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Science

Researchers Develop New Trap To Capture Bloodsucking Bed Bugs 141

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the brooklyn-to-become-inhabitable dept.
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Bedbugs (Cimex lectularius) are small blood-sucking insects that can live in cracks and crevices in and around your bed and crawl out at night to bite your exposed skin and feed on your blood, just as mosquitoes do. Now BBC reports that researchers from the Rutgers University Department of Entomology have developed a new trap that has a 77% probability of capturing bed bugs, nearly three times as many bed bugs over 28 days (PDF), as the the Climbup insect interceptor trap, which the authors cite as the best monitor on the market. A better trap design can allow people to detect bed bugs while they are still in small numbers. 'If you have only 10 or 20 bugs in your apartment, it's very hard to see with your eyes,' says Lead author Narinderpal Singh. 'When people realize they have bed bugs they are often already in their thousands, or hundred thousands. It's relatively easy to eradicate the bed bugs when they are in small numbers, but when they are everywhere, it's very hard to eradicate them.' The device can be created at home very cheaply and consists of a plastic dog bowl that's been inverted, with the outer wall covered with a layer of dyed-black surgical tape. The researchers contend that higher walls make their trap more effective than the interceptor trap because it's harder for bugs to escape."
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Researchers Develop New Trap To Capture Bloodsucking Bed Bugs More

Researchers Develop New Trap To Capture Bloodsucking Bed Bugs

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  • Wow ... (Score:3)

    by gstoddart ( 321705 ) on Wednesday August 07, 2013 @10:57AM (#44497519) Homepage

    The device can be created at home very cheaply and consists of a plastic dog bowl that's been inverted, with the outer wall covered with a layer of dyed-black surgical tape.

    After years of research and government grants, we have invented ... a black dog bowl. ;-)

    • Re:Wow ... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 07, 2013 @11:26AM (#44497879)

      The problem was solved hundreds of years ago. Spreading bay leaves or kidney bean leaves [examiner.com] in the infested rooms traps all the bedbugs.

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward

        That has other issues, though - like how to use them on anything but flat floors, or how to get a large enough supply of fresh leaves to everyone all year (they don't work when dry).

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by bonehead ( 6382 )

        Please tell me where I can purchase fresh kidney bean leaves in Iowa, in January, and in large quantities.

        Just because a solution exists does not mean it's practical, or even possible to implement.

        • Re:Wow ... (Score:4, Interesting)

          by RabidReindeer ( 2625839 ) on Wednesday August 07, 2013 @01:15PM (#44499323)

          Please tell me where I can purchase fresh kidney bean leaves in Iowa, in January, and in large quantities.

          Just because a solution exists does not mean it's practical, or even possible to implement.

          The same place you get your zucchini from, most likely. Argentina or someplace like that. It's Summer down there.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by bonehead ( 6382 )

            So now I need to travel to Argentina to handle a bug problem? Because I'm reasonably sure that there are no businesses around here actively importing kidney bean leaves. I've definitely never seen them in WalMart or any of the grocery stores I shop at.

            What local chain do you typically purchase your truckloads of kidney bean leaves from?

            • If they really do work to trap bedbugs, this could be a good opportunity for an importer to start bringing them in. Of course that's only useful if they work better than a black dog bowl.

            • So now I need to travel to Argentina to handle a bug problem? Because I'm reasonably sure that there are no businesses around here actively importing kidney bean leaves. I've definitely never seen them in WalMart or any of the grocery stores I shop at.

              What local chain do you typically purchase your truckloads of kidney bean leaves from?

              Haven't you heard? There's this thing called The Market. It's the Cure for Everything.

              Seriously. They don't ship produce up from South America and into local stores for idle amusement. They ship it because people buy it. Like Yerba Maté, Chilean wines, Brazilian citrus, and other things that either don't grow in the US or have high enough out-of-season demands.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by bonehead ( 6382 )

                Yes, that was my entire fucking point. They don't import the damn leaves and sell them here, because nobody buys them.

                Which makes the whole "we already have a solution, just use bean leaves" argument pretty fucking stupid since there is no realistic way to acqure them in quantity in any sort of reasonable time frame.

                • Yes, that was my entire fucking point. They don't import the damn leaves and sell them here, because nobody buys them.

                  Which makes the whole "we already have a solution, just use bean leaves" argument pretty fucking stupid since there is no realistic way to acqure them in quantity in any sort of reasonable time frame.

                  Think about it.

                  It wasn't that long ago that you couldn't find Peruvian quinoa in the supermarket either. But then someone started touting the glories of quinoa, people started asking about it, and lo! Other people saw an opportunity. And now we're up to our armpits in quinoa.

                  It's not like store inventories were created 6000 years ago and have never evolved.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by pakar ( 813627 )

              Get in contact with a plants-store in one of the countries with an available supply and ask them to ship over night?

              Just because you cannot purchase the things locally you can always order online... And if enough people start doing it some local shops might start importing it on a regular basis..

              Or you will just have to wait for the summer...

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by jonadab ( 583620 )
            > The same place you get your zucchini from, most likely.
            > Argentina or someplace like that. It's Summer down there.

            Have you ever _been_ to the Midwest?

            I live in Ohio (which is more than five times as populous as Iowa), and I've never seen zucchini in the winter time, for sale or otherwise. It's a seasonal product, and by the time the end of the season rolls around, everyone's pretty well tired of it, so there's no reason for anyone to import any more. (Some of the larger grocery chains, such as Mei

            • > The same place you get your zucchini from, most likely.
              > Argentina or someplace like that. It's Summer down there.

              Have you ever _been_ to the Midwest?

              I live in Ohio (which is more than five times as populous as Iowa), and I've never seen zucchini in the winter time, for sale or otherwise.

              Maybe that explains the "chili". When my grandmother made chili and dumped spaghetti in it, we thought she was trying to poison us!

              Evidently Kroger isn't all it's cracked up to be. If we don't get summer squashes year-round here, they're not absent long enough to notice. Likewise fresh strawberries. Then again, the strawberry season starts in South Florida, works its way up to about New Jersey, California takes over somewhere in there, and I think South America rounds it out until it all begins anew.

              I don't

    • Funny, but glad (Score:4, Interesting)

      by raymorris ( 2726007 ) on Wednesday August 07, 2013 @12:02PM (#44498327) Journal
      I'm just glad they didn't spend $15 million in tax payer money to invent a $10,000 trap that no one would use. (No one who isn't buying traps with tax payer money, anyway.)
      I wonder if the same design works for fleas. I understand fleas are also attracted to CO2, so the yeast + sugar water thing would likely improve results with fleas as well.

      I'd been baiting my traps with an an aerosol can of CO2 produced by emissions from an SUV belching C02 into a Styrofoam container full of dry ice kept cool by an R-22 refrigeration system powered by my diesel generator.

      • I wonder if the same design works for fleas. I understand fleas are also attracted to CO2, so the yeast + sugar water thing would likely improve results with fleas as well.

        My guess is it wouldn't work as well (the entire plastic bowl + CO2 source thingy). It says in the article one of the main advantages of this contraption is the high walls that make it hard for the bugs to come out. Fleas would most likely just jump out of the trap once they realized there's CO2 in there but nothing to eat.

        • Fleas are easy. Shine a (hot) desk lamp over a wide bowl of soapy water. The fleas will jump at the light, fall into the water, and drown.

      • I'd been baiting my traps with an an aerosol can of CO2 produced by emissions from an SUV belching C02 into a Styrofoam container full of dry ice kept cool by an R-22 refrigeration system powered by my diesel generator.

        Yep. That sounds like an all-American solution to a problem.

        • Nah, not all-American, that's just the southern part. To bring in the rest of America, the Styrofoam is made from corn pulled from the school lunch program in Iowa.
          The corn is trucked down to southern California in trucks that run on highly toxic lithium batteries, which made by smelting thousands of tons of lithium ore in coal
          furnaces and charged with electricity from either the coal power plant, or the ethanol burning plant down the road. Ethanol burning, mind you, not ethanol powered.
          It uses 20,000 gall

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Cyberax ( 705495 )
          Uhm... Dry ice is already solid CO2.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by gewalker ( 57809 )

      I was just hoping we could adapt this research and use it on politicians. Bedbugs don't have nearly the negative impact on my life as those bloodsuckers do.

    • Optimizing the trap shape was just one factor. It also looked at different baits used in conjunction with the trap.
  • simple idea, lots of people will want it. that ones almost as good as the post-it note. nobody wants bedbugs.
  • The path to their door, I mean...

    .

  • So placing a sticky card under your bed won't work?

    Is there a place where a normal person can buy the chemical attractants?

    • Re:Sticky tape? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by buchner.johannes ( 1139593 ) on Wednesday August 07, 2013 @11:15AM (#44497733) Homepage Journal

      You mean, yeast, sugar and water? Any supermarket. The article proves that CO2 cylinders are not better.
      Fascinating setup (the building they chose, how they collected and nurtured the bed bugs, that they kept someone living in the apartment in the 4 weeks the experiment was run).

    • Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday August 07, 2013 @12:18PM (#44498495)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • The 6"x8" sticky pads solved my friend bedbug problem and was inexpensive.

      But, you need to keep all parts of the bed from touching the ground and the walls except the parts on the pad.

      As a bonus it catches many other insects as well (lots of spiders).

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Nyder ( 754090 )

      So placing a sticky card under your bed won't work?

      Is there a place where a normal person can buy the chemical attractants?

      They also use some sort of Pine Spray. My unit got bedbugs before, took 2 cleanings to finally get rid of them all, but they sprayed some Pine Smelling crap around.

      Haven't had any since the last spraying, a year or so ago.

      Hate bedbugs. Made me paranoid for months afterwards, every little spec i think i see move...

  • Ah bedbugs (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    My landlord is so paranoid about getting them I have to initial three separate paragraphs in my lease stating "I will not bring used furniture into the house" "I will notify the landlord immediately if any bedbugs are detected" "I will take steps to ensure bedbugs do not enter the house."

    Maybe they should figure out how to prevent them from reproducing instead of trapping a few examples of a menace that, as the summary notes, numbers in the hundreds of thousands.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by EvanED ( 569694 )

      I'm sure there are people working on that. But it's not like you can snap your fingers and the bed bug fairy will deliver a fix. In the meantime, people have to rely on traditional extermination methods, and traditional extermination methods require that you be aware that traditional extermination methods are necessary. And that's what the work described by the article is addressing...

    • Re:Ah bedbugs (Score:4, Interesting)

      by TheCarp ( 96830 ) <sjc.carpanet@net> on Wednesday August 07, 2013 @11:48AM (#44498169) Homepage

      > Maybe they should figure out how to prevent them from reproducing instead of trapping a few
      > examples of a menace that, as the summary notes, numbers in the hundreds of thousands.

      I have occasionally wondered about using some variation on "phage therapy" for this. As I understand the protocols, the basic outline is:
      1. Breed target organism (originally bacteria infecting a patient)
      2. Sample natural water, and filter it with a ceramic filter to leave behind only phages as biological material.
      3. Apply samples of phage water to target organisms, watch for signs of infection and death
      4. If reliable agent is found, use dead targets to make more and isolate a workable phage
      5. if reliable agent not found, goto step 2.

      There are a lot of viruses out there.... I would bet something infects bedbugs and kills them effectively, and just needs a little help finding them.

      • I have occasionally wondered about using some variation on "phage therapy" for this.

        Why this won't work: In a wild population there is usually a high degree of genetic diversity. Most bedbugs may die from the virus, but some will survive. Those that survive will reproduce and create a new generation with greater immunity.

      • "We'll have to spray your house with ebola virus to get rid of the bed bugs. Should be safe to come back after a couple days. If you experience any massive bleeding from all orifices and severe vomiting, please call the 911 and burn your house down while you wait for the CDC."

      • Re:Ah bedbugs (Score:4, Informative)

        by Antipater ( 2053064 ) on Wednesday August 07, 2013 @01:07PM (#44499213)
        They're working on this. Beauveria bassiana [wikipedia.org] is a parasitic fungus that infests arthropods. It's already used against aphids and termites, and is being investigated for use on mosquitoes and bedbugs.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by TheCarp ( 96830 )

      > My landlord is so paranoid about getting them I have to initial three separate paragraphs in my lease

      On a seperate note, I was once in the market for an apartment and was considering one that I didn't end up taking. The landlord was at about this level of paranoia about cockroaches. In fact, he said that if we did move in.... he wanted us to unpack all of our boxes outside, because he was afraid of the possibility of roaches getting into boxes and living off the packing tape glue.

      That and he was specif

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Svenia ( 3001819 )
        I was following this trail of logic successfully at the roach part. I get it, I can't stand roaches. Where I get lost though is the bathtub of charcoal for roasting a pig. I wonder if this was something he just had a weird fear of? Was it something a former tenant attempted to do? Did you just give him the "going to roast a pig in the bathtub" type of vybe? Perhaps he was just really, really high? Such a bizarre concern to have of your residents.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by TheCarp ( 96830 )

          I thought it was odd too, he claimed he had heard of many immigrant families trying this and it causing massive house fires. Which, would make a lot of sense, I would assume turning the bathtub into a charcoal pit inside a building made of wood would tend to work out poorly.

          That said, he is the only person I have ever heard concerned of such things, and in the decade since then have not heard of any fires started that way, so... either it happens so often that the news just ignores it (which seems unlikely

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by pakar ( 813627 )

        That and he was specifically worried about the possibility that we would attempt to fill the bathtub with charcoal and roast a pig in it. He specifically forbade that too, not that such a thing ever would have seemed like a good idea to me, apparently the possibility worried him.

        There are crazy people for everything... Did you ever find out what pushed him to this level of paranoia?

  • Slashdotter: But then nobody would want to get in the bed with me.

  • a new trap that has a 77% probability of capturing bed bugs

    Well, what does that mean? If I have bedbugs, and I leave this out overnight, is there a 23% chance it'll be empty in the morning? Will it capture 77% of the total number of bugs? Over what time period? And so on...

    The BBC article is a bit less vague:

    In a laboratory setting, they found that their trap had a 77% probability of capturing bed bugs released, whereas the shallower trap only had a 23% probability.

    Although this too could use a rewrite. Does it mean 77% of all the bugs were caught by the new trap, and 23% by the old? Makes sense, given that the probabilities add up to 100% (and the article's photo shows both traps in the test area at the same time). But if they are meant to be independent probabilities, then there's a 17.71% chance that any particular bug won't be caught at all*.

    *obviously statistically speaking all bugs will all get caught eventually, another reason not to assume this second interpretation is correct, unless they were doing this a timed trial. Go bedbug, go!

    • Re:Wait, what? Be careful when you quote stats (Score:4, Interesting)

      by deroby ( 568773 ) <deroby@yucom.be> on Wednesday August 07, 2013 @11:58AM (#44498273)

      Mathematically speaking I would think that it's impossible that all bugs will get caught eventually, no ?

      Night 0 : 100 bedbugs run around

      Night 1 : 100 * .77 bugs get caught, 100 * .23 remain
      Night 2 : (100 * .23 ) * .77 bugs get caught, (100 * .23) *.23 remain ...
      Night n : 100 * (.23 ^ n) bugs remain...

      So you'll get an asymptote that borders on catching them all, but not ever really... Especially as we're not taking into account that the remaining bugs will probably multiply...

      But I agree that for 'whole numbers of bedbugs' n should be smallish... might make a nice spreadsheet/graph to figure out, especially if you add variables like how long it takes for them to reproduce etc ...

      • Mathematically speaking I would think that it's impossible that all bugs will get caught eventually, no ?

        Night 0 : 100 bedbugs run around

        Night 1 : 100 * .77 bugs get caught, 100 * .23 remain
        Night 2 : (100 * .23 ) * .77 bugs get caught, (100 * .23) *.23 remain ...
        Night n : 100 * (.23 ^ n) bugs remain...

        So you'll get an asymptote that borders on catching them all, but not ever really... Especially as we're not taking into account that the remaining bugs will probably multiply...

        But I agree that for 'whole numbers of bedbugs' n should be smallish... might make a nice spreadsheet/graph to figure out, especially if you add variables like how long it takes for them to reproduce etc ...

        No trap can fix that. When:

        Night n : 100 * (.23 ^ n) bugs remain = 1, the remaining bed bug is the Chuck Norris of the bedbug world. The only logical outcome is that you'll wake up on night n+1 to find yourself in that upside down black bowl.

    • Well, what does that mean? If I have bedbugs, and I leave this out overnight, is there a 23% chance it'll be empty in the morning?

      Yes, that's what that means. It is said that these are merely monitors, they are not meant to kill all the bugs. Just like having a mouse trap empty does not mean no mice in your house, having no bedbugs in your trap does not mean no bedbugs. But, keep it there for n days and the 0.23^n chance of it consistently failing at catching something becomes negligible.

      • Yes, that's what that means.

        I still think that's pretty unlikely for the reasons stated above - particularly that a) a time period isn't mentioned and b) the 77% for the new trap and the 23% for the old trap add up to 100% - not all that unlikely in the lab conditions depicted.

    • Re:Wait, what? Be careful when you quote stats (Score:5, Informative)

      by unrtst ( 777550 ) on Wednesday August 07, 2013 @01:12PM (#44499285)

      If you want the real numbers, read the (free) pdf:
      http://esa.publisher.ingentaconnect.com/content/esa/jee/2013/00000106/00000004/art00036 [ingentaconnect.com]

      They actually did a pretty thorough job of testing them and various attractants in various levels, and have real numbers in the report.

      To attempt to answer you question (which can't be answered 100% accurately because there were many scenarios tested and you and the summary didn't state which was referenced)... not all the bugs got caught; the bugs that did not get caught were generally inactive and lethargic (I'm guessing they were old, or not hungry, etc), so they didn't really count them; the new traps caught about 2.5 fold more bugs given the same lure (or lack thereof); tests were run in a variety of settings, including an arena made from a wooden door and several infested apartments while people were there.

      Also, for those wondering, the new trap is:
      * inverted plastic dog bowl (600ml volume, 18cm diameter, 6.4cm depth, from IKEA)
      * outer wall of bowl was covered with a layer of paper surgical tape (caring international)
      * tape was died black with Fiebing's Lether Dye (Tandy Leather Factory)
      * Incide of bowls were coated with a light layer of fluoropolymer resin (Bio-Quip products, Rancho Dominguez, CA) to prevent the bugs from crawling out

      And the best lure was:
      * 150g yeast (Lesaffre Yeast Corp)
      * 750g granulated cane sugar (U.S. Sugar Co. Inc)
      * 3L water (40degree C)

      Fill a plastic tub with the lure mixure, mix it up, put on a lid, and rest it on top of two traps.
      Lower amounts of lure stil work (not as well as the above amount, but much better than none - see paper for full details).

  • For some people, it's a long way to get to know a person completely, and there are steps to take.
  • But is it more effective than putting kidney bean leaves on the floor? Story was out months ago about this old (OLD) method that works because the leaves have tiny hooks on then that latch on to the bugs' legs. Set them out at night, gather them in the morning and burn.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by bonehead ( 6382 )

      Where do I buy a large quantity of fresh kidney bean leaves? Particularly in winter?

      And what if the hotel I'm staying in doesn't like the idea of me burning a pile of leaves in their parking lot in the morning?

      A solution that can't be implemented is just as useful as no solution at all.

      • 1) you grow them, genius. Beans will sprout any season, if you start them indoors. a 1lb bag of kidney beans costs a few dollars. You can get a surprising number of leaves from that. Dry beans are available year round.

        2) You dont burn them silly. You stuff them into the dumpster out back. Be sure to take pictures of the bugs for facebook.

        3) While I admit that sneaking living plants into a hotel is going to be a difficult prospect, you can get a very similar effect by using glue boards. More expensive by far

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by bonehead ( 6382 )

          1) you grow them, genius.

          Ever had to deal with bed bugs?

          Waiting weeks/months to grow a sufficient supply of leaves is not an acceptable solution.

          • Beans grow fast enough that they are often used in school science activities in gradeschool.

            Seriously, at the most extreme, you will get two seed leaves per bean in 6 days. You will get around 6 to 10 leaves per bean in 12 days.

            Be sure to mist the potting soil with medicine cabinet grade peroxide in a spraybottle at planting time. This will prevent white mold in the pot, and give much better yeilds.

            If you can't wait 6 days for the leaves, set out the glue boards while you wait. You can get those immediately

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by bonehead ( 6382 )

              Seriously, at the most extreme, you will get two seed leaves per bean in 6 days. You will get around 6 to 10 leaves per bean in 12 days.

              And how long to get enough to cover my whole floor? With a fresh batch every night?

              Sorry, the whole bean leaf idea is interesting, but nowhere near practical.

              • Kidney beans sprout after 3 to 8 days, giving access to 2 seed leaves.

                After 14 days, they will have the 2 seed leaves, and 5 to 8 trifolate adult plant leaves, if left to their own devices.

                After 20 days, they should have between 15 and 20 adult leaves, and the seed leaves will have wilted and fallen away. Flowers begin to show.

                Plant continues to grow, flower, spread, and produce immature bean pods up until 80 days time. That is when mature bean pods appear. Flowers and mature pods will coexist on the plant.

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by bonehead ( 6382 )

                  After 5 to 8 days,

                  This is 5 to 8 days to long, as anyone who has ever been bitten by those little bastards will know.

                  Mosquito bites are nothing compared to bed bug bites.

                  Having been bitten by both, I am not exaggerating when I say I would rather sleep in a room full of brown recluse spiders than a room full of bed bugs.

                  Any solution that cannot be acquired and implemented within an hour or two is simply too slow.

                  • That's what glue traps are good for. You can buy those now, at 2 to 5 dollars a pop, and have something going "right now! OMG WTFBBQ BUGS IN MY BRAINS ARGHBRBL!", and then have very inexpensive bean leaves shortly thereafter.

                    Compared, over the same time interval, the bean solution is radically less expensive. You trade on convenience.

                    The world isn't perfect, and you have to make choices. That's just life. Making "good" choices is more tricky.

                    While I've never endured bedbugs, I have endured a massive flea in

                    • Re: (Score:2)

                      by bonehead ( 6382 )

                      I've dealt with fleas, as well. One bedbug bite itches like a thousand flea bites stacked on top of each other.

                      Honestly, I understand everything you're saying about trading convenience for expense, etc.....

                      I'll skip the glue traps as well and go nuclear on them (call an exterminator).

                      My only point is that the bean leaf idea is just flat out retarded for at least 99% of the population.

  • Not as good as the MBA trap (Score:4, Funny)

    by paiute ( 550198 ) on Wednesday August 07, 2013 @12:41PM (#44498789)
    The Paiutech Department of Verminology has developed a new trap that has a 100% probability of capturing MBAs, nearly three times as many MBAs over 28 days (one fiscal month), as the classic hooker with blow trap, which the authors cite as the best monitor on the market. A better trap design can allow people to detect MBAs while they are still in small numbers. 'If you have only 10 or 20 MBAs in your corporation, it's very hard to see with your eyes,' says inventor and Paiutech COO Marion Sam. 'When people realize they have MBAs they are often already in their thousands, or hundred thousands. It's relatively easy to eradicate the MBAs when they are in small numbers, but when they are everywhere, it's very hard to eradicate them.' The device can be created at home very cheaply and consists of an empty bottle of Chivas Regal filled with bleach to which is affixed the label: "Six Sigma Smart Juice".

  • Heat Kills All (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 07, 2013 @12:53PM (#44498975)

    Having stayed in the Hilton (Union Square San Francisco) and coming home with bed bug welts and bites, I can I think I can explain a few things. First, once you see the (clustered) bites, it's too late. Those bites take days to show sometimes. Second, The hotel denies everything. Having been denied satisfaction I left the hotel, but did NOT return home right away fearing for the little fuckers are in my luggage.

    I stopped at a coffee shop to internet surf. I found this guy's blog about his battle with bedbugs and how he had to remove ALL furniture from his house in his losing battle against the little bugs. This guy had traps setup, tracking migrations from room to room, sticky side up tape being the most effective. The other side note about the bugs, all sorts of chemicals may or may not work, and HEAT over TIME was the ONLY way to kill these things dead.

    I stopped at a dry-cleaner and walked in with NO LUGGAGE and explained the situation I thought I was in. The cleaner said they could take most of my luggage, but not all. They brought out a bio-hazard bin and took my clothes for "special" treatment. I had to take my shoes, suitcase and a few other items home. I threw everything in a 170 degree electric oven for 4 hours each until clean. The car I drove home in, went out to the central valley and sat in the summer sun for 5 hours while I watched movies and drank coffee.

    Long story short, use the internet to keep you home safe. HEAT over TIME will KILL the fuckers.

    • You could have just thrown everything in big black plastic trash bags tied to be airtight, and then left the bags in your car with the windows up for those 5 hours of summer sun. It would have been just as effective and much cheaper.

    • Second, The hotel denies everything.

      FYI, with a menace like bed bugs, you should ALWAYS call the local health department and report it.
      Even if you're wrong and got them somewhere else, you may have carried them into the hotel.

      As a secondary matter, the department of health will inspect and, if they find bedbugs, you can use that finding to leverage compensation from the hotel.

  • We got some inexpensive disposable containers, filled them with talcum powder, and put the legs of their bed in it. That stopped the bites right away (apparently they were elsewhere in the room and traveling to her bed. But, it didn't trap them. Apparently they couldn't climb up the plastic.

    Next ,we get the 6"x8" sticky pads and put them under each bed leg. It was a bit of a mess (stuck to the bed) but it trapped the bedbugs the first night and THEN proceeded to catch hundreds of other bugs over the cou

  • A tip when traveling (Score:4, Informative)

    by Time_Ngler ( 564671 ) on Wednesday August 07, 2013 @02:09PM (#44500207)

    I used to stay in cheap hostels and in Singapore there was one which was infested with bed bugs. I was getting bit every night until I found that if I sprayed a ring of high powered DEET insect repellent in a ring around the edges of the mattress, the bed bugs wouldn't cross the ring and therefore wouldn't bite me. (I had a DEET spray that was supposed to last 8 hours). Better than spraying yourself with DEET every night.

    I have heard they can climb on the ceiling and drop down, but thankfully that didn't happen (maybe it's a rare occurrence?).

  • My experience (Score:3, Informative)

    by GoJays ( 1793832 ) on Wednesday August 07, 2013 @03:39PM (#44501545)
    As having gone through a bedbug infestation. It is not pretty. It makes you paranoid, you see a spec of dirt on the floor and you swear it is a bed bug and your heart skips a beat. You get an itch while in bed, you think you have been bitten, you rip off the covers, and start searching.... this continues for MONTHS after the infestation is gone. I woke up many times to find my girlfriends on her hands and knees with a flashlight checking the baseboards, and drawers at 3am. The mental aspect of the infestation is much worse than physical.

    So how did we get rid of them? We tried various techniques. Encasing our mattress/boxspring and pillows in bedbug proof cases. Putting the legs of the bed in bowls of water. Spraying multiple times, sweeping constantly. The spraying did reduce the numbers, but didn't eliminate them totally. The final nail in the coffin for them was going out and buying a clothes steamer, and steaming the mattress, boxspring, pillows, baseboards, and any other hiding spots in the bedroom. They have to be heated to a certain temperature (can't recall the exact temp at the moment) in order to kill the adults and eggs. So it was a very slow process to make sure they were cooked by the steam. We repeated this process every other day for over a week. At the same time we washed our bed sheets and clothes... ALL OF THEM, even ones we rarely wore and were still clean.

    Of course we were paranoid that there were still eggs, waiting to hatch that we had missed... and we were just waiting for that second outbreak. Lucky for us it never came.

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