My understanding is that bedbugs are difficult to get rid of, and easy to spread. Given these two factors, why doesn’t every house have bed bugs?
According to wiki bed bug infestation rates have shot up since the 1980’s. Why haven’t we seen the end game yet, where infestation is the norm instead of the exception? Bed bugs aren’t new, houses aren’t new, behaviour that could spread the infestation isn’t new. They’ve had 10,000 years of human civilizations to spread and become omnipresent parasites.
What’s checking the increase of the infestations? Will we ever see a conclusion where we (mostly?) all have bed bugs? Why not given how easy they are to spread and how difficult they are to remove? Are we living in a golden age that people will look back at as The Days Before the Bugs Came?
They aren’t that easy to spread. Yes they are very hardy critters, but just because you’ve encountered them your clothes and luggage are not some kind of plague spreading bioweapon. I’ve known plenty of people who been bitten by them at hotels and that’s been that, they’ve not had to nuke their apartment and burn all their stuff.
IMO they were considered a fact of life in my parents generation, it’s just he current germophic generation that is freaking out over them.
Yes, this. Most bedbugs will spread horizontally from apartment to apartment on the same floor, but if you DNA test them, the bedbugs upstairs aren’t related. They spread out, not up. They don’t jump, they’re slow movers, and they don’t climb all that well. You pretty much have to leave your laundry bag in direct contact with an infested laundry pile for a couple of hours to be guaranteed of picking up some hitchhikers.
Or, of course, bring them in on used furniture. I suspect if you were to graph the rise in bedbugs with the rise in “upcycling” and “thrifting” among the college students and middle class, you’d see very similar curves.
I think this is a part of it, probably exacerbated by the spread of information on the Internet. People can now map infestations real-time, share photos of extreme reactions, and loudly express their disgust.
I traveled to developing countries in the early 2000s, and in travel guides from that era bedbugs were mostly treated then as a minor annoyance- if anything you were happy to see a bite from a bedbug rather than a potentially malarial mosquito. There wasn’t really a lot of thought paid to the idea that you could transport them home.
While they can spread and are very difficult to get rid of, many people will not rest till every little bugger is dead. The motivation to get rid of them overrides their ability to infest.
Contrary to popular belief cleanliness has nothing to do with it. They embed themselves to certain fibers including clothing, bedding, paper, wood, and card board. Even 5 star hotels get them. People put their clothes down, couple BB’s cling on, and they spread.
I knew someone that got them and it was a freaking nightmare. They had to toss so much shit out it cost them a fortune. And they are not completely killed easily with pesticides.
I’ve had cases I’ve investigated regarding child abuse where it turned out the kid didn’t have cigarette burns on them but bedbug bites. Some of those bites look like burns, it’s even fooled medical staff.
The people I know that had them had the exterminator do that. Also, some of the stuff they wanted to keep was put in the trunks of their cars to bake (it was summer). And they were told bedbugs are rarely in places where the climate is constantly warm. The guy also brought in a specially trained beagle to sniff the bastards out.
I went on a week long business trip to 4 different hotels. Came home Friday afternoon, I woke up in the middle of the night Monday morning (today) scratching everywhere. Chalked it up to irritation from leftover hair from a hair cut I had yesterday, but the seed was planted in my head that it could be bedbugs, complimentary from one of the 4 hotels I stayed at. All 4 hotel names rhymed with Shmoliday Bin.
Pointed a flashlight at the bed when I relented and got up this morning after a couple of sleepless hours. Sure enough, tiny little crawlies.
I don’t know if it’s just my mind messing with me, but I can’t stop scratching while sitting at my desk. The wife is working from home today with the intention of getting a start on bagging and washing/disposing of stuff.
I wonder if I should mention this to HR and ask for some personal time off to take care of this?
One way of ridding your home of cockroaches, and if you live far enough north, is to shut off the water supply, drain all the lines turn off the heaters and let the house freeze up good. I wonder if bed bugs can survive 0ºF temps?
No they cannot. So while everyone is freaking out, if you live in a cold climate you only need put your crap out in the garage for a few days. If you live in the tropics, (where I encountered them!), they simply drag your mattress out into the hot baking sun for several hours. Flip it a few times and all fixed!
It’s the climates in between where the greatest risk of infestation happens, I think. Not so easy to bake or freeze them out!
So, I read through a website about ridding your house of bed bugs {Cite}, looks like a major hassle.
These new generations of bed bugs may be pyrethrin-tolerant, but that doesn’t mean they like the stuff. It’s a violation of Federal Law to use dog and cat flea shampoo in your laundry, the same as mixing said shampoo with your normal shampoo to prevent head lice infestation. Probably won’t kill them but it sure “might” make 'em sick.
They’re obligate blood-suckers, preferring human blood [insert snarky comment here]. Just as a wild guess I’d say dose up heavy on garlic. Again, it’s against Federal Law to use flea shampoo on your whole body. Encasement for a few days, maybe a week, starve the lil’ fuckers to death.
Manual eradication … yup … ya gotta squish each of them … looks like your best option until the Feds lighten up on the current DDT prohibitions … that’s only available on the black market or off-shore.
If, Og forfend, my house is ever cursed with bedbugs, I plan to treat the mattress, carpets and curtains with steam (in addition, of course, to washing all the bedlinen.) Will this work?
Before it becomes a “infestation” two things really help : “No Pest Strips” (do not put where you sleep, where babies are or where food prep goes on, and be careful around small pets) and diatomaceous earth.
So you can seal off your bedroom, put up two of those and sprinkle the earth between the mattresses, etc.
Put the luggage outside in dark plastic bags in full sun, if your climate is warm. Then store in garage- a garage with several No Pest strips.
We’re looking into diatomaceous earth in cups/plates for the bed feet, and I will research “no pest strips.” Thank you for the advice.
The luggage is getting thrown out (nice Samsonite garment bag, but it is about 15 years old and seen a lot of miles). Hopefully if the wind is right and my arm is willing, I can throw it directly into the sun.
