregate. They crawl all over the inside of the screens and lay by the bottom of the windows. The NW facing window has a higher concentration than the SE window. We do have plenty of plants and trees on our property as well.
This past early April we had 3 straight 90+ degree days. All hell broke loose as we were infested with hundreds a day. We continually were flushing them down our toilets. Since then things have subsided. We now only flush 5 or 6 a day.
We’ve had stink bugs in the past, but not like this. We fear things getting worse by the year. We have a beautiful old country house and we invested much time and money in it. We need to stop these bugs. I have a pest control company that does other pest control for us but they have no clue about these bugs. I really don’t want to spray all of our landscaping plants and trees and I see you have a spray for the inside and outside of the house. By the way the house is vinyl-sided over wood. There are plant cracks and spaces in this old house.
Please let me know which of your products would be best. Thanks for your time.
Your situation is quite normal and commonly happens when these bugs are left to roam freely on the outside. As is the case with most any perimeter invader, once outside populations get large enough, some are bound to find their way inside. This certainly true about stink bugs.
My guess is the problem you’ve outlined above most likely has developed over many years. In other words; they just didn’t arrive this past April. I’m sure they’ve been on the property for many years and only now have populated to the point that you are seeing as many as you have been seeing. As our on line article on STINKBUG CONTROL explains, once they move into wall and attic voids it’s only a matter of time before they start appearing in the living area of the home. Though you might be able to hold off this inside activity with some D-FORCE, you really need to treat the wall and attic spaces with some DELTAMETHRIN DUST. This will make these areas unsuitable for them to nest which in turn will prevent them from ever being able to access the home. Lastly a good outside spraying with the CYPERMETHRIN is definitely needed. And this should be done now, while there are still plenty in the home that haven’t yet left for the spring/summer. The Cypermethrin will intercept the emerging adults and by killing them now, you’ll make controlling them next fall that much easier.
In summary there really isn’t a “best” product for this pest. Since they initially come in from the outside, it’s important these areas are treated with the Cypermethrin. Once inside, void spaces must be treated with the Deltamethrin Dust. Living areas can be kept bug free using the D-Force but this alone will not keep the house stink bug free. If you are reluctant to apply all these products, consider the product line featured on our Non Toxic Pest Control site. These products are derived from food and plant oils and present no hazard to people or pets. The ECO IC could be used in place of the Cypermethrin, ECO DUST in place of the Deltamethirn and ECO KO AEROSOL in place of the D-Force. These less toxic alternatives are very effective and will control Stink Bugs but you might have to apply them more frequently.
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