The people in the apartment above mine told me yesterday that they have bedbugs. Later, I talked to another woman who lives in my building, and she says she already had an infestation of bugs six months ago and got an exterminator in her apartment. Last night, I spent a very sleepless night waking up in alarm every time I felt an itch or something that felt like a movement on my bed.
I have yet to even see a bug in my place, but I’m wondering if I should be proactive and get an exterminator in here to spray the place?
I would…I’ve heard they are horrible to get rid of once you get them, and if they’v been in your building six months, and just got evicted from the people above you…they may be heading your way. At least call and ask the exterminator’s advice.
In my experience, it does no good to exterminate in only one apartment. If they don’t do the whole building, the problem will eventually hit every untreated unit. Get the exterminator over there.
I heard they hide out on the back of the headboard. You might want to check there.
I just listened to an episode of NPR’s “This American Life”, rerun last week (the episode title was something like “Fear of Sleep”), where they had a story about a woman whose apartment building was fighting bedbugs for years. Fortunately the postscript was that the building manager had hired a new exterminator company that was coming in regularly and treating everything, and they had finally been beaten.
Two things I didn’t realize about bedbugs:
They can nest in anything upholstered, and probably other places too.
They can not only live, but reproduce, for months in a tightly-sealed container.
Makes me want to use disposable luggage. Seriously. The thought of bringing them back from vacation at a seemingly clean hotel just gives me the willies.
Er, not exactly, but you get my drift (we had an infestation of those little bundles of joy when my daughter brought 'em back from summer camp, and they were relatively easy to deal with).
True, but you can use brute force on lice (we used the OTC treatment stuff, but for good measure I used olive oil soaks which trapped the ones that survived the Nix, and allowed manual removal). In fact I wouldn’t ever tell anyone to rely on the store-bought stuff.
Bedbugs, not so much on the brute force, unless brute force involves stripping naked, leaving the apartment, and detonating a tactical nuke from across the street. There are some drawbacks to this approach, I’ve heard.
*spread mint leaves…in the all the rooms…
*Use lavendor oil near beds…
*Always wash bed sheet and clothing with hot water…
*Use some drops of lavendor oil near drainage system…
After doing all the above prevention… you home will be bed bugs free… for more about bed bugs… read… bed bugs pictures
if they have been there for a while they will have left a build up of little black bits of their fecal matter on the entrance and exit to the “hive” (for lack of better description of the hide out).
apparently, they listen to your breathing and can tell when you fall asleep. when your breath pattern changes they emerge from the hide outs and find their prey - you - and suck your blood untill they have their fill. if you wake during this, they will detect a change in your breathing, and run away so fast that it’s really hard to see them. oh and i think they only come out at night when the lights are off.
the bites will be indicated by red blotches that look like a small localized rash.
the bugs carry disease and other parasites.
i would love to have tryed out the natural approach, but when I detected them I did not have time to stuff around. though for the next few months i developed black bags under my eyes which i attribute to the pesticide (whether it was pyrethrum or a mix i do not know).
i am amazed that they can survive for 550 days without food (blood)!
Bed Bugs don’t listen for your breathing, they are sensitive to carbon dioxide. This is why you can use dry ice as a bed bug detector.
About a third of people don’t have reactions to bites, so it’s possible to have them and not even know it.
DE is your best preventative. When you buy it only sprinkle it lightly. The idea is for the bugs to walk through it. DE works on all bugs or anything with an exoskeleton. It will only work when it’s dry.
One note DE is safe. But you must get food grade DE. DO NOT get POOL GRADE DE. This is not safe and it’s not an insecticide.
Bedbugs do NOT carry disease. Secondary infections may be caused around the bite areas, but they are not caused by the bugs or anything they carry.
That is about the best news that can be delivered on the subject. While nuclear weapons are not required, persistence and vigilance are. If you have bedbugs or think you might, call a licensed exterminator right away.