You can manage stink bugs yourself to a real degree, mainly by sealing the gaps they use to get indoors and vacuuming up the ones that slip through. DIY works best as prevention, done before fall.
Stink bugs are annoying, but they are manageable. A lot of stink bug control really can be done DIY. It helps to know which parts you can handle on your own and where you might need help.
DIY does several things well. Exclusion is the big one: seal cracks and gaps around windows, doors, utility penetrations, and the foundation, repair screens, and screen your vents. Keeping them out is the single most effective thing you can do, and it costs little.
For those that still manage to get in, you’ll need to remove them. The trick is to vacuum stink bugs up rather than crush them, since crushing releases the odor and can stain. Empty the vacuum promptly or use a dedicated bag, because they'll stink it up otherwise, and knocking them into soapy water works well outdoors.
You can also reduce the number of things that attract stink bugs. You can do this by cutting back on exterior lighting at night in the fall and closing the house up at dusk to make it less inviting. Sealing up the home in late summer, before they start migrating, gives you the best payoff here.
That said, once stink bugs get established in wall voids or the attic for the winter, you can’t easily reach them. You’ll be left to vacuum up the stragglers that wander into living spaces all season. If you have a history of stink bug infestations, it’s worth getting an exterior perimeter treatment done in the late summer or early fall to help reduce their numbers before they’re a problem.
If you're tired of fighting a losing battle with stink bugs every fall, Mosquito Squad of New Hampshire Lakes Region can help. Mosquito Squad offers exterior perimeter treatments that back up your own sealing work. These are applied by a trained technician alongside the barrier service that delivers up to 90% reduction in mosquito activity on a 21-day cycle.
