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stink bugs

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13K views 30 replies 14 participants last post by  RoBoTeq  
V
#1 ·
has anyone had issues resulting from stink bug infestation?

we had a customers infinity totally clogged with them.
 
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T
#2 ·
Our area is one of the worst affected it seems. On the same roof, I had two RTU's that were completely infested. Same problem on both units. The darn things got in behind the coils of the indoor blower contactors and caused them to only partially pull in.

I've also had them infested in the heating sections of a few RTU's. You think they smell bad normally? They smell even worse when cooked!

I've heard that they try to find the warmest places and they usually end up in flues, exhaust fans, or anywhere they can squeeze into. And they can squeeze into just about anything.
 
R
#4 ·
Our area, and my house in particular, has been inundated with them. I haven't heard from my contractors about having had problems with them in the systems yet, but I can see where that will be coming soon.

I've kinda learned to live with them in the house. I thwack them out of the air and let the cats play with them when they hit the ground. I poison the cracks and crevices around windows where they get into the most so that when it gets warm and they do come out, they either die soon or are easy to vacuum up.

Unfortunately they drive my wife nuts, so I have to constantly hear shrieks about having to do something about my little buddies.
 
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B
#13 ·
RoBoTeq said:
Unfortunately they drive my wife nuts, so I have to constantly hear shrieks about having to do something about my little buddies.
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Robo- There is a simple solution. If you don't own one, buy a cheap dustbuster. Drop mothballs in it and then tell your wife that any time she sees a stinkbug, she should suck it up with the dustbuster.

There is a trap door on those units and the bugs can't get out. What's better is that the mothballs will offgas and kill the bugs without further intervention (although in reality it takes a day or two).

I set a dustbuster up to be used only for stinkbugs and the women in my life have no problem dispatching them themselves now. :)
 
B
#7 ·
I have chickens in the yard, and I think they eat them, they eat just about anything. We have only had a couple of stinkbugs in the house. I have heard Guineas are great for all kinds of bugs, especially fleas and ticks, if you can stand their noise.

Robin, I'm surprised you are using poison, don't you react badly to chemicals? Maybe you should caulk those cracks.

I have not seen Stink bugs cause a problem in equipment yet, but there was a local news story last month that every old lady must have seen, they all ask me about stink bugs in their furnace.
 
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#8 ·
bja105 said:
I have chickens in the yard, and I think they eat them, they eat just about anything. We have only had a couple of stinkbugs in the house. I have heard Guineas are great for all kinds of bugs, especially fleas and ticks, if you can stand their noise.

Robin, I'm surprised you are using poison, don't you react badly to chemicals? Maybe you should caulk those cracks.

I have not seen Stink bugs cause a problem in equipment yet, but there was a local news story last month that every old lady must have seen, they all ask me about stink bugs in their furnace.
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Yes, the poisons are a double edged sword for me. These are bug poisons I bought a few years ago when I was going to Iraq. They are formulated with no additional odors, but they still do have the smells of the poison ingredients. That odor is not as bad as scented odors are for me, but I still do have to keep the windows open and stay away from it directly when I use it.

When I say the cracks, I am talking about a massive amount of exposed wood trim in my house. All of the windows and a few walls in most every room have exposed pine planking. It was one of the features we liked because it gives a sort of cabin look to the interior of the home. Unfortunately, there is no way to seal all of it without taking away from the rustic look of it.
 
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G
#9 ·
We normally don't see many stink bugs on the West coast, but spiders are another story all together.

I have been using large dog flea collars in control cabinets for years. I am originally from the boat industry and worked on many RV's and boats that sit a lot.

Just throw a few chunks of flea collar in the cabinet near entrances and they seem to stay away. I have not had a single contactor failure on equipment with the collars, but have on non maintained equipment

I normally replace them in the fall...Don't know if it will help you or not...:limb:

GT
 
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R
#10 ·
GT Jets said:
We normally don't see many stink bugs on the West coast, but spiders are another story all together.

I have been using large dog flea collars in control cabinets for years. I am originally from the boat industry and worked on many RV's and boats that sit a lot.

Just throw a few chunks of flea collar in the cabinet near entrances and they seem to stay away. I have not had a single contactor failure on equipment with the collars, but have on non maintained equipment

I normally replace them in the fall...Don't know if it will help you or not...:limb:

GT
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Normally, we don't have an issue with stink bugs here on the East Coast. I never got the whole story of why, but last year we were inundated with the critters in a massive invasion of them.

Other then being annoying, I don't see much destruction from them. I have noticed that a few times before the cold weather hit that my yard would be filled with birds who seemed to be feasting on the ones on the outside.

It's when they get inside that's a real pain. They can hide in the tiniest of cracks and hibernated until it gets warm enough to wake them, and then they come out and crawl and fly around.

Aside from being kind of ugly, they are not at all harmful. I don't even think their defensive odor is offensive. It's sort of a musky smell that they emit when they are in danger or being attacked or when you crush them.

For all we know, they may have proliferated so much in order to gobble up some kind of mite that is even more destructive.
 
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R
#11 ·
I just love the way liberal media tries to inject the dreaded Global Warming or Climatic Change into everything. What the hell does this blurb even mean?;
Why are they multiplying so fast?
It's unclear. Some entomologists think last winter's heavy snowstorms coupled with the hot summer provided ideal conditions for the bugs. Others attribute the growing numbers to a decrease in the use of heavy agricultural pesticides and an increase in imports from far-off lands.
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http://theweek.com/article/index/207522/the-next-biblical-bug-invasion-stink-bugs

Otherwise, it's not a bad article on stink bugs.

By starting out with saying; "It's unclear", everything forthcoming is pure speculation. However, there are implications that we have never had a winter of heavy snowstorms followed by a hot summer or that we have only recently stopped using heavy agricultural pesticides, both of which are completely wrong.

OH! An increase in imports from "far-off" lands might have something to do with it since it was mentioned in the beginning of the article.
 
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V
#14 ·
i still don't know how to keep them out of equipment. when the 90 plus furnaces first came out we had a few installers putting screen in the vents.
we had some issues with the condensate freezing and shutting down the units on air proving switches. i suppose a screen inside at the unit won't freeze, but we will end up with flue pipes full of these things.

I heard a bizarre story about where they came from but it doesn't sound believeable and it is down right nasty so i won't post it.
 
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R
#15 ·
They came from Asia and are believed to have been first brought into North America in Allentown, PA, not too far from me. Probably another way for China to "bug" us.

Since they have no natural enemies here, they have just proliferated more then they would naturally where they originate from. However, I have a feeling that by the end of last fall, the birds in my area figured out that they are good eating.

They are probably like linberger cheese is to humans, once you get past the smell, it's good eating.
 
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#16 ·
My wife keeps her dustbuster very handy. We don't need no stinking moth balls though. I like to hear the little critters screaming as they die while being mushed up all together among the dust bunnies in the vacs.
 
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H
#17 ·
We have them up here pretty bad. Never had any problems with them as far as the equipment goes. Never get into the RTU's or condenser units. The exterminator says there is really no way to get rid of them unless they come in contact with the spray.
 
R
#19 ·
illdoit said:
i've heard rumors that "they" are in the process of introduceing an asian wasp to take care of the stink bugs. that kind of scares me. kind of like the little old lady who swallowed the fly!!!
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Not familiar with the little old lady swallowing a fly, but every time man messes with nature, bad things happen.
 
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#24 ·
The story around here about the stink bugs was this... (Whether or not true???) The bugs were brought over from Asia or wherever to take care of the lady bug problem we had a few years back. Now, as one other had posted, I've heard they are talking about bringing over some kind of wasp to take care of the stink bugs. Hmm... I don't know about you guys, but lady bugs < stink bugs < Wasps.... I don't think we're going in the right direction on this one. Last time I checked, we don't need any more wasps in our equipment!
 
R
#27 ·
thegame said:
The story around here about the stink bugs was this... (Whether or not true???) The bugs were brought over from Asia or wherever to take care of the lady bug problem we had a few years back. Now, as one other had posted, I've heard they are talking about bringing over some kind of wasp to take care of the stink bugs. Hmm... I don't know about you guys, but lady bugs < stink bugs < Wasps.... I don't think we're going in the right direction on this one. Last time I checked, we don't need any more wasps in our equipment!
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Supposedly, the arrival of the stink bug originated in a shippment to an Allentown PA store from somewhere in Asia. The one thing leads to another theory starts everytime an animal gets displaced in the world. The theory has legitimate background though. In some instances man has stupidly gone down the trail of making one bad decision after another in order to try to right a wrong. Rabbits in Australia, starlings in North America, mongoose in Hawaii, some beetle that came in the cherry blossom trees from China, given to the U.S. and planted in D.C. are all examples of man's introduction of animal species causing problems. There are thousands more examples.
 
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#29 ·
Chris_Worthingt said:
Good news I hear this year for whatever reason is suppose to be the worst stink bug invasion ever :gah:

My teenage bug hating daughter is absolutely thrilled with this current forecast :whistle:

Where is a little science when ya need it? There has got to be a way to kill these little :censored::censored::censored: bugs............
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Most likely just another example of a "State of Fear" scenario being enacted. I'm so tired of being told of how many things I need to fear that I pretty much don't fear anything any longer.

By keeping us in a "State of Fear" over stink bugs, just think of the value to pesticide producers and exterminators that will prevail. Not to mention the excuse for an increase of food costs due to alleged destruction of crops.

For my own home, which was absolutely invaded by the little critters, I have been working all winter to draw them out of hibernation and eliminate them a little at a time. I seem to be making progress, but time will really tell.

One problem is that they are only affected by chemical pesticides when they come in direct contact with it. I have been treating the cracks and other minute openings around the house where the largest groups of these things congregate. Each time I raise the temperatures in the house to draw them out, I am getting less and less of them appearing.

Also, if my theory about the indigenous birds figuring out that they are good to eat is correct, we should not be having any way near the infestation of them this year as we had last year.
 
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