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Cold November Keeping 'Stink Bugs' To A Minimum

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- There is a positive side to this extra cold November. The sharp temperature change is helping curb an invasion of insects, including, the brown marmorated stink bug.

From Maple Grove to Chanhassen and in between, brown marmorated stink bugs are causing some big frustration. Scott Dorn is the owner of BOGO Pest Control.

"I'm actually located in Plymouth and they were actually in my house on the outside and inside of my house and I'm a pest technician, it's like you are invading my space," Dorn said.

Scott Dorn has had an up close view the past few years to an invasive species that's spread from Pennsylvania, the brown marmorated stink bug.

"Out of the back end of their body, they'll emit a foul smelling ooze and people describe it a dirty sock," Dorn said.

While the smell is inconvenient, it can be killer to certain crops.

"They attack corn, soybeans and apples and those are the things we're most concerned about," Dorn said.

The good news is these stink bugs aren't known for doing much damage to the homes, just a smelly inconvenience.

"As far as homeowner, they're a nightmare. When they get in, you're sleeping, you roll over on one, it's gonna emit a foul smell and they are quite a large insect too," Dorn said.

Luckily, the McGee family of Wayzata sniffed out their stink bugs early on,

"I have no idea what stink bugs are, I just knew they looked like a bug and you wanted them out of your house. And I wanted them out of our house," Dave McGee said.

So Scott's team came and treated the outside of the home. And they got some very cool reinforcement.

"This weather that we got recently in November has really helped to reduce the overall amount of insects we'll be dealing with in the next year," Dorn said.

So not everything about this weather stinks.

Stink bugs can live through the winter if they are indoors, so BOGO and other companies try and secure homes before winter is fully upon us.

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