Marie writes
We live in PA and have a big stink bug problem. We bought your kit, but our online PA agricultural website warns against putting anything into the walls to kill them. The website said if a large amount of bugs are killed in the walls, carpet beetles may end up feeding on the dead stink bugs and then we would have those in our house in a big way. Also, we already used all of the Demon WP that we purchased, but we are still seeing bugs everywhere outside. Is it worth buying more this year or will they not last much longer outside? And will using the Pyganic Dust possibly also kill the carpet beetles, or is that website correct? Any suggestions?
The object of the overwintering kit is to prevent stink bugs from getting into the home. The insecticide dust is a preventative treatment to kill any stink bugs that happen to make it inside. If you do not prevent or kill the stink bugs in the walls, they will lay eggs which will hatch in the spring and then come inside the home in large numbers. We think the agricultural site in your state is referring to if you did not spray anything outside to prevent them from entering, and you had hundreds or thousands of stink bugs inside your walls, then if you did apply something to kill them you would have piles of dead bugs which can lead to other issues. However, since you have treated proactively then you should not have enough stink bugs in your walls to create an issue. If by chance you did have an issue, the Pyganic dust would kill any insect in the walls including carpet beetles. This year has been a very bad year for stink bugs. Usually they are only present around your home for about 30 days, but this year the weather has fluctuated so much that the problem is continuing much longer than 30 days. Usually 1 kit is enough for a season, but this year many people are having to purchase more Demon WP. If you are all out of Demon WP and you still see stink bugs, then you should reapply the product so you do not have a large number entering the house and potentially causing an issue in the walls. If by chance they did go away or were not an issue when you receive your next shipment, the product will last for years on the shelf and since stink bugs typically resurface in the spring, you would have some on hand. Also, Demon WP is good for almost any other insect problem so it is not a bad product to have around.
Answer last updated on: 10/24/2010
