Month: November 2010

The first thing to understand about our infestation is that we never actually saw an adult bed bug. In fact, of the hundred-odd photos I took during the experience, it’s not clear that any show a bed bug.

That’s a crucial difference between our infestation and the horror stories you’ll read about elsewhere. Our infestation consisted of a relatively few bed bugs and, because we (generally) acted quickly, decisively, and consistently, they didn’t multiply beyond control.

There is no mistaking a bed bug bite, however, and that will probably be the first indication that you have an infestation. The references in the first post in this series should give you a general idea of what a bite looks and feels like, but here’s a quick summary:

• You’ve never felt a bite itch like that in your life
• Two or three such bites, a few cm apart, are diagnostic

Some people have a long-delayed reaction or no reaction at all. If you’re one of those folks, then our techniques probably won’t work for you, unless the rest of your family has more “normal” reactions.

Bed bugs are obligate hematophages: they must have at least one blood meal at each stage of their life cycle. That’s where you come in. While they prefer humans, it seems any mammal will serve in a pinch, and if you’re the sort with indoor dogs or cats, you have a real problem.

Because they’re only a few millimeters long, bed bugs tend to stay relatively close to their food supply (i.e., you), rather than commute long distances. The bed bugs you brought home will, most likely, quickly take up lodging in your bed, a favorite chair, or the desk where you sit for a few hours. Eliminating all of those lodgings, known as harborages, is essentially impossible, despite what you read in the references.

Each of the five instars from egg to adult requires at least one blood meal to provide enough energy to grow and molt. An adult female bed bug requires one meal after mating, after which she can produce a few hundred eggs without another meal. Although the references aren’t forthcoming, we think bed bugs have no qualms about introducing loops in their family trees: any male may inseminate any female.

(Digression: So you think you’re comfortable with weird sexual practices? This will turn your stomach: bed bugs practice traumatic insemination.)

Our overall plan of battle, then, was quite simple:

• Eliminate as many harborages as practical
• Prevent every instar from progressing to the next stage
• Prevent breeding

The plan may be simple, but the implementation posed some, ah, difficulties…

Back in July, we returned from our bicycling vacation with a few bed bugs in our luggage. We have our suspicions about where they came from, but that’s not really relevant: bed bugs can come from nearly anywhere. You can bring a bed bug home from a classy hotel just as easily as from a sleazy dive… and you will!

After three months, we think we’ve eliminated the last bed bug: no bites for the last three weeks. One can never be absolutely certain, but that’s definitely a good sign, particularly in combination with the monitoring measures we’re using.

We accomplished this on our own, without the use of a licensed PCO (Pest Control Operator) and without the use of toxic chemicals. It was, however, extremely expensive in terms of time, materials, and furnishings, as well as completely disrupting our family life.

While our methods definitely do not scale to the level required for a major infestation, most likely you’ll be in our situation: you return from a vacation with one or two, um, guests. If you understand what we’ve done and why we’ve done it, you’ll have a better basis for your own decisions and actions.

So.

Most of what you’ll find in the usual Internet forums comes from (possibly) well-meaning folks who haven’t done any reading or experimentation: it’s raw anecdotal experience. Not to slander them, but it’s better to start with the basics, which you get from the primary sources.

To that end, here are the better sources we’ve found and used:

• A good overview at, of all places, Wikipedia. Pay particular attention to the life cycle.
• Highly detailed information from the Australian Department of Entomology at their Bed Bug home page. Print the Code of Practice PDF as a booklet, bind it, and read thoroughly.
• Cornell University’s Integrated Pest Management overview and an excellent Guidelines for Prevention and Management of Bed Bugs in Shelters and Group Living Facilities.
• A fundamental study from the Bad Old Days: The ecology of the bed-bug, Cimex lectularius L., in Britain Report on Research, 1935-40.
• The definitive study of what attracts bedbugs to traps: Bed Bug (Heteroptera: Cimicidae) Attraction to Pitfall Traps Baited With Carbon Dioxide, Heat, and Chemical Lure.

With those references in hand, I can describe what we did and how it worked. If you’re the sort who can’t drive past a nasty accident without gawking (and we are all that sort, really), then the next week or so should be good for at least that level of amusement…

A note to the potential purchasers of our house, when you read this in what’s currently our future: yeah, bed bugs. The only difference between this house and the next one on your list is that you know what happened here, what we did, and how it worked out. Trust me on this: no other homeowner will tell you anything about their bed bug experiences, to the extent of lying to your face.

Believe it.

Update: Here’s a quick index to the rest of (this chapter of) the Bed Bug Story:

• Overview
• Infestation and Breeding
• Assured Destruction
• Pesticides
• Killing Fields
• Thermal Kill
• Disinsecting the Bedroom
• Lures
• Traps From Planet Powder
• Furniture Isolation
• Living on Planet Sticky
• Dying on Planet Sticky