“Bed bugs,” said Diann Waters, bed bugs in home. “All over my baby.”

Diann Waters may tell her son, “don’t let the bed bugs bite” before he goes to sleep, but it looks like they did anyways.

“He done scratched them and stuff. They from bed bugs.”

Waters lives in Over-the-Rhine. Recently, she spotted insects on her furniture.

“First thing that came to my mind was that I got to get it out of my house,” said Waters. “I had to throw my furniture away. My daughter seen a bug and I figured that’s what it was, but it had eggs all the way around the lining of my furniture.”

Waters isn’t alone. Neighbors say a woman threw out a mattress and rug because it was infested.

Hopefully now the people of Cincinnati will be getting some real help. The article also hints about some of the alliances forming in the fight against bed bugs:

Carles Tassell is involved with an apartment association that’s joining forces with the city to form a task force to fight the pests.

“Bed bugs don’t care what race you are, how much money you make,” said Charles Tassell, Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Apartment Association. ” They care that you’re human. They are equal opportunity pests.”

I was curious about that group, so I googled them. Turns out, they are a trade association of apartment buiding owners and managers, and developers in the multi-family housing industry.

(Was that a pig with wings that just flew overhead?)

Yes, not only did the Cincinnati public health official declare bed bugs a public health issue, but the multi-family housing landlords’ trade group is signed on to fight bed bugs. While all this seems like a logical, obvious step, on the one hand, you have to recall that elsewhere in the country, Mayors are turning a blind eye to bed bugs and landlords are trying to discuss ways to avoid paying for treatment. Smart landlords will understand that beating bed bugs and halting their spread helps business. And turning a blind eye is disastrous.

Since this group is part of a national one for owners and developers of multi-unit dwellings, perhaps other cities may follow suit.

The news video suggests people tossing out bed bug-infested furniture put a sign on it. While it’s true that this can help, it is not as effective as destroying the item. Taking a box-cutter and slashing sofas and mattresses, is one way to make sure no one uses the item. If you are tossing out a piece of furniture like a dresser or desk, Bedbugger S. suggested removing one part to the garbage pile at a time, until each piece is carted off. (So people will find, for example, a table leg, rather than a useful table.) This will work if you are not trying to get rid of items all in one day.

But remember: though articles and videos like this portray it as the normal response to bed bugs, tossing things out is not usually a great solution: in most cases, it won’t get rid of bed bugs, and it also spreads them to your neighbors, meaning they come back. Instead, a good PCO can treat most furniture along with your home, and they’ll tell you if “tossing out” is needed, and how to do it safely.

The video also mentions that in addition to a furniture pickup hotline for infested refuse, the city is working on a system of “citations” for landlords who won’t treat the problem. Click to watch.

• This is bad: bed bugs crawling everywhere. Video at 11.
• Dayton and Middletown, Ohio: avoiding bed bugs is difficult
• Cincinnati Establishes Bed Bug Furniture Pick-Up Procedures and Hotline
• Cincinnati fights bed bugs, declares some success

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Adam Bosch reported in the Times Herald-Record that

Tenants complained to the building’s owner and manager about bugs and items of disrepair, but they said reports of their problems fell on deaf ears. The building is owned by North Plank Development Co., a subsidiary of Orange County realtor John Lease III, and by Autumn Sky Development Co., whose CEO is Steven Michalski of New Paltz.

Unlike Halcyon House, of course, this building was much smaller (only 16 apartments). Nine residents, five of them veterans from WWII, Vietnam, and Desert Storm, signed a petition, which they presented to the village of Monticello, the DSS, and the VA, on June 20th. Note to Bedbugged readers: organizing tenants can really make things happen.

Monticello’s action was prompted by a June 20 petition from tenants. They sent the petition to village officials and other organizations, such as the Department of Social Services and Veterans Administration.

“We the undersigned make this formal complaint about the infestation of bedbugs,” the letter read. “We have repeatedly complained to the management about this problem and as yet have not gotten any results.”

The city has shut down the building, and the red cross has moved the tenants to area hotels. (Note to building management, village officials and Red Cross: you probably need a bed bug protocol for future situations; it’s easy for tenants to spread bed bugs to hotels, and bring them back again. Treatment should thus continue after tenants return, and in future some protocol needs to be developed to help people not take bed bugs to their “safe” alternate housing.)

The heroes? The village, of course, willing to stand up to landlords. (Are you listening, city of Denver?)

The building was formerly the Victoria Hotel, a boarding house in which people lived on top floors above a basement pub. Now an apartment building, it was closed last week as part of Monticello’s continuing crusade against substandard housing. The village has shut down more than 20 blighted or noncompliant houses since February.

I am glad that Monticello’s inspectors find it unacceptable for tenants to live with bed bugs.

The bedbugs were so numerous that their feces left large stains on tiled floors, village building inspector Sue Flora said. The bugs also ate holes into the skin of residents, leaving them with trails of scabs.

And the lone tenant who got the ball rolling, convincing other tenants to sign a petition, even when many were willing to tolerate bed bugs for years.

The charge for help at 384 E. Broadway was lead by tenant Rich Masser, 61. Masser said many of the people living in the apartments had grown used to the bedbugs. Some had lived there for more than 15 years. They were scared of what might happen if they made a fuss about it. Some feared this very fate, that they might be forced to leave.

Fear of the consequences of pressing landlords to solve a bed bug problem is widespread. But without treatment, problems will only get worse.

“For years they were getting bit and wouldn’t say a word about it,” Masser said of his fellow tenants. “Nobody deserves to live like this – nobody.”

Bravo, Rich Masser. Thanks for reminding us that one person can make a difference.

You’re Bedbugger’s first official Hero of the Week!

Maybe someone out there can whip up a nice “Hero of the Week” icon for us, but for now, words will have to do.

I don’t know if Mr. Masser was one of the veterans named in the article, but he is certainly a Hero. Happy Independence Day to the tenants of this building. I hope they are living back at home and under suitable conditions soon.

• Adult home shut down in Monticello, NY with multiple housing violations; 40 beds contained “bed bugs and bed bug eggs”
• Bed bug notice: East Village, NYC, January 2008
• Bridgeport, Connecticut tenants have had bed bugs more than a year
• More bad news about Denver’s bed bug-infested Halcyon House

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On sale here!
Dr. Winston O. Buggy’s bed bug elixir.
This material will kill em, kill the eggs, shine your multi-colored hobnail boots, and it smells good too.
Sounds too good to be true?
Well, it is.

At the outset, we professionals felt that the materials that were available for general pest control to treat roaches, ants, etc., would work just fine for bed bugs. They hadn’t been around for a while so they should be easy to knock off. Well, as most of you can attest to, not so. Gentrol insect growth regulator was at first thought to be a long-term addition to the arsenal, but here too the buggers came out ahead in the long run. In fact, treatments for bed bugs are among the more complex ones, it is like treating for termites or the elimination of established urban rodent colonies. But it’s made even more problematic because of the bed bugs’ close proximity to people and their personal belongings. Since W. O. Buggy’s elixir is not available (and mind you it did not contain DDT), the question is what is available and where are we today in terms of bed bug control. There are several ways to attack this problem as well as several different types of materials. And it is important to understand that no one material, treatment or approach will do the whole job.

First question: why do you think you have bedbugs? Remember several things can appear like or cause “bites”: soaps, allergies, meds, mites, mosquitoes, fleas, heat, etc. At this point, you should conduct an inspection. You will need a flashlight, toothpick and magnifying glass. I recommend the Rim-Free Lighted 2x Magnifier from Radio Shack, primarily because the angle and LED hit the spot, great for furniture and other seams ($10). Open the door, turn on the light, then proceed to stick that toothpick everywhere it can go and examine these spots. High, low, behind and under moving back carpets checking between clothes turning over couches and beds all this has to be done. One spot of note in older apartment buildings are steam risers which are found in the bathroom usually next to the hamper.

Did you find anything? What is it? keep a sample in a pill case or some other escape-proof container in which it won’t get squished. If it is positively identified as a bed bug, try like the dickens to figure out how you got it. Because this will be an important barometer which can establish a time frame, important so as to avoid re-introduction, let you know if perhaps it’s a good time to get a new boy or girlfriend, and if its possibly time to rush to that suitcase stored in the closet which has bed bugs trapped inside since your last excursion and treat or discard it.

If it is identified as a bed bug you need to follow the mechanical steps of control; perhaps these were highlighted best by Dr. Potter in a recent Bedbugger post.

With that out of the way, you may and probably should go chemical. First off if a product is non-toxic, it means it doesn’t kill– so lets get rid of that word because we obviously want it to kill the little suckers. Soaps are for dirty bugs (and perhaps Jess) and you really have to coat them: fine for your garden aphids but for a cluttered home, I think not. Enzymes are good, they kill on contact as well as most products and they have a low toxicity to non-target organisms. It also allows for repeat applications, but remember they only kill what they contact. Same with some of the alcohol products such as SteriFab. Of course, here you can get an unwanted synergistic effect if you do the treatment by candle light (Don’t! It’s Flammable!) and alcohol stains, well actually removes the finish and bleaches.

Next we have the traditional chemical approach. With the exemption of a few specifically exempt status products, pesticides must be registered for use with the EPA and must have an EPA registration number on the label. The label itself is a legal document which will list the pests that the product can be used for and the manner in which it must be used. While no pesticide is completely safe (remember we are using it to kill things), the real danger is in the misuse. If a product such as Tempo WP is labeled to be mixed with a gallon of water and sprayed into cracks and crevices, the risks it presents are limited.. But if you take that same pack and pour it around or use it as a dust the inhalation hazard is significant. Unfortunately, it may even appear to be working at first because it may actually be repellent for a while but in the meantime you and possibly others are inhaling it. I have seen this practice repeated with flea powders and a whole range of products which when used improperly increase the chance of exposure, and hence the hazard.

So what is available? Well, as mentioned in my first piece, misguided legislation have forced many products out of the market. Some due to legitimate concerns, some due to a lack of true scientific evaluation and feel-good politics, and some because they simply could not afford to maintain registration due to increased requirements. A prime example of this is Ficam, a material which is used elsewhere with a degree of success, but here in the US is no more. The same in fact would have been true of Drione, one of the remaining effective dusts. Prior to the bed bug outbreak this product was due to go by the wayside simply because of economics, and now it is probably one of the good long-term materials when used properly in wall voids, outlet covers and cracks and crevices. For best results try applying it with a blush or other brush.

Now that summer is upon us, heat and humidity in some parts will cause an increase in bed bug activity. But in the world of control it is our friend, and the bed bugs’ enemy. While steaming is here and will continue to improve as more work is done, heat treatments of items and apartments will also increase as technology improves. The technology is here, it is just not cost-effective yet. Mattress covers specifically for bed bugs are also coming of age. They now come in different qualities. There are some decent heavy vinyl ones for under $30 and some more comfortable ones at $70 and up. I suggest you reinforce contact points such as bed frames with duct tape. With these covers you must remember to leave them on for a full year. While there are many improvised bed bug traps like the use of carpet tape and current glue traps, they are passive and you hope that the bed bug finds it and crawls into it as opposed to going under it, as they so love to do. Within the year, new traps will be coming out utilizing a synthesized aggregate pheromone. FYI, these are already used for a number of pests including roaches. And as time goes by newer and improved versions will come out but these will remain a monitoring tool and not a cure.

So perhaps the take-home message here is that to be successful you will have to use several materials and methods and use them in a systematic approach to get and stay bed bug-free. At this point, I would like to include a link and while you may not chose to, or be able to use the mentioned products and I’m not recommending you do, it does provide a good blue print for a control program.

Perhaps one of the most encouraging directions bed bug control has taken is in the area of education. I believe, along with others, that the increased informational flow in regard to bed bugs through both print and web media has played a significant role in reducing the time it takes many people to properly diagnose the cause of their problem. By reducing this time frame they end up treating the infestation early and are more likely to achieve lasting control quicker. It is also my opinion that this site is the best broad-based site that I know of, in part due to administration as well as a cadre of dedicated, intelligent folks.

• Another bed bug trap in the works
• Dissolvable laundry bags!
• How can I catch a bed bug? How do I know I have bed bugs?
• Good news: bed bug aggregate pheromones

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We’re told that within 2-3 months, assuming the red tape is cut swiftly enough, glue traps should be available for sale which use a bed bug pheromone to attract bed bugs to aggregate there.

This is very exciting: if bed bugs could be detected quickly, perhaps even in the absence of any signs or symptoms, well, maybe every infestation could be treated in its infancy.

• Another bed bug trap in the works
• Bed bug aggregate pheromone traps “within two years” says Dr. Gerhard Gries
• Potter’s Studies on Suspend, Kicker, Phantom, Bedlam, Sterifab; new information about bed bug behavior
• How can I catch a bed bug? How do I know I have bed bugs?

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As some of you know, I (Nobugs, since the current Wordpress theme does not tell you who’s writing) get a lot of emails.

Many of them contain questions, some people are very distraught. Some have bed bugs, some have something else. I also get suggestions for bed bug solutions (some of which would amaze you), both homemade and mass marketed, and wise and helpful suggestions from entomologists and PCOs. And I also hear from happy readers, expressing appreciation for the site. Well those thanks should really go to everyone, so I asked Erica permission to share her message, and she agreed:

Hi there,

I just wanted to drop you and everyone else who lent their fabulous
advice a big thank you. After 3 weeks of bites, my roommates and I
explored our bedframes and found evidence of bed bugs, and 2 live
bugs. (I’d read the New York Times articles when they came out so i
was suspicious of bed bugs, but i still thought it was mosquitos/spiders that were biting me. My roommate’s dermatologist told her she had a skin condition.)

Because of your site, particularly the dos and don’ts, we were able to
deal with this quickly and (hopefully) effectively. We did all our
laundry and it dried forever, plus got mattress covers. Our landlord
was happy to help and his PCO came today. He said it was a very minor infestation. He’s coming back again next week but I’m hopeful that it won’t get worse/if it does we’ll be ready.

I’m still keeping things bagged just to be sure. And every itch makes
my heart jump, but we’ve had no bites since last Wednesday.

I think its terrible that so many people (and beds) had to be
sacrificial lambs, but you should know its not in vain. You are the
Lewis and Clarks of this bizarre affliction. You should all get
medals.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

-erica

(brooklyn)

Thanks, Erica! As I said offlist, as long as you’re vigilant and have that PCO come back every two weeks until there are no more bites, or signs of live bugs, you should be fine. I am really glad the site helped you.

Bedbuggers, you’ve probably realized that of the nearly 500 people who visit the site every day, less than 10 are commenting on any given day. Your suggestions and advice are helping people, like Erica, that you don’t even know are reading. Thank you, bed bug Lewises and Clarks for your help in making this site useful for our readers!

Readers, you can always drop us a comment any time (don’t be put off if it’s a question and we redirect you to the “Tales of Woe” thread–it just helps keep the site organized so others can find what they need). Commenting with a fake name is fine and though Nobugs is the only one who will see your email (it isn’t displayed), a fake email will work fine in the comment box. Let us know you’re out there. And keep sending those emails. I really appreciate the feedback!

• FAQ: I am not in the US. Can you tell me where to buy XL ziplocs, or what mattress covers are called in my country?
• Reader question: if I don’t react to bites, how do I know they’re gone?
• bite photos
• Update: bed bug resources in Spanish: PCO assistance needed!

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Although this article is about mosquitos, bed bugs are attracted to our Co2 also.

How to Cut the Mosquito’s Sensitivity to Carbon Dioxide?

… the tinny buzzy devils that transform our nights in real nightmares and transmit fatal diseases like malaria or West Nile fever are guided to our bodies by a GPS that is turned on by the carbon dioxide we exhale.

A team at Rockefeller University has found two proteins in carbon dioxide-sensing neurons in drosophila fruit flies and mosquitoes; further research could help developing better insect repellants to protect us against disease or annoyance.

• More bed bug research: Stephen Kells at the University of Minnesota
• Maybe a new treatment - maybe snake oil
• Bed bug aggregate pheromone traps “within two years” says Dr. Gerhard Gries
• The iceman cometh.

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Back in May, an unidentified hotel in Vancouver disclosed its bed bug protocols to Hotelchatter.com:

1. We’ve trained our housekeeping staff to watch for the tell-tale signs, i.e. blood spots on sheets and other visible signs. Also to watch for and have repaired any maintenance issues (torn wallpaper or other areas where the bugs might hide)

2. We have a cleaner take one room out of order every day and deep clean it. This allows in our case, as we’re a fairly small hotel, to thoroughly clean, maintain and inspect for bugs every room in the hotel at least twice per year.

3. When infestations are found, the room is immediately placed out of order, all portable goods including mattress, bed frame, headboard, duvet, bedside table, drapes - absolutely everything is wrapped in plastic sheets and transported to a walk-in oven (I’m not kidding) that we’ve constructed in our parkade

Click here to read the rest: Hotelchatter.com then goes into detail on the oven the hotel has constructed in its parkade, to eradicate these blood-sucking monsters.

Now, can anyone tell me which hotel this is? I think we should be singing their names from the rooftops. Perhaps they don’t want to admit they have bed bugs (who can blame them). But I think we all realize now that all hotels have bed bugs: they just don’t all have them in every room. Travelers bring bed bugs in; there’s no shame in that. But having a plan and dealing with them swiftly and surely is what we need.

I wish my neighborhood would build an oven like this where we could all truck in our infested stuff. Oh, and let’s put an oven in that truck for in-between uses, eh?

• Virginia Beach hotel sued over alleged bed bug attack
• Manhattan Mattress Mystery
• Saskatoon professional development conference apparently bedbugged
• Hotels beginning to be “certified by” bed bug dogs

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This blog is attracting an ever-increasing readership. We’ve only been going about two weeks, but every day more people find us; visits to the site increase by about 20% per day.

I hope most of you are just curious, but I have a horrible feeling lots of you are fighting these monsters, and need information. Be assured that we’re working to get FAQs up ASAP, so you can have the benefit of many Bedbuggers’ knowledge, gained the hard way.

We’re happy to carry the BedBugBlog baton, as Caitlin is now way recovered from bedbugs, and pursuing a more normal range of interests. Caitlin, who started the yahoo group that spawned this blog, is proof that you can get rid of these monsters.

Go, Caitlin, live! Be free!

It’s my impression that Caitlin was able to become bedbug free because her landlord exterminated every unit in her building. Not just her apartment. And this is what it takes. Until this is standard practice, many apartment dwellers will have only temporary respite from bedbugs, after their homes are exterminated. If yours is the only apartment treated, you’re just whiling away time until they come back.

News round-up: stories today from Ryerson University dorms (Toronto), and also from Greenwich, CT, and Pittsburgh, PA. Well, you know what they say about bedbug bites: they come in threes, like “breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” (Mine almostnever do, but it’s a lovely visual to leave you with, isn’t it?)

• Caitlin of the bed bug blog was reinfested.
• new, good Bed bug videos
• A little inspiration, from those who beat bed bugs
• Family of five “run out of their home” by bed bugs in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia

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A non-toxic pesticide marketer claims it has a new product (Cryonite) which can freeze out bed bugs. Lifestyle Extra Fincance News says:

Venteco PLC, the non-toxic pest control investment compant, said it has deployed bed bug eradication technology to its first hotel, potentially opening a major new market.

With cryonite technology, which freezes pests using a patented carbon dioxide snow, Venteco said it stands to corner a receptive market since the incidence of bed bugs - which conventional insecticides find difficult to tackle - is reputedly on the rise. To hotel operators, cryonite is an attractive alternative to traditional pesticides since they are able to re-let the room immediately after use and avoid lost revenue.

Hotel schmotel: bring on the residential version!

Trials of the cryonite technology were carried out by Insect Investigations Ltd, an independent pest control research firm. They achieved a 100 pct kill rate of bed bug adults, nymphs and eggs.

If this is true, and reasonably priced, and safe, bring it on.

From the Swedish Cryonite website: Cryonite in the news, and about the Cryonite System.

Well, Bedbuggers, this technology has been developed since 1996, and the NYTimes talked about it in 2003. But given the bed bug pandemic, it looks set to be developed for this purpose. Let’s hope they market it here in the US, and soon. There’s a Cryonite machine handbook here. (Warning: clicking the link will download a PDF.) Thanks to Ken for the manual link.

• WPRI 12 News on bed bugs, pesticide resistance, and alternative bed bug treatments
• The Wall Street Journal on “new” bed bug-fighting tactics
• Bed bugs in Detroit and Troy, Michigan
• Bed bugs in Time Out New York’s Apartment issue

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