They like cities... no surprise. But so do vermin, upon which the bugs can feed.
Posted on 03/22/2017 8:03:33 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck
I have a buddy in rural Illinois who is living with and helping out his elderly mom, and he likes to cook. He cooks up a storm. They both enjoy the food.
The house they are in has begun to display a very bad bedbug infestation.
Both my buddy's mom and my buddy are freaking out. They don't have a lot of money but they are about to call Orkin.
I stopped to think about the science of bedbugs. Both my buddy and I did a lot of online research after discovering the infestation. But I think I have a scientific theory my buddy doesn't have.
According to a scientific paper I found that describes a study researching the repellent effect of DEET (as in Off! spray) upon bedbugs, the effect of DEET is balanced against the attractive effect of carbon dioxide. The conclusion was, as best I understood the implications, that 10% DEET would counterbalance the concentration of carbon dioxide in breath.
So that's good news for bedbug sufferers who have to survive it somehow. 10% DEET or more (and the sprays get a lot more concentrated than that) and the bedbugs are repelled from a person in spite of the attractive effect of that person's breath. A pain, but better than getting eaten up.
But then I started thinking about that carbon dioxide. And the way my buddy likes to cook on the gas stove in the place. And my brain went BINGO. What is the nominal "wattage" of a person? 80 watts at rest. What is the nominal "wattage" of a gas stove burner? 2800 plus (10,000 btu). And of a gas oven? Not sure, but it definitely is a lot. My conclusion is that if a bedbug smells carbon dioxide and it's lurking outside of an old, drafty house (and been dining on the blood of wildlife up to that point) it is going to think one gas stove burner smells like 2800/80 or 35 people. Might that seem better prospects to the bedbug than squirrels and raccoons and the like?
I've been urging my buddy to look into having the gas stove replaced with an electric one (with the appropriate wiring being done if necessary). I know he isn't a gas-only cooking snob; he used my own electric stove contentedly for years.
But what would FRee scientists think of this theory? I tried Googling gas stoves and bedbugs just for grins, and haven't seen a word about it.
I wonder if pestilences freak people out so much that they forget to reason? To the benefit of the business of exterminators? I'm suggesting to my buddy and his mom that they replace the stove as well as (if they must, and vacuuming and local spraying does not do enough) getting the house treated, so that the bedbug population isn't inadvertently replenished from the great outdoors in that drafty house.
They invented beds with legs for a reason.
I DID have a run in with them about 3 years ago in a Days Inn while on a fishing trip. While they say most people never know they've been bitten by bed bugs, it turns out I'm allergic to them and needed steroids to negate their effect. Guess that was a good thing, since I was able to take preventative measures to keep from spreading the bed bugs to my home through my clothing, luggage, etc.
My best wishes to your friend. From all the research I did on bed bugs after my incident, they are in for a long, stressful battle to kill the last little bugger.
I have had a gas stove my entire married life, 6 weeks shy of 48 years.
Never had a bedbug.
Until about 3 weeks ago. We’ve done all we were supposed to do, have continually washed & dry bedding (heating in dryer daily) spray infected area with alcohol, steam cleaned affected chair, vacuumed, etc, etc. Our problem is we cannot find a nest or source of their family. In three weeks we’ve found 10 bugs. 4 were dead when we found them. The chair they are occupying is in a room by itself no other chairs/bed. I only go out of the house to go to the dr. Or the Pharmacy as a rule, especially in winter. This is the chair I sleep in. I’m unable to lay flat in bed. I did get bitten but only four different times. And just left tiny little pinhole marks. Did itch though.
So how did we get bedbugs in a chair we’ve owned for 6 yrs. The only connection I can make is that a month ago I bought a purse at a mission thrift store and changed from my old to new purse while sitting in my chair. And purse was kept in my room.
But the stress of knowing they are there & you could carry to another piece of furniture is immense! Tried sleeping other places, too painful. Bought another chair, put it in another room, sleeping better. Now we are purging the room & the chair before we remove it. Cleaning everything, clothes, dresser, carpet...... then we’ll see. There is a lot of info online to read, some silly, but most helpful. I know more about bedbugs than I thought possible.
We’ve ordered a spray & we keep cleaning, haven’t seen any for 2 days. I thank the Lord that He opened my eyes to that first one so I could get ahead of what could be a devastating problem.
I couldn't believe this so I looked up some stats: https://www.google.com/search?q=what+percentage+of+homes+have+bedbugs%3F&oq=what+percentage+of+homes+have+bedbugs%3F&aqs=chrome..69i57.8855j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
One site said 1/5 homes had them. Another 1/10.
Take your pick. It's higher than I thought.
They like cities... no surprise. But so do vermin, upon which the bugs can feed.
I’ve had a gas stove for 21 years and have never ever had bed bugs. You (or someone else) can only bring them in from another place.
I wonder if any increase in folks sleeping on air mattresses or futons in the last 30 years has anything to with the increase in bedbug infestations. Or if infestations decreased when elevated sleeping platforms became common.
FReegards
An exterminator is probably the only way to go - professional - and it is not cheap. And not easy for the homeowner either - everything must be washed, dryer dried, in the summer some stuff can be sealed in plastic bags and left in a hot car - all drawers emptied and treated, perhaps new box springs, headboards, etc.
A relative (who does stay in hotels every several months) went through it last year and it was brutal.
How did you know? Try to save a buck & wind up spending a hundred so far!
My sympathies to you and prayers for a victory over the pestilence. And let us know what worked best.
Another theory of mine is if they can simply be starved long enough they will die, and I am seeing survival figures like 3 months at normal room temperature. But during that period, it obviously would be quite a trial on the people, unless the place can be vacated that long.
I haven’t had such a bug either but my friend is a good reminder that catching them might be closer than I think.
That’s another good theory. Beds with legs would be less likely to be infested, perhaps?
On Amazon you can find an Ozone generator which ozone oxygen. They cost less than $150. Hugs hate ozone oxygen Abe it will also purified the air of bacteria, fungus, virus and mites. I have several for different areas.
I just keep on wondering how such great masses of the bugs aggregate. People don’t have that much blood to share. They’d bleed to death. They are not garbage eaters, like cockroaches.
My family had gas stoves and never won the lottery.
I read a study that challenged that theory and it said most die within 2 months without a food source.
I imagine okra leaves may work as well.
Years ago, long before people could call a chemical company or go to the store and buy a product, somehow people used what they had at hand to solve their problems.
I have great admiration for those that came before us, for their ingenuity (and other traits, as well).
Temperature might be what makes the difference.
If the bugs can be in cool but not freezing environs, they could go a lot longer without food before they die (kind of like a hibernating bear).
Paranoid about bed bugs..hardly travel anymore
I have been all over the world (54 countries) and in some very exclusive hotels and some rathole ones and I have never gotten bed bugs before. However a friend of mind got them and he basically stays in the city. I think it is luck quite frankly.
One of the ‘methrin compounds. A can like that with a sprayer straw might be good for cracks. If there is some external bedbug nest and they are getting coaxed through the cracks.
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