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Are more frequent treatments better??
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Bravo
newbite
Joined: Aug '10
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Posted 2 years ago
Wed Aug 25 2010 12:30:51
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Hello.
I have bedbugs & my place is already being treated. I had them for about 2 wks before I called an exterminator out, so I think we caught the problem early. Anyhow, because I'm on a time crunch my PCO said that he'd treat every week instead of every two weeks. Does anyone know of this to be good or bad?? I asked him if there was anything more sever he could do & he said the every week thing was already pretty harsh. Since treatment, I've found two dead adults but that's really it. We go a few days without bites. Yesterday was my 3rd treatment & I have no bites from last night. Hopefully a good sign. My PCO says my problem should be dwindling now. Also, is it weird that they have me keeping a normal routine?? I didn't have a severe infestation so they've told me curtains, clothes, etc. are good to go. From what I've read, you all are still living out of plastic. Is this bad?? I'm moving in Jan. & I don't want to take them w/ me!!
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Eve
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Posted 2 years ago
Wed Aug 25 2010 12:40:54
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The purpose of the followup treatments is not to be "harsh" (though this is not a bad thing), it is to be there when the next generation hatches. As long as there is a good residual layer available to poison the path of the next generation of crawlies, then that's all you can do.
In my mind, the most effective chemical treatment is one where the residual is non-repellant. That usually means a slow kill so it's not unusual to see live bugs several days into the treatment but they should be feeling a bit under the weather.
I am not one of the people who is living out of plastic and my problem is just about over (I've gone from nightly bites to only an occasional one). I let them come to me over the residual DE and treat the bed every two weeks. Yes, I'm a DIYer.
Given that you're not moving until January, you are probably fine with the approach of chemical residuals laid in such a way that in order to feed the bugs have to come to you. I'm a bit worried though that your PCO seems to think that the point is "the more chemicals the better" when it's more about timing and knowing how and when these bugs travel.
Eve
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Bravo
newbite
Joined: Aug '10
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Posted 2 years ago
Wed Aug 25 2010 12:59:23
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I didn't mean to make it seem that way. My PCO's plan is as follows... He's laid down a residual along the basboards (where ever they need to cross, I'm assuming) & another chemical on my boxspring and bedframe which he says has a slight residual - not as long as the chemical along the baseboards. As for my mattress, he says he's sprayed with a chemical that's made of alcohol & some other detergents. Also, I believe he's said he's sprayed something for the eggs in cracks & crevices. I live on a military installation & there are only certain things approved for use by DoD here. I only asked that they come out every week instead of every two weeks because I'm going out of town soon (for several days) & was trying to kick this sooner. I don't believe anything's wrong with my clothing as I've traveled since being diagnosed w/ BB & haven't spread them. We're taking (what my PCO has told me to be) extra precautoion and washing everything in HOT, soapy water as well as drying in a hot dryer. I have a bottle of my own isopropyl alcohol ready for use if I feel I need to. I've been trying to refrain from using it so as to let the bugs ingest whatever my PCO has laid down when they come to get me.
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Eve
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Posted 2 years ago
Wed Aug 25 2010 13:12:47
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It sounds like your treatment is about the same as what I've been doing. The DE residual on my floor and baseboards deals (slowly) with the bugs that are not on the bed. For the bed I've been washing through all the cracks and constructions points (it's a wooden futon frame handmade with screws rather than glue) with 91-99% alcohol. I can only do the wash every two or three weeks because the frame is unwieldy and I am not as fit as I should be for this.
But even so the results have been remarkable. When I started, I could see the beady little eyes of the adults as I was doing the spray into the cracks and now I don't see any. The only sightings I've had for the past three or four weeks have been one or two nymphs (one I caught in the act and now is encased in duct tape).
I am about the replace it with a smaller metal frame with a mattress I can lift and flip. I also have a steamer waiting for me at the Post Office (thank you USBedBugs.com). So my new routine will involve frequent vacuuming (something I can't do properly now), steaming of the mattress, climbups and pieces of corrugated cardboard for diagnosis. I will also be doing a more thorough "round the room" refresh of the baseboard DE. I'm optimistic.
In summary, I think your PCO's approach is just fine. If I go with a PCO eventually (I might get an inspection when things settle down) that is much the approach that I'd want (though probably not weekly).
Eve
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Richard56
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Joined: Jul '10
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Posted 2 years ago
Wed Aug 25 2010 22:20:25
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Eve: climbups and pieces of corrugated cardboard for diagnosis. I
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By "pieces of corrugated" are you talking about the new passive BBAlert? My understanding is that passive alerts work best when you do not isolate the bed as with Climb Ups. -
Eve
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Posted 2 years ago
Wed Aug 25 2010 23:03:22
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Richard: I narrowly missed my chance to easily get the BBAlert (my steamer which is more important for my plans was in that 10,000 mile long shed called Customs already). I will be getting a batch in the future but for now I want to get my bedroom manageable.
The hazard of isolating your bed (in the way I mean to) is that without an easily accessible habitat the bugs will hide out in places you don't want them. Hence the pieces of corrugated cardboard to give them a place to hide that I can pick up and place in a Ziploc on my way to the outside dumpster.
I hear little hints, though, that the Alerts (passive and active) might be able to form a strategy to not only do early detection but also dispose of most of them. In any case, early detection tells me to drag out the aforementioned steamer and swab the place down again.
When I can order in the PackTite I'll probably get them to fill it with these Alerts.
Eve
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Richard56
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Posted 2 years ago
Fri Aug 27 2010 21:19:09
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Eve: The hazard of isolating your bed (in the way I mean to) is that without an easily accessible habitat the bugs will hide out in places you don't want them. Hence the pieces of corrugated cardboard to give them a place to hide that I can pick up and place in a Ziploc on my way to the outside dumpster.
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My understanding is that the hazard of isolating your bed is that you can spread the bugs by denying them their nearby food source -- which is of course us
In this scenario, the bugs will be less likely to be trapped by a passive monitor which is recommended to be put near the food source. Therefore the recommendation not to use bed isolation techniques with passive monitors. I believe the recommendation not to isolate the bed is somewhere on one of web sites that sells the BBAlert Passive.
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your host
Joined: Mar '07
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Posted 2 years ago
Sun Aug 29 2010 0:54:38
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Richard56 - 1 day ago »
My understanding is that the hazard of isolating your bed is that you can spread the bugs by denying them their nearby food source -- which is of course us
In this scenario, the bugs will be less likely to be trapped by a passive monitor which is recommended to be put near the food source. Therefore the recommendation not to use bed isolation techniques with passive monitors.
The FAQs here also recommend against "isolation" for this reason.
The FAQ on beds recommends instead that people place ClimbUps (which are also passive monitors) under bed legs which allow this , both as a detection method, but also to keep bed bugs which aren't on the bed from climbing on to feed.
I would layer a BBAlert Passive on top of this, for any bugs already living in the bed, and for ongoing monitoring. (That's not in the FAQ yet.)
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Eve
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Posted 2 years ago
Sun Aug 29 2010 1:16:30
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Actually when I talk about isolating the bed, Climbups are a major part of the exercise. I'm also going to be trying putting talc on the lower parts of the metal legs so that if any bugs do climb off the bed they can't easily get back up. Those bugs should hopefully be found in the inner ring of the Climb Up.
I'm eagerly waiting for the instructions about layering the passive monitor with the climbups (I'm having a hard time picturing it). Some hints that Mr Cain made make me feel that this tool can be used in various ingenious ways to deal with small recent infestations. But we'll see.
But, no, I don't want to impede the movement of these things. I want the bugs to feel free to come to dinner without actually making it all the way there and not being able to get back to their harborage. And if I do ever get the passive alerts, I will be getting a few, one of which will be sharing the bed with me so I can do monitoring "above the climbups" (I am *so* hoping that these ones don't get any traffic).
Eve
Edited to add that I've read Nobug's post a bit more closely and it seems that the recommendation *is* for the Alert to share the bed.
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Richard56
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Posted 2 years ago
Sun Aug 29 2010 12:33:46
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NB's: The FAQs here also recommend against "isolation" for this reason.
The FAQ on beds recommends instead that people place ClimbUps (which are also passive monitors) under bed legs which allow this , both as a detection method, but also to keep bed bugs which aren't on the bed from climbing on to feed.
I would layer a BBAlert Passive on top of this, for any bugs already living in the bed, and for ongoing monitoring. (That's not in the FAQ yet.)
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I'm a bit confused. It appears you're saying that the FAQ's recommend against isolation for reasons previously given, but then you say the FAQ recommends ClimbUps.Climbups, while also a monitoring device, is also an isolation device. So, at first read, what you say seems contradictory.
Again, my understanding is that you do not want to use Climb-Ups (or any other isolation technique) with a passive monitor like BBAlert Passive. The reason again is that these monitors require a food source (us) to be available so that the bugs can feed and then defecate on the monitor. If you isolate the food source, then there will be no defecation to be detected. At least this is my understanding.
In any event, you might want to check with the manufacturer on this before updating your FAQ's.
Richard
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Grateful for Help
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Joined: Dec '10
Posts: 105offline
Posted 2 years ago
Fri Jan 14 2011 17:02:05
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The FAQs here also recommend against "isolation" for this reason.
The FAQ on beds recommends instead that people place ClimbUps (which are also passive monitors) under bed legs which allow this , both as a detection method, but also to keep bed bugs which aren't on the bed from climbing on to feed.
I would layer a BBAlert Passive on top of this, for any bugs already living in the bed, and for ongoing monitoring. (That's not in the FAQ yet.)Hello again, nobugsonme,
When I saw the post you wrote above, a few months ago I realized I've been using the wrong term. I thought putting climbups on the bed was isolating it. What is true isolation, then? David Cain says climbups are a trap, some people call them a passive monitor...I assumed that when they trap bugs climbing up to the bed that they act as an isolation tool.If the question 'what is isolation' has been answered elsewhere, sorry...
Thanks.
-Grateful
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