Bed bug thread: fear and loathing, how to deal with them

More, this one from Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/30/us-bedbugs-epidemic-outdoor-pesticides_n_699745.html


Is anyone here dealing with this? Or know anyone who is? It seems a serious problem in a variety of ways, including the effort involved in dealing with the critters, and the social scourge aspect that seems to come with the situation.

Hi, Osso.
Curiously enough, I know a bit about bedbugs!
The articles you cite give a good overview for anyone interested. I would summarize the articles in this way:
> They were quite rampant in the early 1950's or so but were largely eradicated "thanks" to DDT, which has since been banned.
> There was and perhaps still is a stigma associated with them. Bedbugs = evidence of poor housekeeping. Not a deserved stigma.
> Bedbugs are making a huge comeback, with rampant infestations in NYC, Chicago and other places in the NE and Central U.S. As the articles noted, movie theaters, offices and other places where people share space are susceptible.
> Increasing mobility of people, nationally and internationally, is causing the infestation to spread rapidly.

I know a bit about bedbugs because I am involved in the development of a hotel in Cville. I have access to news from the hotel industry that is not secret but which does not get mass media coverage. One of the hotel developers I am working with has been in the business for 30 years.
This issue terrifies them. He tells me that bedbugs in just one room can spread to an entire floor in a matter of days and to every floor in just a week or so.
Hotels are looking at not having wall-to-wall carpeting or curtains and drapes made of cloth.
It will be interesting to see what can be done.

In the meantime, with regards to hotels, never ever put your suitcase on the bed. Put in on the little rack.

One of the doctors cited in the second article puts his suitcase in the bathroom..
and heat treats it when he gets home.
Ay yi yi.
Another I read, well, scanned, said something about them being found usually within eight feet of the bed. But.. people can have them on their clothes, so I wouldn't take that eight feet strictly.

Oh, second article says ddt doesn't explain all of the change. (I already forget why not).
Los Angeles is within the top ten cities with them too..

This has not been a popular thread. Perhaps I didn't comment enough. I don't luckily have bedbugs in my home or have fixes for them, except from what I read in the comments to the articles I posted above. I do have comprehension of what people feel when they find them at home.

The subject goes on though.

Here's a Washington post video re searching out new remedies.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2010/09/05/VI2010090502865.html?hpid=artslot

Here's about the Google Building in NY - though I'm not at all sure this is true..
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/sep/03/google-infested-bed-bugs

One way to avoid bedbugs is to never, ever buy a used mattress. And...always buy a new mattress from a high-class store. Be sure, your mattress arrives in you home in a tight cover.

I met today with one of the hoteliers I have been talking to. I asked him again about bedbugs. His hotel consulting group reluctantly agreed to take over management of a 130 room hotel that went into foreclosure.
Bedbugs, everywhere.
The standard treatment is to strip the room of anything that can be removed and then heat the room to 125 degrees F for 8 hours. And then bring in industrial strength vacuums.
He watched as a vacuum bag from just one room was emptied. He said the dead bedbugs would fill a decent sized salad bowl.
He gagged.

I've been following this. I haven't given all the links I see, as I suppose they are largely available online.

I figure some of all this is panic, and I figure some is wise.

I had a black widow spider in my kitchen sink a few days ago (see the gripes thread).

If I manage to get bed bugs too, you'll see me in the street with a sheet.

Too bad black widows don't eat bedbugs.

I wouldn't know, I'd be out the front door. I killed the widow with a sponge but the denoument was up for grabs.

Just as well, as I'd have had to leave, with the galloping widow up the sink.

I know black widows and I don't like them.

Looks like the "stink bugs" are now taking over. See NYTimes.

Link - what can I say but oy, vey.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/us/27stinkbug.html?pagewanted=all

The Bed Bug Registry

The Bed Bug Registry is a free, public database of user-submitted bed bug reports from across the United States and Canada. Founded in 2006, the site has collected about 20,000 reports covering 12,000 locations.

It takes $10,000 to train a dog to sniff out bed bugs. Is it worth it?

I am told (I didn't see the article itself) that bedbugs have been found in the Empire State Building and in Bloomingdales, the upscale department store. One of my hotelier buddies tells me that bedbugs are starting to take a bite out of occupancy rates in NYC.

The simplest solution is to keep the bed room cold till you go to bed. Also get a portable steamer and steam the bedsheets, cover and whatever else. Then vacuum. The key I believe to keep the bed cold. Bugs need heat.

Could be, talk, but not exactly what you would expect to have to do when you pay $xxx for a hotel room!

I didn't mean for a hotel. Maybe the simple solution is to close one room at a time and chill it, steam and vacuum. You can't win it all. Easier in winter.