Stink bugs!

[your_comforting_company]

I've been doing some searching on the web and asked the Cooperative Extension office, but I can't get the answers I'm looking for, or perhaps I'm not asking the right questions.. so I'll ask you guys.

Stink bugs have moved in on my garden as they do every year. Normally I use malathion to treat them, but this year I've added honeybees to my garden. Many bugs like aphids can be controlled with soapy water, but it doesn't seem to have any effect on stinkers.

So the question is.. What can I use to spot treat the stink bugs that will be safe for the bees provided I don't spray it directly on the bees. I'm trying to stay well away from residual pesticides because I don't want leftovers that my bees might come into contact with, tainting the honey and/or killing the colony the next morning.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Rick]

YCC - I've never treated them in my garden so I can't give you first hand advice. I've never really had them that bad. Here are some methods I would try if I decided to treat them keeping in mind the bee safety issue.

Hand pick - Yeah, I know. It's a pain but we did it for my grandfather's beans. Put them in a sack and burned them.

SurroundWP - SWP is sprayed on as a liquid and leaves a film on the surface of fruits, stems and leaves. The nice thing about SWP is that it is an edible clay (Kaolin clay) that is non toxic. It just makes a barrier so the stinkers can't munch or lay eggs. If I remember correctly, the clay has tiny particles that will attach to the insects and agitate them so they leave. But the main thing is the barrier. Kaolin clay has been used in the food industry for a long time. Just google SurroundWP and you'll get lot's of hits. Crash may have some info as well.

Diatomaceous Earth - This is another natural product but would be my last choice. I don't know how it will interact with the bees.

If you use anything remember to do so in the evening when the stinkers congregate for the night and bees are in the hive. Avoid spraying blooms so the bees are better protected and if you use an insecticide like Sevin or Malathion remember they have a set number of days that they can not be used before harvest. I know that's intuitive but I need reminders sometimes. Hope that helps.

[crashdive123]

YCC - I've got no experience with stink bugs (yet), but I would look into horticulture oils. Make sure you check with your bee mentors or maybe your county extension office. I know they are very popular for use on fruit trees which need the pollination so it seems as though some at least are bee safe (at least at certain times of the year).

[tuxdad]

This may be a dumb question, but whatever happened to buying ladybugs for your garden ?? They use to be the top thing for getting rid of other bugs you didn't want in your garden and you could order them... Just my 2 cents ...

[your_comforting_company]

I will look into the kaolin (surroundwp) and DE, and also talk to my keeper mentors about the oils. Some have recommended bifenthrin and night spraying (which fits my work schedule pretty well LOL). Soapy water and hand picking don't seem to be impacting the population enough to make much difference, but that's what I've been doing in lieu of a better solution. Another factor with the chemicals is that I'm harvesting every other day, or third day, which won't allow enough time for the poison to be inactive as most require 7 days wait.

@tuxdad, We generally embrace ladybugs, but I'm afraid they won't run off the stinkers. The stinkbugs are a good deal larger than ladybugs.

I have found sources that indicate a wasp that will parasitize stinkbug eggs (I guess they don't stink before they hatch lol) and I'm wondering which particular wasp it is, and how I can raise them nearby. None of my bee mentor friends seems to know much about raising wasps and haven't heard of anyone doing such. This would seem an ideal solution to me, to introduce a predator into the area.

I'll be asking around tomorrow to see if I can locate the things mentioned above and report back. Thanks guys.

On a side note, Do their stings on the fruits (in my case peas) do anything bad to them, i.e. make them so that they cannot be canned, or frozen? I eat the cooked peas and other fruits and have had no ill effect from eating them, but storage is a super important factor as we are moving away from freezing for storage and putting as much as we can in glass canning jars. All the information I can find on this subject is that it makes the food "appear unappetizing"... I'm of the frame of mind that if it's harmless, it's appetizing or you aren't really hungry.

[crashdive123]

YCC - bifenthrin is the active ingredient in a few of the products I use. It is very toxic to bees.

There are several species of parasitic wasps. In reading, it looks like the Asian Wasp (common name) is one that attacks Stink Bugs. They are smaller than a fruit fly. Don't know where to get them --- maybe a local nursery might know.

Also found this that you may want to try:

Use a wide-mouth can. Fill with an inch of water, sweet-scented dish soap, and a little cooking oil on top. Make sure that pets cannot lick this trap. The sweet smell lures the bugs; the oil smothers their discharge; the soapy water smothers them as they sink.

from http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science...ink-bugs_N.htm

[BornthatWay]

We have them here in VA but they seemed more active earlier in the spring than now. Everything I have read says that there is not a spray or dust that has any affet on them. All the extension agents suggest soapy water. I think crashcive may have the best suggeston with the water soap and oil.

i have not seen them in the gardem but am definitley going to keep this treatment on file if I do get hit with them. Supposedly their stink occurs when you squish them to kill them. I have never noticed the odor myself so maybe I jsut do not have the ability to smell them like some people who cannot smell skunk.

[Rick]

I've read studies that suggest there is no benefit to parasitic wasps. I'll see if I can dredge it up.

EDIT: Ooops. My bad. The studies were on squash borers. sorry.

[your_comforting_company]

bifenthrin is the active ingredient in a few of the products I use. It is very toxic to bees.

Thanks Crash. I'll take bifenthrin off the list and move more towards the traps with soap and oil. Will be saving drink cans in the near future and rigging up several. This sounds like the most viable solution right now.

BTW, if you can't smell them, you are one of the lucky few.. Those little blighters seem to be on every tree I climb during deer season, they are in the peaks of houses under the shingles in any tight space they can find, and they love succulent crops like okra, tomatoes, peas, and yes, even yucca.

Another idea I had.. I wonder if I could make a tincture or solution with Solanum ptycanthum. If it's as toxic to bugs as it is to humans, I should be able to put to use some of the dozen plants I have growing around here.

[Chris]

We don't have these here in MI yet that I know of, thankfully.