BED BUGS

A mature bed bug is an oval-bodied insect, brown to red-brown in color, wingless and flattened top to bottom. Unfed bugs are 1/4 to 3/8 inch long and the upper surface of the body has a crinkled appearance. A bug that has recently fed is engorged with blood, dull red in color, and the body is elongated and swollen. Eggs are white and are about 1/32 inch long. Newly hatched bugs are nearly colorless.

STOP BUGGING ME!TM is a totally natural, green treatment that is safe for the entire family - including pets - and is laboratory tested and proven to eliminate and prevent bed bugs and their eggs on contact. 100% of the bugs tested in independent laboratories were killed within 15 minutes, and over 50% of them were eliminated instantly. Each application could prevent additional outbreaks for up to two weeks.

In most parts of the United States the only bed bug of importance to man is Cimex lectularius. Bed bugs of this species feed on blood, mostly from people, but are also known to feed on bats or other animals including rabbits, rats, guinea pigs and domestic fowl, especially when the animals are housed in laboratories. The bed bug has a sharp beak that it uses to pierce the skin of the host. It then begins feeding, injecting a fluid which helps in obtaining food. This fluid causes the skin to become swollen and itchy. Bed bugs are nocturnal, that is, they feed at night, often biting people who are asleep. Where infestations are severe one may detect an offensive odor that comes from an oily liquid the bugs emit. Bed bugs can be enticed to bite during the day if light is subdued and they are hungry.

PICTURE IS OF BEDBUGS IN THE TUCKS OF A MATTRESS

Bed bugs undergo a gradual metamorphosis (change in form) and the young resemble the adult. The young are called nymphs. Under ideal conditions bugs feed regularly when temperatures are above 70° F. Eggs are deposited in batches of from 10 to 50 in crevices of bed frames, floors, walls and similar household sites. When fresh, the eggs are coated with a sticky substance that causes them to adhere to any object on which they are deposited. Eggs are not deposited at temperatures lower than 50° F. Eggs hatch in 6 to 17 days but may take as long as 28 days in cooler temperatures. The nymphs begin to feed as soon as they can locate a host. They molt 5 times before reaching maturity and the nymphal period lasts about 6 weeks. There may be up to three generations per year in our climate.

Bed bugs feed for a period of 3 to 5 minutes, after which they are engorged and drop off the host. They crawl into a hiding place and remain there for several days digesting the meal. When hungry again, they emerge from the hiding place and search for a host. If no food is available, the new nymphs may live for several weeks in warm weather, or several months in cool weather. Older bugs may go for 2 months or longer without food.

Often,BED BUG BITES are mistaken for common household insects bites since the bites can look almost identical to those caused by other parasitic blood feeding insects such as mosquitoes, fleas, ants and lice.
image credit: urbanentomology.tamu.edu
Neverthless, bed bugs bites can be easily recognizable once you know what are the symptoms to look for.

The first tell tale symptoms of bed bug bites are the multiple small, flat or raise welts on the skin that will always appear in a linear or clustered pattern because of the bed bugs tendency to feed on the same location more than once. The welts can turn red and become itchy. Scratching the bitten areas may also lead to infection.
The next tell tale sign that you may have bed bugs is that you will get bitten every night while you are sleeping and develop similar clustered pattern large itchy welts every day.

Management consists primarily of finding places where the bed bugs hide in the daytime and cleaning these sites as thoroughly as possible. Where are bed bugs found? Hiding places can often be discovered by keeping an eye out for black or brown spots of dried insect excrement on surfaces on which the bed bugs rest. Eggs, eggshells and cast skins may also be found in resting places. Early in an infestation bed bugs are likely to be found only about the seams, tufts or folds of mattresses or daybed covers, but later they spread to crevices in the bedsteads. In severe infestation they may be found behind baseboards, window and door casings, pictures and picture frames, in furniture, loosened wallpaper, cracks in plaster and the like.

Management should focus on mechanical methods such as vacuuming, removing or sealing loose wall surfaces (wallpaper, paint, etc.), caulking cracks and crevices, and other hiding places. A thorough cleaning may need to be done more than once as eggs may be missed, or bugs may be well hidden during the cleaning process. Vacuum the mattress, especially paying attention to tucks and along seams where bedbugs like to hide. Be sure to remove and seal the vacuum cleaner bag immediately after cleaning. Place the vacuum cleaner bag into a plastic garbage bag, tightly seal, and discard. (The effectiveness of steam cleaning has been questioned, because the mattress quickly absorbs the heat and the bedbugs are not harmed.) In addition, one may put a zippered mattress cover, such as is used for dust mites, on the mattress. This traps any bugs inside. However, effectiveness of this method depends on the thoroughness with which the slats, springs and frame are cleaned. If bedbugs are still in the frame, they may crawl over the mattress cover to reach a host. If they are trapped in the cover, and none are left on the frame or other places in the room, the biting should cease. Bed bugs can live a long time without a meal, so it is best to leave the cover on the mattress for at least a year.

After thorough cleaning be sure the bed is moved away from walls so it does not touch them. You may want to coat the bed legs for 3 or 4 inches with something to prevent bugs from crawling up into the bed. Petroleum jelly is sometimes used for this purpose, but put something under the legs in case it drips. Remove dust covers, and keep bed covers and blankets up off the floor.

If the infestation is severe, or you are unable to get control with other methods the services of a pest management professional is a good idea and may be needed.

If you decide to treat yourself, apply a household insecticide that is labeled for bed bug control. Insecticides registered for homeowner use for bed bug control in the home include cyfluthrin, deltamethrin, diatomaceous earth, silica gel or permethrin. Apply to hiding places around baseboards, moldings and floorboards. Caution: DO NOT USE ANY INSECTICIDE ON A MATTRESS - unless the label specifically discusses application to a mattress. Most household sprays are not suitable for application to mattresses. Some people would rather discard the mattress, which is fine, but you may also consider putting a dust mite cover on it as described in mechanical control above.

If an approved spray (for mattresses) is applied to treat a bed:

Spray the slats, springs and frame. Apply enough spray to wet thoroughly. Do not miss any crevices where bed bugs may hide.
If a mattress must be treated, spray a light mist to the entire mattress. Open seams, tufts and folds. REMEMBER: Only use a spray labeled for application to mattresses. Material should be thoroughly dry before use.

References:
Frishman, A. 2000. Bed Bug basics and control measures. Pest Control 68: 24.
Harlan, Harold 2001. Personal Correspondence. NPMA
Krueger, L. 2000. Don't get bitten by the resurgence of bed bugs. Pest control 68: 58-64
USDA leaflet number L-453 entitled "How to Control Bed Bugs."

When people find out they have bed bugs, some simply chuck their mattress and box spring thinking this will end their bed bug problem. Sometimes they even toss the bed frame out for good measure. This is a waste of money and is rarely necessary.

When people toss their old bed setup, they buy a new one of course. Makes sense. Then they bring the new setup into their bedroom. But they have not actually addressed their bed bug problem---they've only addressed one of the symptoms. The bed bug infestation is still there. You can guess what happens. The bed bugs come back and infest their new bed, leaving them back at square one.

Bed bug mattress covers serve two primary purposes:

*They keep any bed bugs hiding inside your mattress or box spring sealed in. This prevents them from biting you or hiding somewhere else.
*.Bed bug mattress covers also prevent any more bed bugs from infesting your mattress or box spring.
An encasement is usually made of tough plastic. It is a kind of sleeve that you slide your mattress into. Then you close the cover with a zipper or slide. This forms a bed bug proof enclosure. No bed bugs can get out of it, no bed bugs can get in it. And they can't bite you through it either. Bed bugs can live over a year without feeding. Sealed inside the encasements without any opportunity to feed, they will eventually die.

When eradicating bed bugs, it is important to eliminate hiding options. In addition to mattresses, bedbug encasements are available for box springs and pillows. Once you encase all of these, you have removed them as hiding places. Since you will wash and dry your bedding on high heat to kill any bed bugs, you take away those areas to hide as well. Keep in mind that there is much more to handling a bed bug infestation. But encasing these areas is important to address.

It may be the fault of the Sudbury Health Unit, but I am terrified. I am not exaggerating. All my life I have suffered from a curious psychosis.
I am scared of mice, rats, earwigs, most insects and all things that bump in the night.
It may have something to do with childhood experiences. When I was very young my father rented a cottage. The previous tenants left a ferocious flea. In a couple of nights I was covered with itching welts.

I was stood naked on a clean sheet and I saw the fat flea leap away but it never bit anyone else. I seem to attract the odd and different, both bugs and people.
A report from Sudbury has me lying awake worrying and sometimes scratching. The Sudbury Health Unit has set up a bed bug committee.
The provincial government has decided that bedbugs have become an increasing menace. Like any good government they are throwing money at it. All health units may apply for a chunk of the loot.

Being sometimes parochial it would be easy to suggest that Sudbury wants to send North Bay its bedbugs in exchange for the assorted jobs and economic goodies it has purloined from North Bay. But for once this might be unfair.
Bed bugs first interested me a couple of years ago when I heard a lengthy interview with a pest control expert.

He suggested one effective treatment was a powder made from ground sea shells. It seems the bed bugs have or had very thin skins. The powder broke the skin and they bled to death. I hear now they have evolved thicker skins. Fighting bed bugs is not for the squeamish.
I was tempted to buy some of this powder and put a little into electrical outlet boxes where the bugs are refuted to hide.
I did not for one major if utterly stupid reason. I did not and do not have bed bugs. As far as I know no one in Cobalt or the Tri-Towns has been afflicted by this revolting pest.

If I as a precautionary measure bought some anti-bed bug powder the gossips would spread it all over the district that Hunt had bedbugs.
Municipal politicians would dance with joy and ordinary folk look at me with horror. There is a totally unjustified social stigma attached to bed bugs - they attack the rich and poor alike.
I do suggest all should spare a thought for the kids or families trapped inside a bed bug infested tenement on a hot Toronto night. The bugs can hitch themselves to your dress or pants in a jet liner, a bus or train.

I feel sorry for hotel managers. Fighting bed bugs has become a priority.
Imagine Madonna checking in to a super expensive joint and waking up covered with bites. She will call the media to display the ravages to her gorgeous anatomy.

Imagine what will happen to the RCMP security detachment if Prime Minister Stephen Harper is bitten during his travels. Chamber maids will be interrogated and bellboys questioned.
Reports state that dogs are now being trained to smell bedbugs. Fighting bed bugs appears to be a growth industry. There is a great variety of bug killing appliances. Many use steam. Some claim special electrical heating devices will kill or chase away every kind of bug. Just when hydro gets horribly expensive, we may need it most.

I find Ontarians both lax and complacent. I remember when everywhere in Northeastern Ontario north of North Bay was rat free. An expert told me years ago that every rat causes $20 in damages every year. Now rats are common where they were once unknown.
Ontario has a bed bug crisis and the wretched things are moving North. Anyone can get them and anyone can drop one or two in your home.
My home is still solid but it was built by Cobalt pioneers and there are lots of cracks and crevices where a bed bug can hide. They can hide for a year and then bite again.

All kinds of people visit me. How can I protect myself? A provincial election is within sight and a federal election can explode at any time. The political hopefuls will be visiting every nook and cranny. What will they pick up?
I may have to put a clothes dryer in my front porch along with a notice - All visitors must remove their clothes and put them in the dryer for 15 minutes at high heat. Kindly don one of the free paper gowns stacked by the front door if you want to enter.
The above is mostly fun. I am really serious. The bed bug menace can, will, and is causing real suffering and each and every one of us must be on guard or we shall be the next victim.

Hotel operators, public-health officials and leaders of an industry spawned to combat bedbugs urged tighter U.S. regulations and development of effective pesticides during the second National Bed Bug Summit.

"It remains a huge concern," said Joseph McInerny, chief executive officer of the American Hotel and Lodging Association at the two-day conference in Washington that ends today. Housekeeping and maintenance staff are the "first line of defense," spotting speckles of blood that signal rooms may be closed for weeks by an infestation, he said yesterday.

Bedbugs -- wingless insects that feed on the blood of sleeping animals -- invaded stores of Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Victoria's Secret and Nike Inc.'s Niketown in New York City last year as well as hotels, offices and homes.

The insects can cause reactions through bites, as well as blister-like skin infections and, in rare cases, asthma and anaphylactic shock, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"2010 was definitely the year of the bedbug," Natalie Raben, marketing director of M&M Environmental, a New York pest- management company said at the conference.

The Environmental Protection Agency convened the meeting as New York City Council members urged the agency to set regulations for better use of insecticides.

"Given the difficulty of exterminating bedbugs, we are calling upon" the EPA "to conduct further research and development of effective pesticides," Council Speaker Christine Quinn wrote in a Jan. 31 letter to the EPA with fellow members.

Abercrombie & Fitch, the teen apparel retailer, in July temporarily closed its South Street Seaport store in New York to eliminate bedbugs. Time Warner Inc. in August said it treated its offices at Columbus Circle after bedbugs were found "in a small contained area."

Commercial pest-control products may be insufficient to kill the bugs, said Liza Fleeson, program manager of consumer protection for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

"I wish we could just tell bedbugs that 'you are not allowed in this state' and regulate them out," she said.