Wood type vs Stink Bugs

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mtarbert

Minister of Fire
Feb 23, 2006
548
Maryland
I have my wood piled by type. A stack of Oak one of Hickory one of Maulberry etc. When I bring in wood for the stove I have noticed that the Maulberry has Ten times the Stink Bugs in it than the other types. All the wood was cut ,split and stacked within a month two years.
Does anyone know if there is something about Maulberry that attracts these pests?
Mike
 
Thats funny. Maybe there is a solution, in your find, to identify how to get rid of these buggers!
 
I understand there is a bad infestation of those stink bugs out in your area. Perhaps the mulberry (not maulberry) has some odor that draws those bugs? Maybe those bugs will burn nicely and give a couple btu's of heat if you are lucky.

I wonder if a few moth balls stuck in the wood stack would repel them?
 
stink bugs are obnoxious. harmless to us, but they eat a lot of the fruit off of the orchards near my place.

I find that the stink bugs are hiding from the cold, so they go to little cracks and gaps. its possible that wood split more straight and gave them better hiding spots. maybe it wa smore sunny? On sunny fall days they will flock to the side of the house that is in the sun on those cool days.

I kill them, mostly out of spite, illegal chinese immigrants... its a nasty creature, virtually an infestation.
 
I wonder if a few moth balls stuck in the wood stack would repel them.

Does anyone actually like the smell of moth balls? Not to mention they are poisonus and very flammable. Personally I would rather smell the Stink bugs.
 
mtarbert said:
I wonder if a few moth balls stuck in the wood stack would repel them.

Does anyone actually like the smell of moth balls? Not to mention they are poisonus and very flammable. Personally I would rather smell the Stink bugs.

Whenever I smell mothballs I think of old people . . . for some reason I just associate that smell with old people.
 
Knowing how difficult it is to repel anything when everybody else is also trying to repel something, it might be worth deliberately attracting them to your preferred killing zone (sounds like your maulberry is doing the job for you).

Method of despatch is up to you of course, but instant cremation in a woodburner sounds ok from where I'm sitting :)
 
We have them here too. Not too many bugs make it past the charring stage of my woodburning.
I have learned to tap the wood on the large rounds I use to split and that knocks most of them off.
They don't like the snow or the fire.
 
They are a severe problem around here, although less so at our place than some of the neighbors and for our eldest son and his wife. I found one in the bathroom this morning. Could be that it traveled in on some wood I brought from outside yesterday. Guess I will have to do more checking.
 
I freaking hate stinkbugs with such a passion. I fired up the fireplace and I swear they were hiding above the damper and in the ash cleanout. They came squirming out - I flicked them back in and they did the kickin' chicken. BURN SUCKER'S BURN! There is only two suitable deaths for a stinkbug, and that's in a firey grave or tossed down the pooper.

They're in the dropped ceiling at work, and poke themselves out just enough for the wife to see. Apparently I've been designated the household stinkbug eliminator.
 
Thank goodness for whole house vac systems. Last fall we had Over five gallons of the pest in our home. They can crawl in a space thinner than a dime. When will they ever end?
 
I brought a half cord of ash into my garage yesterday. It had been in the shed split and stacked, tons of dead stink bugs on it, I kept knocking them off as I pulled from the pile, when I got half way into the stack i was knocking 50+ off each split. Well now my garage stinks like stink bugs. I think they died in the pile, in the shed, and tainted my wood. I guess the only good thing is nothing else will go near it. I didn't notice that many when I was into the cherry and locust, but I hit a lot of Ash in my pile I couldn't believe how many dead ones, they were every where. I know guys that are using them in the tree stand for scent cover.
HAppy New year
 
Are the piles equally hit by sunshine? They will move to where it is warmest. We have them on one end of the wood pile and not the other.
 
i hate them, and burn them in the fireplace. Even in the summer, catch them in a tissue, light it, and toss it in the fireplace. I dont get any smells inside. However, my fireplace drafts pretty well. your mileage may vary, and clearly does....
 
We keep thinking we got the last one and another one appears. It used to be they were on the windows, near the light. Now they can be anywhere. The first fire of the season was interesting as said above, they start coming out of every nook and cranny on the fireplace. They do not appear to have any enemies so I hope this doesn't keep getting worse. Someone told me they brought them here to get rid of the lady bugs(or they looked liked lady bugs). The stink bugs are worse, but no lady bugs.
 
Can't we all get along:) I kill allmost every day still. In the fall the back my has 100's of them I knock them down with dawn/h2o in a spray bottle
 
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