How To Use Bay Leaves To Ward Off Unwanted Stink Bugs From Your Home

Stink bugs, likely to show up during the summer months, are rarely what a homeowner wants to see. But crushing the bugs when you see them is a common mistake to avoid when dealing with stink bugs in the house, because when attacked, they release their infamous odor, which attracts other stink bugs and can lead to an infestation. To make your home an unattractive place for stink bugs in the first place, you can surround it with smells they hate, such as bay leaves. The aroma of bay leaves comes from the essential oils and alcohols they contain, such as eucalpytol, which stink bugs find unattractive. Other natural alcohols in bay leaves, such as geraniol, have also been shown to repel stink bugs.

To disperse this scent throughout your home, something as simple as laying dry bay leaves around the house, keeping some in your kitchen (which has the added benefit of adding flavor as an ingredient in dishes), or diffusing bay leaf oil can help ward off stink bugs. And if you're dealing with stink bugs outside the home, you can also sprinkle bay leaves around your garden or lawn to deter them from attacking your plants. It depends on where the most attractive areas for stink bugs are, like where you keep ripe fruits or ornamental plants.

Though stink bugs don't bite humans or animals, plants aren't so lucky. Stink bugs are also interested in seeds, nuts, and fruits, so to make sure stink bugs in your home become a thing of the past, your garden and pantry are critical areas to protect. Insects also enter the home through access points like open windows, so diffusing bay leaf oil around these areas can act as insulation. You can also lay bay leaves in your pantry and inside containers of food to prevent stink bugs from getting in.

To up the ante, some homeowners recommend combining bay leaves with cloves and water, boiling it, and then keeping the mixture in a spray container to spray around any high-risk areas. Stink bugs hate the scent of clove oil, which makes cloves a powerful kitchen ingredient that doubles as an insect repellent, especially when combined with bay leaves. You can also use this spray outside on your crops or in your garden.

While it's not fool-proof (you'll still want to make sure you seal entry points and have screens on your windows), keeping bay leaves around is a natural alternative to using pesticides to prevent stink bugs from getting inside your home. Just keep in mind that even though bay leaves and other oils can repel stink bugs, they can't necessarily kill them once they've arrived, so if you're dealing with an infestation, you'll want to reach out to an exterminator.