East Coasters, Stink Bug Question

[Ocean Girl]

A few years back while RVing, we spent some time around Baltimore and picked up Stink Bugs. Is this ever a problem for boats? Hubby and I are mulling over heading north( we are getting restless!).

So, stink bugs, a landlubber problem? Or do boats get them too?
Thanks
Erika

[ranger58sb]

Boats can get them, too.


Depends on the marina situation, I think usually related to whether we have natural breezes or not. Our marina, in the open with few trees near the docks, does OK. Others, depends. (For example, have heard Summit North, on the C&D Canal is over-run with the critters.)


-Chris

[Ocean Girl]

Crap. Thanks for the info.

[ranger58sb]

It's not insurmountable. Like I say, we don't usually have a problem here, and there are boatloads of marinas around so I'd expect many are OK.


-Chris

[IslandSeeker]

We have them terribly here in Cincinnati, so I did some reading on how to help control them. 1. Never kill them inside, they are attracted to the smell. Catch & release really is the best course of action. 2. They are attracted to the color yellow, so if you have them, use something yellow to trap them with, some kind of sticky substance like a fly strip (outside,of course, as you don't want them stinking up the place, literally, so more come to investigate.) Since I started practicing these 2 steps, we rarely have them in our apartment as others on FB are constantly complaining about them. If I remember right, I believe they are also attracted to bright reflective areas (like a sliding patio doors) much like the Japanese beetles, so if you can control that aspect, it may help, too.

[misfits]

FWIW, they only stink when you squish them

[first wind]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

A few years back while RVing, we spent some time around Baltimore and picked up Stink Bugs. Is this ever a problem for boats? Hubby and I are mulling over heading north( we are getting restless!).

So, stink bugs, a landlubber problem? Or do boats get them too?
Thanks
Erika

they eat plants. they will tend to be worse around vegetation; trees, crops, etc. there is a way to kill them without the stink. they are drawn by the light. take a liter bottle, like from soda, and get one of those little disk led stick up lights. you can get them at any dollar store (for a buck, of course).

cut the bottom of the bottle off a few inches up, neatly. turn the bottom around and duct tape it back on. now you should have a bottle with a concave bottom.

cut off the top as well. turn the resulting funnel shaped piece upside down and tape it back on, like you did the bottom. now, the bottle should have a concave bottom and a funnel top.

tape up the whole bottle except for the inside of the funnel. turn the light on and set the bottle on top of it. if you did it right, the light should fit neatly in the concave bottom.

the stink bugs will be drawn into the bottle but they won't be able to get back out. when the bottle is full, tape it shut and throw it away. no smell because you didn't crush them

just catching and releasing will only result in their return. allowing them to roam freely around your boat will result in egg laying and future generations to plague you. they can squeeze into places you would never expect and hide so actively hunting them will never rid you of all of them.

they are extremely tough. even in freezing weather, in unheated locations, you will find them huddled together in big groups and they survive to re-emerge when it heats back up.

so, my advice to you is to try to choose a berth away from vegetation and build yourself a trap.

however, at least around maryland, they aren't as bad as they were when they first arrived. the first few years they were here was just terrible. they were thick as gnats in some places.

[Nicholson58]

They are great on toast.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

They are great on toast.

As is Vegemite.....coincidence?


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Finistere]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

Boats can get them, too.


Depends on the marina situation, I think usually related to whether we have natural breezes or not. Our marina, in the open with few trees near the docks, does OK. Others, depends. (For example, have heard Summit North, on the C&D Canal is over-run with the critters.)


-Chris

From experience I can tell you they were overrun with stink bugs about three years ago.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[powsmias]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

They are great on toast.

tastes like chicken!!

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by powsmias

tastes like chicken!!

No, I can unfortunately attest that they taste nothing like chicken...one flew into my drink just as I was taking a sip! They taste like they smell and its very intense. Bad life experience.

[patn44]

here on the farm we fight them with insecticides and diatomaceous earth, which btw is good for fleas, mites and all sorts of other critters. get the edible kind so that in case you ingest some you wont be harmed. (good for things that infest humans).