I’ll post my weekly news findings here so you can easily stay up to date on bed bugs. It’s important to know if anything bed bug related is happening in your area. And if you travel, you want to know what is happening at your destination so you can plan accordingly.
How to Build Your Own Bedbug Detector
TIME – Researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey have created a homemade
bedbug trap using a plastic cat-food dish, an insulated jug and some dry-ice pellets … Read more »
Doggie Sniffs Out Bed Bugs
MyFox Phoenix – The blood eating pests, bed bugs, are found everywhere from movie theaters to mattresses. Now a local pest control company has a dog to help sniff
them out… Read more »
Don’t let the bed bugs bite
Grand Junction Free Press – BY SHARON SULLIVAN Cathy Palmer breeds and raises Beagles in Cedaredge and more recently has gone into the bed bug detection business as well… Read more »
Family shares bedbug horror
Regina Leader-Post – Now they get at least six bedbug calls per day and thousands of bedbug calls across the province each year. Gage believes increased travel and second-hand … Read more »
Bedtime comes early in the day for racers
Kenosha News.com – The Bed Bugs’ bed also featured a bathtub-sized inflatable bug surrounded by pink and yellow balloons. “It was Adeline’s dream,” explained Debbie
Hawes of … Read more »
It depends on how sensitive you are and how much you’ve been bitten. If you are really sensitive to bed bug bites or you simply got hammered by the little buggers, you might see symptoms the next day. For most people though, bed bug bites will appear in about 9 days.
I just came across a blog post that was too funny not to share. Bed bugs can be pretty traumatic and all and a sense of humor is certainly an asset.
In the post, Tara Gibbs writes about how she went to see the movie 28 Weeks Later (zombie flick) while a bed bugs exterminator was working on her apartment. The movie turned out to be a poor choice. But at least it inspired her to create a table comparing zombies to bed bugs. Enjoy.
Can you get rid of a bed bug infestation for a measly $15? That’s what a recent news article suggests.
It just might be the solution to the bed bug infestation that’s exploded in the city the last couple years. And what’s more, you can do it yourself. And the cost? Less than 20 bucks.
So what is this solution? It is similar to the NightWatch Bed Bug Monitor Trap. Scroll half-way down How to trap bed bugs for more information on the NightWatch. Essentially, it uses carbon dioxide to entice bed bugs into a contraption they can’t escape from. It is smart, cheap and easy enough for anybody to make.
But is it a solution to a bed bug infestation? That’s a little hopeful since traps like this have been around and in use for a while. They are thought of more as ways to detect infestations and possibly gauge how severe they are — not as a complete solution.
Dr. Wang believes this system, which works principally as a monitor to detect bed bug activity, can eventually get rid of 80% of bed bugs. He cautions it works best with smaller populations. But, when confronted with large infestations, it may have to be combined with a professional pest control service to wipe out the problem completely.
Still, it is something to consider. The short video is worth watching as you can see how the trap is made.
If there is a potential for infestation, don’t you want a professional to follow up on the report of bed bugs to see if it was legitimate or a false alarm?
You should probably check what local laws apply to your situation so you know what your legal obligations are wherever your apartment is.
Also, from a practical perspective, if one unit is in fact infested there is a chance other connected units are infested too. You will need to check those other units which will require you to inform those tenants. Consider what might happen if a tenant from an infested unit puts their nightstand out by the trash and a tenant from a non-infested unit takes it home and infests their unit. Now you have a big problem that is spreading and will cost you more money the farther it spreads.
It might be most economical in the long run to simply be open about the problem, educate the tenants and do what needs to be done to address the problem.
Not sure where this myth comes from but no, bed bugs do not feed on dead skin — they feed on blood. They are attracted to our heat and the CO2 that we breathe out. They hide in areas in and around the bed and come out just before dawn to feed. If we aren’t available and bed bugs get hard up, they will also feed on household pets.
No you don’t. This is a common myth found in internet bed bug lore.
Bed bugs can hide all over the place, not just in the bed. In general, if it is wooden, paper or fabric and has holes, seams, crevices or cracks — there is a chance they will harbor there and possibly lay eggs. Some hotels have even found that bed bugs hide in remote controls and bed side alarm clocks. Not only that, bed bugs can travel quite a ways to hide. A figure commonly given is 20 feet. We know however that they sometimes travel much farther as bed bug infestations can spread from unit to unit in apartments, condos, hotels and dorms.
So if you throw your mattress and boxspring away, you still have a bed bug problem. If the mattress and boxspring are infested you simply buy encasements for them.
These tough plastic covers completely seal mattresses and boxsprings. Bed bugs can’t get in and they can’t get out. Bed bugs can go quite a while (18 months) without feeding before they will die. So you have to leave the mattress encasements on there for a little longer than that. But they are inexpensive and generally recommended by pest control professionals and entomologists for bed bug control. Mattress Encasements – What does a bed bug mattress cover do? has more information.
Yes, bed bugs will bite when you are awake. It is probably not the norm as bed bugs typically feed in the early morning before dawn. Still, a lot depends on how long it’s been since they have fed. In the video below you can see bed bugs feeding on entomologist Lou Sorkin:
Pretty gross if you ask me. Gotta love a person that really gets into their work though!
A bed bug is a nymph through 5 stages in the bed bug life cycle. So the size of the bed bug nymph depends on which stage the bed bug as it. Here is roughly how long the bed bug will be at each stage.
A bed bug will feed on anybody they can get to, regardless of the person’s hygiene habits. Bed bugs are not due to bad hygiene any more than mosquitoes are due to bad hygiene. Bed bugs are tied to the location and not the person. The next question you might ask is if bed bugs are due to poor housekeeping.
Poor housekeeping can make it difficult to identify a bed bug infestation. It can also lead to clutter which gives bed bugs more places to hide. This can make bed bug control, prevention and eradication especially difficult.
This isn’t to say that poor housekeeping is the cause of bed bugs. Even under the best conditions a place can still be infested. Read Home Bed Bug Prevention Tips to learn how to protect your home.
