How to Get Rid of Stink Bugs in Your Home
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No, you don’t always need an exterminator to get rid of stink bugs. There are natural and DIY remedies that can work, including using a vacuum, detergent, nicotine, and electricity. Capsaicin, the chemical in hot peppers that gives them their signature heat, works by burning the exterior of the stink bugs. The sides of the bottle are slippery, so stink bugs will have a hard time climbing.
So, if you want to avoid an infestation, here’s how to get rid of stink bugs in your home and garden for good. Stink bugs can enter your home through many different routes. Among just a few are chimneys, attics, vents, windows, loose siding, weep holes, and crawlspaces. Sealing around these structures can be very helpful at reducing the populations of stink bugs in your homes.
Using Natural Pesticides
Spray the outside of your home with bifenthrin insecticide in the fall. Buy bifenthrin insecticide at your local hardware store to apply to your outdoor walls in September or October. Test the spray on a hidden corner of your home and wait a few days to make sure it doesn't cause damage to the siding. If it doesn't, spray the chemical over the entire surface of each outside wall. During Peak Bud and Bloom Seasons –Both pesticides should be applied liberally, drenching the ground with a spray to cover the entire crop at once. Professionals recommend using from 100 to 300 gallons of water per acre when applying these treatments.
We don’t recommend stomping on them with your foot, since you can easily track their carcass inside afterward and create a mess in your house. Instead, try to use something that can be easily rinsed off or thrown away afterward, like a rolled up magazine or plastic fly swatter. Note that squashing stink bugs should only be done when you’re outside and the odor can disperse, rather than inside where the odor will be trapped around you. Keep in mind that these insects tend to form nests outside during the summer months and inside during the winter. The advantage of DIY traps like these is that they are pesticide-free. However, they are only effective for smaller scale problems.
Why Do Stink Bugs Come Indoors?
Come spring, they come out from hiding to go back outside and feed on plants. During this time, you will see them gathering on walls and windows. Apply masking tape or small pieces of foam to the sides of the plastic bottle to create traction, making it easier for the stink bugs to crawl in.
'They’re particularly partial to fruit and citrus trees and garden vegetables, as well as being a menace to common agricultural crops.' In winter, they'll seek shelter indoors. With their hard shell and shield-like shape, they're pretty distinguishable. You might also know that they release a nasty smell when they’re threatened as a natural defense, and the same happens if you squash them . The malodor also hangs about after the bug is dead – for example if it has expired in a light fitting.
How stink bugs can make your life miserable
So if you're having to get rid of stink bugs, put down the strong stuff, and look to your pantry and household cupboards instead. We'll show you how to use a multitude of gentler items to help the Halyomorpha halys find their way out of your home. Thus, getting rid of them requires a little finesse, and many all-purpose insecticides designed for indoor use are ineffective against them. Here, we’ll go over how to get rid of stink bugs and how to keep them out. Keeping a home properly sealed eliminates the opportunity for stink bugs to enter a home. It’s important to check the perimeter and openings annually and add any sealant or weatherstripping as needed.
It's no big surprise that she likes to put what she writes about into practice, and is a serial house revamper. For Realhomes.com, Sarah reviews coffee machines and vacuum cleaners, taking them through their paces at home to give us an honest, real life review and comparison of every model. However, the unpleasant smell is a result of a liquid they emit to deter predators. And while a stink bug bite is harmless to adult humans, for the most part, it can be dangerous to small children and pets. If you do experience a stink bug bite, you’re likely to experience some pain and swelling, but the bites are otherwise harmless. Many people think that the stink they emit is a poison.
As mentioned, stink bugs enter homes via cracks in the siding and foundation.To fend off stink bugs use mesh screening over air vents, chimneys, and other susceptible areas. Similarly, if you have holes in your screens, patch them up. Place traps on windowsills to catch stink bugs as they try to enter your home. However, keep in mind that if you have stink bugs inside your home, you’ll need to continuously monitor for bugs that have died or may have been squashed. Kill the stink bugs by dunking the entire towel in a bucket of soapy water. The following treatments have been proven effective for stink bug control.
If you find odors in your home this winter, here’s what you need to know about how to prevent and get rid of them. If you have other flying pests in your home, learn how to get rid of ants, how to get rid of termites, how to get rid of gnats or how to get rid of fruit flies. Stink bugs come from China and the far East, and the 1990s saw their introduction to the United States.
Perhaps the easiest way of getting rid of an infestation is by using your vacuum cleaner, particularly if it has a handheld hose attachment. Simply suck the bugs up, remove the bag, seal it carefully, and dispose of it well away from your home. There are clearly compelling reasons to shore up your home’s exterior, but if there are stink bugs in your home already, then you may want to take them on directly. Perhaps the best way to deal with stink bugs is to prevent them from gaining access to your home in the first place.
As a preventative method, take care to bug-proof your home by sealing up small holes and eliminating weeds so they don’t have any hiding spots or entry points. If you have stink bugs in the home, locate any possible entry points or openings. These are usually cracks and openings in exterior walls, door or window frames, or even electrical outlets and fixtures. Just like learning how to get rid of ants, seal up any gaps with caulk (a silicone-based formula is advised for glass), or make necessary repairs to fix larger openings. In addition, close all windows and doors or add screens on them to prevent stink bugs from entering the home. Preventing your home from being invaded by brown marmorated stink bugs in the first place can be tricky.
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