Bed Bug War Strategies?

there are a number of insects that can be catagorized as bed bug.......any one in particular....... I like to add your own bed as we speak is already infested with bed bugs....feeding....breeding and defacating.........sleep tight.....and for gods sake don't let the bed bugs bite.... : )

I have never had an encounter with this particular pest, but I agree that it is a critter that I would like to see on the endangered species list along with mosquitoes, ticks, and black flies (northern New England and Canada).

For the moment, my best advice is to stay away from potentially infected areas and live in isolation from other people who might have been in contact with them. I don't know what their primary means of spreading is, but I suspect that it is from eggs that people unknowingly transport from infected bedding etc. I guess that it comes down to whose bed are you sleeping in and who is sleeping in your bed.

There are some great medications that make "concerns" like these seem far less... um, Concerning.

For a side note of more concern what is to keep them from finding you through the more common entrances like doors, windows, and gaps around where the plumbing goes in and out of the apartment? Ir riding in on your clothing or anything else you or anyone else may be carrying in or out?

Sleep well while you ponder on the obvious!

Is DDT still available in some bootleg market? I doubt that a flyswatter will suffice.

central americas I believe it is.

Possibly, but its use is also allowed under the supervision of WHO in countries like South Africa for the control of Malaria. USAID also funds it where scientifically "proven" to be cost effective and benficial.

One school of thought believes that the "knee jerk" banning of DDT for Malaria control has lead to millions of deaths. The banning of DDT in agriculture (except for some cotton growers) is not challenged.

I have seen how it is used in the third world - the typical peasant has no idea what they are doing and it is exceedingly dangerous.

I have seen gamzine (same chemical group & danger) sprinkled on vegetables to show they are safe. The have seen the stuff in a warehouse where workers had no protection whatsoever and no idea of the dangers.

I have seen the stuff carried in open buckets and spread by hand.

It was correctly placed under stringent controls!

A good way that is safe to use anywhere is to raise the temperature of the structure to 140- 150F for a day. This will destroy the adults and the eggs.

is it bed bugs or Bankers you are againest please enlighten

crm

I am against neither bankers nor bedbugs. All vermin creatures deserve equal opportunity to survive...

PS. My previous post was intended as humor. I forgot to add the smileys...

We need an address for you so we can send them to you upon capture.

Beats me what you plan to do with a zillion bedbugs though?

I got it and liked it, so GA!

we used to have these bed bugs till 70s and we were using a spray tic20 on all parts of the home specially cots,chairs,sofas and shelves of books if you need to know more contact me tick-20 is manufactured in India and extensively used even to day for ward your e-mail id should be able to send details so that you can procure this preparations in NYC

crm

The best solution to kill all the bedbugs and their eggs, is to heat the entire house to 140 degrees and keep it there for 24 hours. This kills all eggs and bugs.

Some landlords use boric acid as a preliminary caution. It must be rolled on a board with a rolling pin (unlike the type used for roaches). Boric acid works much better as a roach killer and to prevent roaches from starting.

It is a lot easier to use preventive maintenance than it is to try to get rid of them after they have entered the home

There are good poisons for bed bugs on the market. Sprinkle the poisons before as a preventative maintenance, such an under sofa cushions, under mattresses, linen closets, under rfrigerators and stoves, in the attic and basement, etc.

PEbobimm

In India we use a medicine kill bug . We mix it with water and spray in the room and beds regularly. When we do not get medicine we use hot water or keep the bed in hot sun .It will reduce the bugs.

Why don't you contact an extermination service?

In my condominium the units are owned mostly by absentee land slumlords and only recently when a new board was elected did we start addressing the multiple problems of bed bugs, cockroaches and mice. (Luckly there are NO rats in Alberta)

So far everyone who properly prepared their units for the first arrival of the exterminator has seen the bedbug problem vanish. Those who can't or won't follow instructions are still dealing with them. Once a building is infested it takes everyone's cooperation to be rid of them. As we seen to have some tenants who are unfamiliar with such things as hygene, vacuum cleaners, indoor plumbing and sealed containers for food we are battling several things at once.

Personally I sealed every access point to my unit with one of those aerosol expanding foam sealants, used a thin chaulking on all base boards (top and bottom) and got a "door sweeper" for the front door. (long rubber strip that attaches to the bottom of the door) We have not seen bed bugs in our unit, roaches seem to be slowly dying out, the one mouse that some how got in was quickly dispatched by Aragorn, Gandalf or Frodo (the cats).

The roaches are not gone from the building yet because we had to get "evidence" that some of the tenants were the problem before we could evict them. The exterminator was able to provide this evidence after only 2 visits. Now that the main nesting apartments are empty and under attack though the survivors are now fleeing throughout the building. So we are all seeing a temporary increase right now.

The building is too big to use the heat treatment, they would not be able to treat the entire building at once. If we could have found an exterminator with enough equipment we would have gone that route. Treating a multi unit dwelling with different people with different ideas about "clean" poses all kinds of problems. The best way to deal with these "unique" problems is through eviction. We have 2 more tenants on our radar right now.

The last piece of advice is, don't hire an exterminator for 1 visit. Even in a single family fully detached residence they should come by 2 or 3 times at least. We have contracted with the exterminator for a full year of bi-weekly visits. Total cost will be between $30,000 and $50,000. They said they could get the job done for the lower figure but non-cooperation may make extra treatments necessary. In those cases though we can bill who ever made those extra visits necessary.

So my vote is DEATH to bed bugs and add cockroaches to the hit list.

I just read a report on the bedbug infestations that are sweeping across the U.S. especially around the large cities. Hotels, motels and apartments seem to be the main areas where it is a big problem. All the insecticides that were effective like DDT and Propoxur, are banned. It seems the bedbugs have become resistant to the currently available insecticides. Propoxur, although banned, is still used in flea collars, but resistance to that is expected to happen sooner than later. The only known treatment that I know of works for single family detached residences only and couldn't be used for apartment complexes or hotels and that is the cyanide gas treatment where the entire house is wrapped in plastic and cyanide gas is pumped in. It's very expensive and the house is unlivable for several days.

We did investigate "tenting" for our condo, the price was estimated at over $100.000.00. That is for a 3 story 27 unit building though.

For a single residence the heat process is probably cheaper and by all acounts 100% effective.

Unless someone comes up with an insectide for bedbugs, the problem will spread to all parts of the country and world. One of the biggest carriers of bedbugs is the commercial airline. Think of all the planes flying all over the world, carrying bugs in the seats. Othere places are cruise ships, movie theatres, car rentals and of course hotels and motels. Even restaurants; anywhere people sit.

My late aunt used to take her own bed linens from home whenever she traveled and had to stay in a hotel. I thought she was a bit excentric, but now I realize why she did it.

The three worst ciies in the USA are (starting with the worst)

1. New York City

2. Philadelphia

3. Cleveland

The bed bug explosion in the USA is running rampart.

PEbobimm

There is a company in the Pittsburgh PA area that manufactures a mattress case and a pillow case that prevents bed bugs from entering your bed.

The company is American Textiles Company, located in Duquesne, Pa. I believe the brand name is ALLEREASE and I am told that many stores such as WalMart sell these across the country. At least you can sleep without being bitten by bed bugs.

The mattress cover covers top and bottom and 4 sides and has a harmless chemical inside that prevents bed bugs-not harmless to bed bugs. You can probably Google the company

PEbobimm

Yes, It is right because we need a proper strategy to fight with bed bugs attacks.

Years ago when I was renting we noticed some. Terrified..

Fortunately I found that you can cook them quickly with a simple hairdryer and patience. heat gun is to hot. and unnecessary.

When the the mandated exterminators arrived they were amazed to not find any and said that I did the job for them. (without the nasty chemicals)

Spend time slowly moving along seams in wood or fabric of the infested area.

Lets us know how things turn out.