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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

#151

Post by jstarfish »

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…

The exterminator who handled ours 7 years ago swore by using whatever he uses for dealing with mosquitos. I don't know the specific chemical.

Took 2-3 treatments but it worked.

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#152

Post by idlewords »

ahartmetz wrote: post #134
whitepoplar wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever found any by doing that?

Fromy my experience, they aren't great at stealth. I once had them in a hotel room, they came crawling towards me as soon as I laid down. I killed the first two and fled. Got a different room at the same place that was not infested (it was late and I was poor then). No bedbugs came home with me though I did put clothes in the freezer just in case.

It really depends on how severe the infestation is, and how long it has been since the bugs had a meal. Very hungry bedbugs will come out in the open, less hungry ones will wait until the middle of the night to feed.

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#153

Post by ahartmetz »

idlewords wrote: post #152
ahartmetz wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fromy my experience, they aren't great at stealth. I once had them in a hotel room, they came crawling towards me as soon as I laid down. I killed the first two and fled. Got a different room at the same place that was not infested (it was late and I was poor then). No bedbugs came home with me though I did put clothes in the freezer just in case.

It really depends on how severe the infestation is, and how long it has been since the bugs had a meal. Very hungry bedbugs will come out in the open, less hungry ones will wait until the middle of the night to feed.

I do wonder how very hungry bedbugs exist in a hotel room. But the evolutionary pressure against gratuitously running over an uncovered bedsheet while the light is on is pretty clear, too.

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#154

Post by BugsJustFindMe »

phendrenad2 wrote: post #138
Izkata wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yeah I've read all of the facts about them, but I've also read posts by many people who have simply done any ONE of the myriad of suggestions, and claim that it worked. So there's more to the story here.

I think the story is that maybe you get lucky and maybe you don't.

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#155

Post by newhotelowner »

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?

They die due to dehydration. They live on blood. Dead one are just flat. I have cought some and left in a sun in a cup. They died in a day or two.

If they are not hungry, they will stay at one location. When they are hungry, they will travel.

Typically they like to live near their food sources. In hotel, they are found in Mattress bedframe etc. High heat has high fan running too. As long as air reaches their, it will heat up. We had 100% success rate with heat as long as you setup properly

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#156

Post by readthenotes1 »

MOARDONGZPLZ wrote: post #77
readthenotes1 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that ironic? It's primary use in humans is versus parasites. It's a godsend against scabies... (Which I had at the beginning of the pandemic, my doctor casually mentioning "it also has known anti-viral properties")

I don’t think ironic is _quite_ right, but it does mean paradoxical, and it’s somewhat paradoxical that ivermectin is being effectively used in humans here for bedbug treatment when you consider the juxtaposition against the far right wing conspiracy theories that it would cure covid in humans but instead only harmed people.

Ivermectin is one of the safest drugs out there.

You have to really abuse it to have any troubles unless you have a bad liver.

I find your assertion that it only harms people curious given that the studies that I saw showed that it actually helped quite a bit in third world countries. Of course, those people may have been infested with parasites and cleaning that up may have helped them overcome covid as well

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#157

Post by spiderxxxx »

fbdab103 wrote: post #33
spiderxxxx wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can confirm, DE works. Just don't breathe the stuff, which you're supposed to puff onto surfaces. Once it's there, the bugs have to crawl across it so it'll cut them up like little razor blades, or a thousand paper cuts. So satisfying.

Basically anything microscopic is increasingly found to be just horrible to inhale, but this blurb from Wikipedia says there are probably significantly worse things to handle for a one-time treatment. ...In a 1978 study of workers, those exposed to natural diatomaceous earth for over five years had no significant lung changes while 40% of those exposed to the calcined form had developed pneumoconiosis.[46] Today's co…

Yes I'm not saying it's going to cause long term damage to your lungs, it's probably pretty safe, but it doesn't feel great if you inhale it, and it's easy to avoid if you just put on a mask or spray and move away.
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