Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Bed bug science, "experiments," etc.
accident while feeding bed bugs, one fell into my keyboard
(17 posts)-
OK I got a little pressed for time this morning and while doing a feeding test decided that two at once was not an issue.
I carefully selected two specimens from the jar, one adult male and one 3rd instar male and placed them on the back of my hand.
The 3rd instar was quick to start feeding and remained in place for about 15 minutes until it became fully engorged.
The adult however was having non of it, several times it walked over the younger sample feeding and got up such a speed I lost sight of it over the back of my hand and watched it fall into my keyboard. Unfortunately my trustee BB knife (an essential tool for all serious hunters (only an elite few have a bed-bugs.co.uk laser engraved ones)) pushed it further under the keys.
5 seconds later I had the battery compartment open and the AA cells out, the casing then came apart over the next 2 minutes and luckily it had not made it into the lower half yet, top half rushed off into a top secret experiment I was planning but had not had infected material to test yet. 10 minutes later I was able to remove a few keys to find a dead bed bug. The office status return to normal from defcon 3 and declared safe again.
Luckily I am a non bite responder so do not suffer too much from this duty but the others were rather nervous to say the least.
New containment area on order and I have been banned from feeding them at the desk along with feeding myself as there were lots of crumbs between the keys.
Now before the eagle eyed amongst you start enquiring about the nature of the 10 minute decon it requires a special machine to get it to work which cost us £25,000 so its not really a viable treatment option in a domestic or commercial setting.
Tomorrows mission is to select a sample of 15 male bed bugs for a release and capture study that someone wants to do, as long as my bed is not the test area I am happy to help.
David
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Last time I fed my colony, two 1st instar engorged nymphs passed trough the tulle screen on the lid... and falled down on the large cyan paper sheet I put on the table under my arms, just to detect escapees immediately....;-)
A BB knife?
May be is it something like my "BB inspection cutter"?(the blade is made of brass)
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Hi,
Link not working, mine was supplied by Leatherman (of course).
David
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Link repaired. (Damn... I forgot to type ".it" in the URL)
Leatherman... wow...
No, mine is "handmade"....;-) -
bedbugresearcher
newbite
Joined: Jun '09
Posts: 9
Posted 4 months ago
Thu Jun 25 2009 17:49:41
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I only work with bed bugs in a bio hood. Though I have had to remove the back because a bed bug got sucked up by the blower.
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Yeah, I hate it when that happens... :)
I transfer bed bugs with my hands inside in an isolation set up that consists of a glass fish tank topped with clear packing tape on a contrasting color surface (under tank).
I keep a can of cedar oil spray next to the tank in case of an accident... I use cedar oil because it is can be safely sprayed on people, pets & property for a contact kill.
I use a NYC Metro card cut into a blade shape for a probe (Lou Sorkin's suggestion) ... Cedar oil seems to work well as a flushing agent too.
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Hi,
I would love to have a decide isolation and working chamber, its on my shopping list but there are just too many other high priority things that need to be sorted out.
In fact I want a detached house to infect first so I can model the dispersal. One of the UK entomologists and I were discussing it yesterday, once it is sorted out I will post requesting volunteers to sleep in it.
If I can get a TV company interested we can run it as BigBugger and vote on who we want to evict each week by replacing the walk of shame for the walk to the decon chamber.
David
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No doubts David "is the best there is at what he do but what he do best isn't very nice"... LOL
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buggyinsocal
oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 1,130
Posted 4 months ago
Fri Jun 26 2009 10:53:39
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David,
I adore your dedication to studying the bugs, and I appreciate your sense of humor a lot, and I'm glad you're out there doing this work, but I have to say . . .
You could not pay me enough to voluntarily be bait for bed bugs.
I'm deeply glad that there are people out there who can handle it. I know I benefit from them. But I am just not that strong.
Despite my general disdain for and lack of interest in most reality shows, I would watch that one.
Only one minor question: isn't it the people who get voted out who get rewarded by being able to go free from the bugs? Isn't the punishment for the people who stay behind being human pincushions?
and hey, maybe that's how you pitch it to producers? The gimmick that makes it different from other reality shows (because, really. Plenty of other reality shows have had parasites and vermin, so that's not a new angle) is that the losers have to stay in the house. Really and truly, based on what I've seen of reality shows, this would make for more exciting television, since the losers who get voted off are generally the more colorful personalities.
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Hi buggy,
That's exactly it, in this house the parasites are present before the wannabe stars arrive and the bonus is that you get a decon on the way out of the building.
On the subject of people who are willing to stay in infected locations I actually have someone on my staff who for a fee will sleep in any infected location. She actually looks at it as a holiday from home and a few months back her and her daughter were packed off to a seaside resort for 10 days to deal with hosting in 3 flats in the same building.
Its not work that many would want, it does not even pay silly money but that having been said getting paid to sleep is a sweet deal at any rate. I just wished they would pay me an hourly rate for sleeping at the desk.
David
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David,
I will sleep in the Big Bugger House, if I can use any isolation technique of my choice & bring my K9.... Put us on TV.... I would need to be able to kill any bug I can physically locate... by hand or using household improvised materials W/O violating a rule... This could actually work....
Each week we could challenge a different "media expert, celebrity, or politician" that claims that bed bug bites are merely a "nuisance" and confine them with other participants that have known disease conditions & see if they are willing to prove their assertions that bed bugs are not a risk for disease transmission personally in the Big Bugger House... Kind of a crossover between I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here,... Big Brother... & Dr Charles Campbell's experiments....
We could have challenges for items various items like bite ointment, Benedryl Rx or a spray bottle filled with Skyy Vodka.... Will they drink the Vodka or use it to kill bugs... How will the roommates react when they figure out that others are drunk?... Lots of good dramatic material there...
What do you think?
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Sorry Doug, the rules clearly state you are only allowed to take in one piece of printed material (big hint invest in a copy of the book) 1 luxury item and no animals. I want to see they beg to be let out and face the public vote.
I do like the idea of using politicians, Z list reality TV celebrities and general miscreants from society so that you the bitten public can decide who stays and who goes.
I would and have stayed in infected locations knowingly myself, its just not something I have an issue with when it needs to be done. In fact I once offered someone to stay and act as bait for the next 6 months so I could enjoy the amazing view over the Thames. They soon thought better of it when all I found was 6 or 8 bugs.
We could do the international edition though and mix up a few colonies from around the world to see how they all get on.
David
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Rats, ... I was really counting on the dog to swing the public vote in my favor.... LOL
Please reconsider ... It's the only way I could win ... I don't have the good looks or charming personality... like you..
I would definitely need a cute K9 prop to draw any votes from the viewers ... I was really counting on animal lovers for the swing vote :)
How about if you supply an untrained dog to accompany me & We will see how fast I can train a pup when I am truly motivated... LOL
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Doug,
I will put it to the producer in our next meeting.
David
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your host
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 5,547
Posted 4 months ago
Fri Jun 26 2009 13:24:13
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DougSummersMS - 18 hours ago »
I use a NYC Metro card cut into a blade shape for a probe (Lou Sorkin's suggestion) ... Cedar oil seems to work well as a flushing agent too.
I LOVE how Doug in Florida obtained a NYC Metro Card for this purpose.
Maybe we should start shipping used Metro Cards out to those who do not have a subway system with comparably-designed cards.
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A prized souvenir from my last visit
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DougSummersMS - 6 minutes ago »
A prized souvenir from my last visitThat remind me we had our first bed bug tourist the other week. Someone from this forum who was in London, popped in for a live demonstration of faecal trace identification and an inspection tutorial while we made sure her bags travelled BB free.
I think we will have to get stamps made and it can be like coffee house loyalty cards, a prize to the first one who collects them all.
David
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