Bed Bugs Part III

You may be in a situation where a bed bug infestation is identified but you have yet to receive treatment. In these cases, you should preserve evidence of an infestation while minimizing it in the short term. Here are some tips:

• Do not apply store bought pesticides. Consumer grade pesticides are not very effective and make it more difficult for professionals to treat effectively because bed bugs are resistant to these chemicals and will move into wall cavities and less obvious spaces such as inside of electronics or other hard to reach areas.

• Secure sleeping areas. As stated in the previous article, an effective step is to install and maintain mattress and box spring encasements. Once all mattresses and box springs are encased, you should secure bed frames. Simple metal-framed beds are easier to deal with and can be salvaged. Most of the time, however, you cannot salvage wood frames, and must wrap them in plastic before disposing them.

• Vacuum and maintain the vacuum. Take steps to ensure that the vacuum does not become infested after usage. Our program uses hepa-filtered, canister vacuums that use bags. We vacuum about one third of a box of baking soda in order to dry the insects and make it harder for them to survive and escape. We seal our vacuums with tape in strategic areas between uses to prevent insects from getting out.

• Use monitors to track bugs. After a bed is secured, it should be isolated from the wall to limit the ways that bed bugs can get onto a bed because they can only crawl and do not jump or fly. If the bed has legs, one can install passive monitors to further protect your bed. Passive monitors allow insects to crawl into it, but remain trapped in a “ridge” because the walls are steep and made slippery with talcum powder. These monitors are a valuable tool for our project because it reduces inspection time when we are: 1) trying to determine if someone has an active infestation, 2) know that there is a low-level infestation, or 3) are trying to prevent adjacent bedrooms from becoming infested.

Evidence of infestation can be preserved by taping over a harborage area with a clear, strong tape wherever bed bugs are found. A jar of insects will not be enough to prove there is an infestation to HPD or to a pest control professional. Then you can move on to laundering clothes and bedding, placing them in the dryer on high for at least 30 minutes.

In the last installment of this series, we’ll share tips on how board and shareholders can address the issue of bed bugs.  For more information check out videos of Ray Lopez’s Bed Bug Seminar and the other installments of this series.

Ray López is the Director of the Environmental Health Program at LSA Family Health Service, Inc., a non-profit organization located in East Harlem. His program focuses on healthy housing issues, especially asthma and bed bugs. He was also on the NYC Bed Bug Advisory Board.