Virginia in the fall

[GJGAR]

In 2012 we spent about 1.5 weeks in Virginia in September. Had a horrible time with stink bugs -they were everywhere. My wife wants nothing to do with the mid Atlantic in the fall because of that.
Unfortunately, September is the best time for us to travel, so my question is: did we just have a rare bad experience or is that typical.
Is the fall worse, or have these little bugs ruined rving all summer in that area of the country.

[LarryJM]

Bumpyroad wrote:
I have tons of them in MD, none in southern VA.
bumpy

They were terrible here in NOVA in 2012, but a lot less in 2013. Before 2012 they were rare and we have lived here since 1984.

Larry

[D___M]

Apparently there is an upside to the polar vortex (clicky), or Alberta clipper, or whatever they call cold weather these days that comes every year from the North.

[3_dog_nights]

PackerBacker wrote:

3 dog nights wrote:
I'll take the stink bugs over the cicada's anyday. Both ugly as sin bug stick bugs can be scooped up and thrown out the door. Cicada's just look like "go ahead, touch me...I dare you"
BTW I'm at MB as well PackerBacker, which park are you at?

Myrtle Beach Travel Park, where are you?

... Eric

Sorry Eric, just couldn't get the wifi to work whilw there. Whats the secret? I was on site 206 in MBTP until yesterday. Would have liked coming by and putting a face with the name....maybe next time.
But really...whats the secret to wifi while in the park? I've never been able to get a good signal. It the only complant I have about the park.

[Bumpyroad]

GJGAR wrote:
Thanks everybody for your input. We were thinking of staying at Cherry Hill Campround on the outskirts of Washington DC. Anybody ever camped there? Did you have much of a problem with the stink bugs?

I wouldn't describe Cherry Hill as being on the outskirts of DC. It may technically be outside of DC but it is located within the beltway in all of that mess. for outskirts try the KOA between DC and Baltimore, etc.
bumpy

[GJGAR]

Thanks everybody for your input. We were thinking of staying at Cherry Hill Campround on the outskirts of Washington DC. Anybody ever camped there? Did you have much of a problem with the stink bugs?

[bukhrn]

RGar974417 wrote:
I have 2 customers who have terrible stink bug problems.Yet at my house,just a few miles away we have very few.Virginia is a big state,try another part and most likely you will have few if any.We have camped many times in many parts of the state and I don't recall ever having a problem with them.You were just " lucky".

I agree, we went to a beautiful little CG just off the Blue Ridge Parkway one year & got infested with them, same year, went up to Skyline Dr. & never saw one, last year went to SW VA. & also never saw one, around my house they are horrible, I learned, while cutting down a Mimosa tree, that they were nested in it, thousands of them, D&M is right, Kill them !!! They deserve no mercy & get none from me,Just don't crush them indoors.

[Oaklevel]

They are another import from China there were NONE here in Virginia 10 years ago they started in PA & are moving South (on the east coast). They are somewhat regional we live in SW Virgina & left our camper in Myrtle Beach last fall because the year before we traped 2 cups full from the inside of the camper in a weeks time. But our RV Dealer is a mile SE of us has very few Stink Bugs but we have thousands. Our kids live 15 miles north & have almost no stink bugs. As stated before they are worse in the Fall when the come inside & try to hibernate.

[RGar974417]

I have 2 customers who have terrible stink bug problems.Yet at my house,just a few miles away we have very few.Virginia is a big state,try another part and most likely you will have few if any.We have camped many times in many parts of the state and I don't recall ever having a problem with them.You were just " lucky".

[D___M]

GMandJM wrote:
Unfortunately, StinkBugs are still a year-round problem in VA. In the fall they try to get inside to be warm and hibernate.

If you find them PLEASE don't just toss them outside. I don't usually advocate killing bugs, but these are such an invasive and destructive pest that it's better for the planet if you just stick them in a 2-ltr bottle of dish-soapy water and swish them around.

The apple farmers will love you for it!

Definitely kill the stink bugs. They have no domestic predators. Just don't crush them. That's when they stink. Use the soapy water method.

[Community Alumni]

3 dog nights wrote:
I'll take the stink bugs over the cicada's anyday. Both ugly as sin bug stick bugs can be scooped up and thrown out the door. Cicada's just look like "go ahead, touch me...I dare you"
BTW I'm at MB as well PackerBacker, which park are you at?

Myrtle Beach Travel Park, where are you?

... Eric

[GMandJM]

Unfortunately, StinkBugs are still a year-round problem in VA. In the fall they try to get inside to be warm and hibernate.

If you find them PLEASE don't just toss them outside. I don't usually advocate killing bugs, but these are such an invasive and destructive pest that it's better for the planet if you just stick them in a 2-ltr bottle of dish-soapy water and swish them around.

The apple farmers will love you for it!

[Cecilt]

Killed one yesterday in our home in SW Va. They are bad spring/summer/fall. Winter not as bad but still come out when we get warm enough days. The inventor of the pesticide will be a multi millionaire very quickly.

[naturist]

The entire NE and mid-atlantic regions are infested with them now. Some years are better than others, but the reason for the problems in the fall are that as the weather gets colder, they start seeking shelter for the winter, and that means they move indoors on you.

This last fall where I live was less of a problem than the fall of 2011, when I spent most of the winter disposing of over a dozen a day. They tend to gravitate to the south-facing windows on warm days especially.

For what it is worth, they are immune to virtually everything in the "bug spray" arsenal, so you can't kill them in the house that way. I've an orchardist friend who tells me that they are a big problem for him, as during the summer they attack his fruit crops and spoil a lot of his production. He has tried the most potent insecticides the EPA and FDA will allow him to use, and he applies it one day, the next day the ground is covered with seemingly dead stink bugs, and the very next day they are all gone, back up in his trees munching away with renewed zeal, evidently merely stunned briefly.

The official method of dealing with them in the home is to use the vacuum cleaner and just suck 'em up with the hose & crevice tool. They will be unable to find their way out, and eventually die.

[JamesBr]

Fall 2012 was horrible. Every day I was vacuuming up loads of them at home and in the RV on the weekends. Last fall (2013) was not that bad, but there is little you can do about it. They are invasive and until something adapts to controlling its population.