Few animals, even among insects, are as reviled by people as are bed bugs, more formally known as Cimex lectularius. The problem becomes how to kill bed bugs.

And according to a news release from the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) published recently, we’re only going to become more and more familiar with them, as the rate of bed bug infestations continue to climb upward.

More Bug Than Bed

Despite the name, bed bugs are suited to virtually any environment that contains humans, including doctors’ offices, buses, taxis, and retail stores. And according to the 2015 Bugs Without Borders survey conducted by the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky, they are definitely becoming more prevalent.

Polling 7,000 pest management professionals, they found that 58 percent of nursing homes had been treated for bed bugs vs. 46 percent in the 2013 survey; 45 percent vs. 36 percent of offices; and 43 percent vs. 41 percent of schools and daycare centers. And 64 percent of these professionals agreed that bed bugs are on the rise. Even more troubling was the finding that a similar percentage believed that these pesky pests are among the hardest to properly control.

Why are bed bug infestations increasing?

According to an expert quoted by the AAD, Dr. Theodore Rosen, a professor of dermatology at Baylor College of Medicine, the elimination of DDT in the United States during the 1970s, which nearly eradicated the bed bug population when it was in popular use, coupled with the development of insecticides that only targeted cockroaches, a predator of bed bugs, largely, but not entirely, explain their resurgence.

Other factors include an increase in air travel and a boost in the popularity of secondhand furniture. And much like bacteria, bed bugs are growing resistant to the current arsenal of pesticides available (DDT-resistance was already being noticed in bed bugs when it was discontinued). “It was kind of like the perfect storm,” Dr. Rosen said in the AAD’s release.

With that in mind, here are some more kernels of information about them, including what to do when you come across them:

They can’t fly.

Nor can they cause disease — they can, however, cause a telltale allergic rash through their blood-sucking bite. Some research indicates that a substantial proportion of people don’t react to the bite, but it’s largely very dated or from small sample sizes. For many people, the allergic reaction may only happen after the second or third bite, not the first.

Though they are considered nocturnal, bed bugs are more attuned to warmth than anything else and can emerge at any time of day. That might be partly why, according to the Bugs Without Borders survey, bed bug infestations peak around the summertime. Though it could also be the case that people simply travel more then.

Their affinity to warm temperatures only applies to feeding time, however. Even if you’re carrying them around from place to place, they’re very unlikely to hitch a ride on your exceedingly warm body, instead they’ll reside in your cooled luggage.

Bed bugs are also often associated with unclean, dirty environments but that’s giving them too much credit. Any place with human hosts will do fine, whether a ritzy lounge or an unwashed college student’s dorm. There is evidence that they prefer to attack urban areas over those rural, however.

Bed bugs live in all 50 states. Under normal conditions, they can live up to a year, but only a few months without feeding. Bed bug sprays have been very effective against bed bugs.

They’re now known as bed bugs, but once upon a time it would have been appropriate to call them cave bugs, since it’s believed that they moved from picking on bats to hassling humans once we moved into these spacious indoor environments several thousand years ago. As we left the caves to build civilizations, they came along for the ride.

When sleeping in a new environment, such as a hotel, there are simple precautions you can take, including checking the bed. “Bedbugs tend to settle in corners, so make sure to pay attention to those areas,” Rosen said. “Look closely anywhere there’s a 90-degree angle.”

Whether it’s away or at home, the most prudent thing is to call for professional help. Bed bugs are almost impossible to eliminate fully through home remedies like steaming your clothes or bedding.

Though we’re currently losing the battle against bed bugs, a new innovation developed by husband-wife team and biologists Dr. Regine Gries and Dr. Gerhard Gries may someday win the war. They were able to create a pheromone-scented trap that lures bed bugs away from their hiding place. “This trap will help landlords, tenants, and pest-control professionals determine whether premises have a bedbug problem, so that they can treat it quickly. It will also be useful for monitoring the treatment’s effectiveness,” said Gerhard in a statement at the time. The Gries trap may be available as early as this year.

EcoRaider is a great bed bug treatment

EcoRaider, which kills bed bugs and is effective on all stages of the pest without lingering environmental effects, was named “the most effective bio-insecticide for bed bugs” by Entomological Society of America-published lab data in the Journal of Economic Entomology.

EcoRaider is a ready-to-use, naturally derived bio-insecticide that can be applied anywhere bed bugs are found without restriction. EcoRaider can be used in various environments, including schools, health-care facilities and public spaces.

(From Medical Daily)

It was quite cold in Denver during the 4th annual Global Bed Bug Summit, in fact below freezing for much of the two day program. But research is discovering that freezing temperatures are not always enough to kill bed bugs, and certainly not immediately.

Chilling News from the Lab
Bed bugs, like most insects, have learned to adapt to a variety of environmental conditions.  Just as they have learned to adapt to many modern pesticides and have developed resistance to them, bed bugs have also evidently evolved mechanisms to resist extreme cold.  At least for a time.

As recently reported in a number of news sources, an article in the December 2013 edition of the Journal of Economic Entomology, published by the Entomological Society of America, titled “Cold Tolerance of Bed Bugs and Practical Recommendations for Control,” laid out the evidence.

Researchers attempted to determine what temperatures would be 100% lethal to all bed bug stages, from nymph to adult.  They found it would require 80 continuous hours at -16 Celsius (3.2 F).  Amping up the cold to -20 Celsius (4 F) would kill in about 48 hrs.

Apparently bed bugs have learned to adapt to freezing, at least for a short time, by lowering the freezing point of their bodily fluids, and thus can survive with a greatly reduced metabolism. Here we have yet another example of the extreme adaptability of this persistent pest.

This research should immediately call into question cryogenic treatments for bed bugs used in the past, which have now largely been abandoned by the pest control industry. While cryogenic treatment is certainly “green’ and has no harmful side effects for humans or animals, it is very difficult for it to be effective. A constant and sustained temperature, as the research shows, has to be maintained to actually be effective.  And the bed bug must be fully exposed to that killing temperature for a sustained period..

The Laboratory vs. the Field
The lab is not the field. The research laboratory is a controlled environment by definition.  The field – the real world – is not.  Variables interject and conditions can change, often suddenly.  Consider this scenario:  A sofa discarded late in the day, say in Denver during freezing weather, may contain bed bugs.  As the temperature dips, the bed bug is burrowed into the cushions, the frame, or other somewhat insulated areas. Overnight the temperature is well below the lab threshold, but our bed bug is snug and warm.  No worries.  He’s not fully exposed to the lab determined optimal killing temperature. He’s snug as a bug in a rug, as the old saying goes.

Come the new day, temps rise to, say -8 Celsius (27 F), and our bed bug is out of the woods for now.  A passer-by stops for a minute out of curiosity to inspect the discarded sofa and as his pants leg, or shoe perhaps comes in contact with the discarded sofa, the bed bug sensing warmth (and maybe the prospect of a blood meal!) hops on board for a ride home with our unsuspecting passer-by.  The bed bug is happy.  There is the prospect for a meal, and if a it’s a female ready to lay eggs, the prospect of a new colony, and lots of potential misery for our unsuspecting pedestrian.  A new infestation in the urban environment is about to take hold.  That’s real world.  That’s the way it works.

You Can Do It Yourself!  Just Put ‘Em in Your Freezer!
On the heels of this interesting research, some of the popular articles reviewed (trying to be helpful, we guess) have even suggested that people can place infected items, clothing, etc., in the freezer for two to four days to rid those articles of bed bugs.  That’s good in theory, based on the research.  But that also raises some practical questions:  Can most home freezers actually maintain the requisite temperatures for a sufficient time, especially while otherwise in use for food storage.  Open the freezer to dig around for that pint of Haagen Dazs Gelato you have stashed away, or the frozen spinach for dinner, and you’ve immediately blown your base temperature.  That will probably cost you another hour or  so at 3.2 F to compensate.

Besides that, do people really want to stuff pillows, mattresses, chairs, drapes, and  a hamper of infected clotting in their freezer for a couple of days?  Probably not, would be our guess.  Great in theory.  Not so great in practice.

Perhaps a better and simpler idea would be to wash any infected personal items in hot soapy water and dry on high heat.  Much quicker, just as effective, certainly ‘green,’ and it doesn’t’ monopolize your freezer.  Your freezer is now free for its intended use — stocking with Haagen Dazs, frozen cheese cake, and all those pizza specials from the neighborhood grocery.  That’s what home freezers are for.  Not for do-it-yourself bed bug remediation.

The Simple Solution:
EcoRaider, based on solid science and research, is proven to kill bed bugs, both in the lab and in the field.  Safe for people, for pets, the whole household.  It’s the simple solution.

And you certainly won’t have to worry about overloading the washer (or freezer!)