Florida’s WCTV.com recently ran a story about the wonderful methods used at the University of Florida to bake bed bugs in furniture (they set up an ad hoc oven in the center of the room).

That’s not news to us.

However, this report also contained a curious sidenote:

The environmental protection agency has prohibited the use of pesticides to kill bed bugs.

Huh?!?

I think not.

See the original article here: Bed Bug Heater.Similar Posts:

None Found

Those Craigslist crazies are at it again, this time in Bushwick/East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Check this out:

CURB ALERT: 2 nice couches (Bushwick/E. Williamsburg)

Two very nice couches have been thrown out in front of 15 Thames St, in Bushwick/East Williamsburg. One is red velvet, the other is a floral pattern. They both have signs that say BED BUGS on them, but I’ve slept on both these couches in the past week and haven’t noticed any bedbugs. Please take these great couches and save them from someone else’s wastefulness.

Now, why would someone who is throwing out a sofa say that it had bed bugs, if it did not have bed bugs?

We know it is possible to be bitten by bed bugs and not react to bed bug bites, and we know it’s possible you won’t see bed bugs when they’re around.

If someone advertises that something has been exposed to bed bugs, by all means, please stay away!

If you ever doubted that we need a widespread education campaign about bed bugs, which includes a focus on how easily they spread, how difficult they can be to spot, and how many people do not react to bed bug bites, consider this ad.

Consider also it was posted in Brooklyn, New York City, where even the USA Channel’s fake detectives know what bed bugs look like.

The recent Law and Order: Criminal Intent episode featuring hipsters with bed bugs got some things wrong, but it was set in the same neighborhood (Bushwick/East Williamsburg).

The address listed in the ad, 15 Thames St., is in a neighborhood with many infested buildings, according to the Bed Bug Registry. (And we don’t know which building the sofas came out of, of course.)

Keep in mind, all infested buildings are not listed on the Bed Bug Registry.  Not by a long shot.

Needless to say, I would not take in a curbside sofa, at this point in time, whether it declared itself bed bug-free, or had no signage at all.  I certainly would not take in a sofa with a bed bug warning.  Sheer lunacy.

Caveat dumpster. That’s all I am saying.

The original ad is here, while it lasts.

A screenshot is here.

(The ad is PostingID: 1152996959 and it is copyright 2009 Craigslist.)

Thanks to KillerQueen for finding this one.

Similar Posts:

• Bard of Bushwick Frank Hoier sings about bedbugs
• The Bed Bug Registry adds new features
• Another Craigslist bed bug story
• “On the bed bug list” in Brooklyn
• New York City Housing Authority: “bed bugs = emergency” + “wait a month” do not compute

I think the news media should cover bed bugs more, not less.

However, sometimes I am frustrated by the information readers are given.

For example, a new article from KVAL in Eugene, Oregon states,

A key place to look in your home is the edge of your mattress.

“This will be the first place you check when you peel this back,” Lamm said. “This will be loaded with eggs.” Lamm said.

Really?!?  It that always so? It wasn’t in my case, nor in many others. (”Lamm,” by the way, is Joseph Lamm from Mr. Bug Pest Control in Eugene.)

It’s not that you necessarily won’t have “loads” of eggs underneath your mattress.

But if I had a dollar for every person who flipped their mattress back to find absolutely nothing obvious — no live bed bugs, no obvious fecal stains, no bed bug eggs — well, I would be a very rich gal right now.

The danger is that –having flipped the mattress back and seen no bed bug eggs — Eugene residents may simply say, “Well, I guess I don’t have bed bugs.”

When, in fact, they certainly might.

The amount of bed bug evidence you find is going to depend on how long you have had bed bugs.  It can be a little, or a lot.

It may even be very difficult to detect, especially for someone with no experience.

And where you find this evidence may vary.  The bed is a good place to start, to be sure, but there may be other harborages.

The article is not a bad one, but contains other statements which may mislead those who do not know if they have bed bugs or not.

Take, as a second example, the title of the article, another quote from Mr. Lamm:

Well, um, maybe.

But bed bug bites can cause a variety of reactions, from nothing, to small pink bite marks, to large red welts, to scabby bites that look like scratches. Bites may be in lines, or rows, or triangles, or they may be single, isolated bite marks.

Readers may rule themselves out as not having bed bugs if they don’t see the signs this PCO is implying are the usual.

See: ‘You will actually have lines down your side like a feeding trough’ | KVAL CBS 13 – News, Weather and Sports – Eugene, OR – Eugene, Oregon | Health.Similar Posts:

• Article on Lou Sorkin’s work in forensic entomology
• Animal Planet’s “Monsters Inside Me” episode on bed bugs
• Apartment Therapy on bed bugs, bed bug sniffing dogs
• Building with bed bugs hosts polling station this week
• Steven Kells: bed bugs “could almost be considered like a disease themselves”

This cartoon is said to have been run by Ripley’s Believe it or Not on January 21, 2001. You can see the image here, but the key point is the text:

Once a bedbug bites a person it will not bite anyone else! This ensures that it is drinking from the same blood type!

(The pictured “bedbug” is thinking: “Love that B+!”)

No idea where Ripley’s got this, but I have never heard it and do not know how it could be true.

How would a hotel room become overrun with bed bugs if they refused to bite subsequent guests?

How and why would bed bugs spread throughout a building if they could only feed on the original host?

Don’t believe everything you read.

Similar Posts:

None Found

Well, perhaps that’s not fair. I am sure there are loads of reasons why bed bugs are spreading around Chicago. The lack of assistance from city agencies is only one contributing factor.

Jessica of Chicago vs. Bed Bugs has a disturbing post today about what happens when you call 311 to report bed bugs in the Windy City.

Alas, she finds that you get met with confusion (the person taking the call has never heard of bed bugs) and a suggestion to call the health department.

And then the health department sends you back to 311.

Wash, rinse, and repeat.

If post-Christmas sales are not your cup of tea, you could play “Report the Bed Bugs” all day, in Chicago.

But you might die of boredom, or frustration.

Instead, you might consider why the City of Chicago spent time and money making this website, when its own health department staff tell callers with bed bugs to set off bug bombs and “wash their sheets more often.”

And perhaps once the Chicago Department of Public Health educates its staff about bed bugs and how to deal with them, they can talk to the 311 folks — Chicago Information, you know — about reading the city’s information website.

Read, and try not to weep.Similar Posts:

None Found

Channel 3 in Waterbury, Connecticut reported today,

There’s a lot wrong in that statement alone, let alone the report that follows.

First, check your children?!?

Bed bugs do not live on children. They are not like lice.

They may be carried briefly in clothing or harbor in bags.

But they primarily live in places: in beds, chairs or other furniture, in floors and walls. The child picked bed bugs up somewhere: could it be home? School? In a friend’s home, relative’s home, afterschool care? Restaurant? Public transportation? On the school bus right before he came to school? It could be anywhere.

Home is a likely source but not the only one by any means.

So what you need to check, or carefully inspect, or better yet have a professional (who is experienced with bed bugs) carefully inspect, is the physical environment the child lives in, goes to school in, and otherwise spends time in.

Second, the news report says bed bugs are the “size of a poppy seed and range in color from white to dark red.” Not quite accurate.

Bed bugs have five nymphal (pre-adult) life stages and one adult life stage. The smallest nymphs are 1/32 inch (1 mm) — as long as the thickness of a credit card. But adults are closer to 1/6 inch (6 mm) or a bit larger than an apple seed. And they will be more on the rusty-brown side of the color spectrum. Only the youngest nymphs will be “white” or translucent, or blood-red if just fed.

Third,

Health officials said that bed bugs can be removed from clothing by putting them in the dryer for two cycles.

“Two cycles” is pretty vague and misses the important point about the temperature needed to kill bed bugs.

A very hot dryer (180 F) will kill bed bugs and eggs hidden inside a sock in 5 minutes, entomologist Dr. Michael Potter tells us. Other fabrics may take more time based on thickness or size, possibly much longer. But the dryer really must be hot. A cooler dryer (120 F) would take at least 1/2 hour or more once it reaches that temperature. I really don’t know what a standard US dryer heat is, nor how long a typical dryer cycle is. It is probably best to be as specific as possible under the circumstances.

Finally, when I hear stories like this, I want to know more about how school officials determined the bed bugs were coming from the child’s clothing or things.

Because if you simply found bed bugs on a child, they could also have crawled onto him from the immediate surroundings.

I really hope all the parents will learn about bed bugs and inspect their homes carefully. I also hope the family of this child will get help if their home is indeed infested, and that others will not treat them badly. Because even if he did bring bed bugs into school, it is not his fault.

Bed bugs can happen to anyone and should not be the source of shame. They are not caused by a lack of hygiene, but spread easily from one person to another. People who have them always, always caught them from someone else. It’s usually not really anyone’s fault.

Waterbury has apparently had lots of bed bug infestations.

And other schools have been dealing with this problem to varying degrees of success.Similar Posts:

None Found

Question: Do you live in Astoria, Queens and have bed bugs?

Want to move out of your bed bug-infested apartment and avoid the hassle of destroying and tossing out your infested furniture and other items, including a futon and a captain’s bed, and stuffed animals?

Want to expose lots of people and their neighbors, co-workers, relatives and friends to bed bugs?

Great!

Here’s what you do:

1. Place ad on Craigslist offering nearly all of your possessions for free.

I apologize if this is a duplicate. I thought I posted it but now I can’t find it, so I’m trying again

FREE STUFF!!!!!! I am moving Saturday morning, so everything needs to go ASAP. Please email me to arrange for pickup. This list is *NOT* inclusive. As I pack, more stuff is being added…

2. Include detailed list of items available and warnings that the items have been exposed to bed bugs in your infested home.

I have to start with the warning: the home these items come from have bedbugs. HOWEVER, many of these items were from rooms where I never saw any evidence of bugs or will be easily cleaned. I just don’t have the time to do it myself!

3. Wipe your hands clean and don’t think twice about the carnage which will most surely follow.

Yes, sure, you gave the warnings, so you’re ethically absolved of all responsibility. Have a nice day!

The truth is, everyday people take bed bug infested stuff off the curb which has warnings attached. People can be idiots.

So if you don’t destroy or debug your stuff, you are spreading bed bugs.

You’re spreading the itchiness and discomfort of bed bug bites, the cost of pest control and replacing possessions, the many hours of sleep, and hours and hours of work. You’ll likely cause others to have to move too, at great expense of time and money.

Don’t kid yourself that the warnings you gave will prevent others from suffering. If you have bed bugs in your home, people could pick them up and take them home just by coming over to get something of yours, let alone taking it in their car or into their home.

Thanks to Aly of A Little Aly-tude for the find, for warning her public, (and for the shout out!)

If ad has been removed, see screenshot here.Similar Posts:

• Never assume the tenant who complains about bed bugs is the only tenant with bed bugs
• Take a Seat project: a really bad idea where bed bugs are concerned
• Ohio fighting to get Propoxur for residential bed bug applications
• Bed bugs spread when no one who can pay for treating them is responsible for treating them
• Bed bugs on Today with Meredith Viera and Janice Lieberman, today

Apparently, many journalists still don’t bother to find out what bed bugs look like!

As of writing (4 pm EST on 3/3/2008), this article from This is Leicestershire, which is obviously about bed bugs, contains a massive photo of a dust mite.

No wonder the article’s commenters think bed bugs are not such a big deal.Similar Posts:

None Found

Today, bed bug news from Saskatoon and Salt Lake City.

First, an entire apartment building is being treated for bed bugs in the Fairhaven area of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan after “a couple isolated incidents” of bed bugs. This appears to be a fairly proactive move, if it is true that the incidents were isolated and few in number.

The StarPhoenix says the building is being “fumigated,” but don’t let the word fool you, since residents are only required to evacuate for 6 hours, we can assume traditional spraying is being done. This article from the StarPhoenix focuses on one couple–Richard Pain and his wife have respiratory problems and must evacuate for a week with nowhere to go.

This highlights a common problem–the hidden costs tenants face while dealing with bed bugs.

And the article also gives a sense (albeit based on anecdotal evidence) of the recent rise of bed bugs in Saskatoon:

Lesley Willfong of Poulin Pest Control in Saskatoon said the number of reported cases of bed bugs is way up from last year.

“It seems like every other call we get is for bed bugs,” said Willfong. “Before last year, it was only a couple times a week.”

The first sign of a bed bug infestation is the appearance of small brown or red spots on bed linens or a noticeable swelling or itching where someone has been bitten.

Willfong said her colleagues in Winnipeg were talking about bed-bug problems a few months before the problem escalated in Saskatoon.

Read the full story: Bed bugs biting at Fairhaven apartment complex from The StarPhoenix.

Another article from the Deseret Morning News in Utah is a basic introduction to bed bugs–but with some iffy advice.

For example, this article suggests you might get rid of bed bugs by vacuuming. While vacuuming certainly has a place in a bed bug control and avoidance program, I don’t think enthusiastic vacuuming is an alternative to professional help, especially if bed bugs are spotted. But these quotations from Diane Keay, environmental health area supervisor in the Salt Lake Valley Health Department, suggest otherwise:

She recommends vacuuming a lot. Although they’re not associated with poor housekeeping, as some people have suggested, “none of us vacuum around the bed every day.” You must, if you want to eradicate them without chemicals. And they’re not just in the bed. They can be in carpets and wall baseboards and other places nearby. Be aware, as well, that they may settle in or around a favorite chair or hitch a ride in the fold of the backpack that’s so often on you.

There are ways to eradicate bed bugs “without chemicals,” but they involve steam, or gas, or heat. Possibly cold, or ozone. But not simply vacuuming.

Later, again,

You don’t usually need to toss things, Keay says. Just trap the bugs and vacuum, vacuum, vacuum or have a professional deal with serious infestations.

I agree “tossing things” is usually not necessary and often just spreads bed bugs to your neighbors. However, the advice to “vacuum, vacuum, vacuum,” grates, as does the newspaper’s graphic of the happy blonde brandishing her canister vac.

Near the end of the article, we’re told that

People don’t feel the introductory bites. The reaction, sometimes quite severe, develops over time. In the meantime, the little creatures reproduce.

This statement that “People don’t feel the introductory bite,” is inaccurate. Bed bugs are designed to bite us without our knowing until after the fact. If we ever have a clue, that is.

Some people never react to the bites. (Up to 50%, Michael Potter says, do not react to bed bug bites.) Others get reactions from the start, but almost nobody feels them as they occur.

Other advice in the article is good–keeping luggage away from hotel beds, using pesticides only as labeled–but overall, the Deseret Morning News needs to do more research on bed bugs.

You can read the Deseret Morning News article Bugged? Bed bugs making a comeback, even in Utah here.Similar Posts:

None Found

Toronto’s The Star included bed bugs in its “A Salute to 2007″ (a round-up of significant events of the year”:

Drugs poured into the city, guns poured into the city, bedbugs poured into the city: Snort, shoot and scratch.

The Daily News article was picked up by everyone from The Register (an IT website), to Gothamist, to the National Review, to Sean Hannity’s web forums (where–in perhaps the most stupid and original version of the bed bug blame game–Hillary is being blamed), to the Telegraph (UK), and on and on.

The comments on many of the above articles suggest many people still think that washing sheets (or people) will keep them away, that there are miracle sprays that work, that they’re either microscopic like scabies or 3/4 inch long like a large German cockroach, that your neighbors must have them because they came from another country, and that staying away from NYC will keep you bed bug-free.  All wrong.

If you have bed bugs, I hope they’re gone soon. If you don’t, please learn more about them. Maybe our FAQs will help, or one of the links in our sidebar.Similar Posts:

None Found