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Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

knowablemagazine.org

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Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#111

Post by b212 »

newhotelowner wrote: post #69
tiltowait wrote: post #3

I worked pest control for a few years until 2021. We all knew that pesticides basically don’t work on bed bugs—it was old news. The article glosses over heat treatments, which is odd, because it really does work, and usually in a single session. It’s a very labor-intensive and invasive procedure, though. The residents must leave the house for 8 hours while the techs bake each room and throw everything around. By the…

Heat works. We heat the room to 120-130 for 12-16 hours. Some people are magnets. bedbugs love their blood.

That’s 55 Celsius. Doesn’t sound too bothersome. What if they hide somewhere? Does 130F/55C just kill them at once?

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#112

Post by zem »

hotpotamus wrote: post #9
weatherlight wrote: post #4

We had a house centipede infestation when I lived in NYC. It was awesome. No bed bugs. No roaches except in the end of summer, (the giant flying variety and it was really just the month of August when the humidity is out of control they would come out of the drains.) No bugs in general. Those house centipedes ate everything.

I once awoke to see a large spider running away from me on my bed. I was a bit displeased with that until I learned that they hunt roaches. I figured if it was running away from me, then it figured (perhaps incorrectly) that I was not to be messed with and so the food chain in my house remained as it should be.

the real danger is not the spider eating you but vice versa!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiders_Georg

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#114

Post by gopher_space »

fortran77 wrote: post #97
gopher_space wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my neck of the woods it’s the same deal with spiders. You just escort them outside once they get fat and too lazy to not be on your wall in the daytime.

An indoor spider might not survive outside. Leave it alone! https://www.livescience.com/55270-can-indoor-spiders-survive...

There's a spider size limit in this household and they get big enough that I'm not having them walk around unescorted. They go back to the woodpile their ancestors came from.

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#115

Post by Izkata »

phendrenad2 wrote: post #107
BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Seals them in and they starve. The problem here is that their lifecycle is unimaginably long and punctuated. They happily hibernate for 6 months at a time between feedings, so waiting them out means waiting a very very very long time.

TBH I'm skeptical. Everyone talks about the 99.999th percentile case but does it work in practice..?

They can survive 6 months without eating, but they'll also feed off of each other last-man-standing style, which is why you have to go a whole lot longer.

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#116

Post by Izkata »

b212 wrote: post #111
newhotelowner wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heat works. We heat the room to 120-130 for 12-16 hours. Some people are magnets. bedbugs love their blood.

That’s 55 Celsius. Doesn’t sound too bothersome. What if they hide somewhere? Does 130F/55C just kill them at once?

It's not immediate, but my crude understanding was the heaters they use are positioned so the outer edges of the home heat up first. That way the bed bugs can't escape - they'd have to know to go towards the heat first.

Also don't forget it just takes time to heat up a home that much.

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#117

Post by Izkata »

RajT88 wrote: post #10
weatherlight wrote: post #4

We had a house centipede infestation when I lived in NYC. It was awesome. No bed bugs. No roaches except in the end of summer, (the giant flying variety and it was really just the month of August when the humidity is out of control they would come out of the drains.) No bugs in general. Those house centipedes ate everything.

They are creepy, but they eat baddies. The last time one showed up in our bathroom, my wife yelled at me to "Stop marveling at it!" It was the biggest one I had ever seen, close to 3 inches. RIP Uber-coleoptrata scutigera!

This may have been distorted by time, but I think that's about the average size of the ones I had at my old apartment.

I discovered we had them when I was going to bed one night and one was just hanging out a few inches from my light switch.

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#118

Post by qmmmur »

Citizen_Lame wrote: post #62
caesil wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's how we got rid of them ourselves for cheap: 1. Bought a bedbug-proof encasement for every mattress and pillow. Seals them in and they starve. 2. Bought a handheld steam cleaner and steamed every seam on every piece of furniture.

3. Spread the diatomaceous earth all over the floor. Don't be shy and over do it. It wont work immediately but in 7 days or more they are dead.

Well actually you want a thin layer not a thick one otherwise bugs walk around it.

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#119

Post by wkat4242 »

Izkata wrote: post #116
b212 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s 55 Celsius. Doesn’t sound too bothersome. What if they hide somewhere? Does 130F/55C just kill them at once?

It's not immediate, but my crude understanding was the heaters they use are positioned so the outer edges of the home heat up first. That way the bed bugs can't escape - they'd have to know to go towards the heat first. Also don't forget it just takes time to heat up a home that much.

Wouldn't that damage stuff? Plastics will go weak and start outgassing. Electronics might break.. and if you move all that stuff out you might take them with you

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#120

Post by whitepoplar »

idlewords wrote: post #98
whitepoplar wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having run the bedbug site, what's your advice on long-term travel? I've never gotten bedbugs, but I feel it's only a matter of time. How do you balance prevention with simply living your life?

Bedbugs are my valued business partners and I feel it's only right I should give back sometimes. I do a quick bedbug check (headboard, nightstand, boxspring) in hotels I visit and mostly don't worry about it.

Have you ever found any by doing that?
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