Chocolate Stinkbugs

When we were in Ohio this fall, we picked up some hitchhikers--brown marmorated stink bugs.  They came in out of the cold and found all kinds of cozy little corners to hibernate while they wait for winter to pass.  The warmth inside the house causes them to become active, flying clumsily around and landing near heat sources such as lights.  Since they are non native to the US and destructive to our produce, we don't allow them to return to the outside.  At first we used the fly swatter, but that made a mess.  Then we flushed them, but that filled our tank.  Now we use The Wand Of Death.  This is the hose extender for our sweeper.  When we see a bug--usually on our 8' ceilings, we turn on the sweeper, and suck them in.  They release their very strong pungent defensive scent, but it is mostly contained by the sweeper and doesn't last long. 

The other day I found a cocoa spill in my cupboard.  I sucked it up with the sweeper and really enjoyed the chocolaty odor.  Shortly after that I swept up another stink bug.  Wonder of wonders, the bug smell was tempered by.....chocolate!  It actually smelled ok!

Since then we've sucked up a lot more bugs.  I've decided that it's time to sacrifice some more cocoa powder for the cause.

Two more days of warm weather.

Louise and Duane