Once present these buggers can be a problem, but vacuuming. traps of various kinds, encouraging predators (spiders, etc.), can all help. Some formulations of Neem Oil have been shown helpful, but these can also harm those predators.

Here is a link that might be useful: About Cucumber Beetles

They were starting to show up in my garden and I was getting worried till the yellow jackets found them and rode to the rescue. Fortunately for me the yellow jackets like to forage in my yard but they nest somewhere else. The ones I have are also not the aggresive type. They pretty much ingnore me but they are really doing the job on my beetles and worms.

hoodat, I wouldn't mind some yellowjackets, tho I know they can be really agressive. I only have red wasps and dirt dobbers that nest in the eaves of my old house, up inside where I can't get to them- they leave me alone, I leave them alone. Occasionally tho they get in the house.
It's my understanding these kind of wasps aren't beneficial.
I do have plenty of spiders, and don't want to resort to chemicals that are going to get rid of them.
Vacuuming is out of the question- I might try making a homeade trap with a yellow paper plate.
My concern is that some say these lure these guys, but they are already here. Any other traps you can suggest?
Due to a less troublesome but still major problem with squash bugs.....
I'm considering pulling cuke, bean, zuke, and some tomato plants( dx).
So if I pull up these plants....dispose of them (can't burn) gotta go in the trash before trash day), and then double dig or cultivate the soil, keep all grass and weeds down...will this help?
Can I keep these guys from coming back next year?

Yellow sticky traps will get some of them but baited traps are self defeating. They lure new beetles into your garden even though they kill some of them. The same goes for baited Japanese beetle traps. DE slows them down since they are relatively soft bodied for a beetle but it doesn't work well enough to eliminate them. Neem won't kill them directly but it may make the leaves taste bad to them so they won't eat them. It won't affect the taste of your cukes and is harmless to you. Use it with caution and only on the cukes. It can do harm if sprayed over the entire garden. Physical removal such as vacuuming seems best even tough it's tedious. Sometimes, unfortunately, there is no easy answer.

"The same goes for baited Japanese beetle traps."

It seems that coventional wisdom disdains traps for JBs but I have put hundreds of thousands of them to sleep the last few years and have seen about 15 here this year. I do other things for JBs besides traps.

Yellow, or blue, sticky traps do not lure more of the target insect into your garden unless you purchase one that is labeled as an attractant, although they do trap some of those already there. Those traps do not have an attractant in them as the Japanese Beetles traps do. Those traps for the JBs rely on that female pheromone that tells males "Come over here, I am ready to mate." are meant to attract lots of males which also release a pheromone that tells females, "Hey, I'm over here." and draws more females in which in turn draws more males in.
Diamotaceous Earth will not do anything to stop Japanese beelts although it can harm the larva of the Cucumber Beetle and Neem Oil products do not make the leaves these buggers feed on distasteful but does contain a chmeical that when ingested, by the insect, causes them to stop eating.

I have the same problem. I don't know where I got this, but it works. You need to respray, of course, after a rain. This is for other insects also.

1 capful of each:
Listerine - the one with a brown liquid
lemon dish soap
ammonia
ordinary tea (I added a little instant tea)
plant food at 1/2 strength

Add to 1 gal of water & spray, drenching the leaves on top & underneath.

Recently an email circled the world that stated that spraying Listerine on the grass helped with mosquitos.

kimmsr, are u saying that only pheromone traps "lure" bugs into areas? So if I already have the cuke problem, and use a homeade (money is tight now) trap for cuke beetles using yellow paper plate, it will help kill some of them off?
Like I said in post above, I've given up on plants, except some cherry toms. Got lots of those this year, and cukes, bean plants were doomed from the start- don't know why.
But still, I've had MAJOR bugs this year, my guess is due to unrelenting heat wave and lack of rain, and lack of time I had last year to check 2x a day.....
Did I mention leafhoppers, bean beetles........
So I don't want to have these guys again next year.
Question remains:
Is thorough fall clean-up (as I described above) help keep some of these critters from overwintering and coming back next year?
I live in a warm climate, where bugs overwinter here where they don't in the North....
Please give advice....
Thanks