a bed bug story from Hawai’i; Fagerlund on aerosol bombs and pesticides
By Nobugsonme on Nov 26, 2007 in affordable housing, bed bugs, bedbugs, eviction, furniture, hawaii, housing project, kamehameha, low-income housing, multi-unit buildings, tenant evicted for refusing bed bug treatment, tenants, usa
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“Eight people share a two-bedroom apartment in Leslie’s family. . . . Recently, they had to get rid of three beds and a sofa infested by bedbugs — ‘My kids were eaten alive!’ Most of them have been sleeping on the floor until donated beds arrive, but ‘we
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The landlord used traditional sprays and aerosol bombs. Fagerlund is correct that aerosol bombs don’t work with bed bugs. (I am skeptical about his claims that “There is no reason to use toxic pesticides on insects like bedbugs.”)
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Anonymous | Nov 26, 2007 | Reply
From the article:
“Bedbugs aren’t as hard to control as they appear to be from what is reported in the media. You have to know where to look for their hiding places. Any competent pest control professional should be able to deal with them without using toxic pesticides or aerosol bombs.
… Those are materials I use, and I have never had to make a second treatment.”
Huh? The person answering the question implies he has had bed bugs and has done treatments. But he is just plane wrong.
Bed bugs are hard to get rid of, that’s what makes them such probably the most stressful pest to get rid of. It takes a lot of time, energy, and money. You worry about spreading them. You worry about taking them with you to a new building. You worry about them already being in the new place. You worry about getting them from neighbors if you share a wall.
It sucks.
nobugsonme | Nov 26, 2007 | Reply
Hi Anon,
You are right that bed bugs are difficult to get rid of. Fagerlund is correct about aerosol bombs. They are a bad idea, do not help, and can make your bed bugs worse, by spreading them. But I do not agree with him that bed bugs are not a big deal, or easy to get rid of.
Richard Fagerlund writes this newspaper column, Ask the Bugman, which appears to be syndicated. So I believe he has treated for bed bugs, and I do not doubt he has had success. He actually states,
These methods take more care, more work, and more time. (DE takes 10 days to kill bed bugs, after they cross it. And they have to cross it.)
I do believe non-pesticide treatments are possible, if done by someone who is experienced, knows what they’re doing, and puts in a lot of time.
It is also worth stressing–and to his credit, Fagerlund hints at this– if neighbors have bed bugs and are not treated, nothing you do will get rid of your bed bugs. These methods would work if applied to all infested units, diligently and repeatedly.
This is not the same thing as saying “there is no reason to use pesticides on bed bugs.”
Also, the methods mentioned by Fagerlund would be hard to employ, in my opinion, on an infested sofa or chair, in a car, or in some other locations. I have only heard of people de-bugging a sofa by repeatedly spraying the heck out of it with pesticides. (And no, having everyone with bed bugs discard all their infested furniture, as appears to be happening in Cincinnati, is not a good idea. It spreads bed bugs and is unnecessary in most cases!)
I also do not agree with Fagerlund that “Bedbugs aren’t as hard to control as they appear to be from what is reported in the media.”
steve | Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
try encasing your mattress for the time being. I had bed bugs but bought a CLeanRest Mattress encasement from bed bath and beyond.