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Bedbugs on the Big Island
#1
Bedbugs are increasingly in the mainland news and now two people I know personally (one in Austin, the other in San Francisco, both of them quite clean and tidy folks in general) tell me they have recently gone through an ordeal to eliminate bedbugs from their homes.

A quick web search shows bedbugs have been a problem on Oahu since at least 2006. http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/articl...80338.html

This 28OCT2008 note reflects bedbug complaints against the King Kam hotel in Kona (http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/1...each_Hotel). I stayed there recently and was impressed by the remodeling they have done; so far no bedbugs appear to have stowed away in my suitcase and been subsequently brought back to Puna.

My friends in Austin and SF are cautioning me to forget about buying any yard sale or thrift store item which could harbor a bedbug. That is, no furniture, framed pictures, books, fabrics, appliances or electronics, and so on. Just about the only "safe" items seem to be sealed cans, chemicals, glassware, and suchlike (and even then not if these are carted back home in a cardboard box from the yard sale or store!) My friends are unsure of the sources from which their bedbug infestations arose, but the SF friend suspects a framed picture purchased at a yard sale or thrift store and the Austin friend suspects the suitcase of a traveling houseguest as being the most likely sources. Their experience is that getting rid of bedbugs once they are present in a home is a lengthy, labor-intensive, expensive, and maddening ordeal. Not, they stress, worth a bargain treasure discovered at a yard sale.

As someone who adores bargain treasures discovered at yard sales and stays at hotels like the King Kam, I feel a bit alarmed at all this and wonder if anyone on Punaweb knows of any actual confirmed bedbug incidents here in Puna or elsewhere on the Big Island? How widespread a problem are these pesty critters, locally?

Apparently people feel a stigma associated with bedbugs such that they try to keep it secret if an infestation occurs. Given that bedbugs are showing up in ritzy NY mansions with maids & cleaning staffs and at business venues like the CNN headquarters it is probably time to let go of an outdated and unwarranted association between bedbugs and a lack of cleanliness. Still, if you know of episodes of bedbugs on the Big Island but are reluctant to post what you know here for fear others will think you have cooties, then I encourage you to create a new alternative identity for Punaweb (e.g., BedBugReporter1, BedBugReporter2, etc) and so use that alternative identity to post that which you know completely anonymously. I, for one, would appreciate knowing peoples' local experience with these pests, if indeed bedbugs have made their way to the Big island.


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#2
Our ohana often goes to see movies at Kress.It is a popular place.We have seen Emily and her husband there on Saturdays several times.
So far no bugs though the place is also popular with homeless people and not so clean.
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#3
Several years ago when we came here to look at property, we stayed at the Hilo Seaside Inn in Hilo. (The initial website package deal we purchased horribly misrepresented the hotel.) I'd never been bitten by a bedbug before, but I had 40 bites on my legs. It took over three weeks for them to go away. The bites happened while I was sleeping, and didn't hurt. However, the bites left red spots over a 1/4 inch in diameter, and sometimes they would itch. Never had a bite since, and I do travel extensively at times for work. (No cooties, here Smile )
Wahine

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#4
Don't feel bad we have bed bugs in Colorado as well. Currently the best treatment for matresses is either leave it out in sub zero weather for a day or so; or the universities here have a high heat treatment system (basically they turn the student rooms into a sauna w/ 120 degrees plus heat that kills the criters). Woa to the person that sleeps in an infested bed then brings the bugs home. Remember all clothing should be laundered w/ very hot water and luggage cleaned out thouroughly before going home.
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#5
The organizations who book rooms for teacher trainings use the lower/mid range hotels on Waikiki; according to tripadvisor there have been some bed bug issues at some of those hotels in the past, so I am taking garbage bags with me when I go to Oahu for a training. I will put my carry on bag in a garbage before I go in the room, then I will check for the tell tale signs of bed bugs along the edges of the mattress and box springs, and ask for a different room if I find any signs. No matter what, my bag will stay in the plastic bag, all my dirty laundry will go home in another one, and straight into the washer. I am just going to be super diligent about not bringing anything home because bedbugs are really hard to get rid of, especially in the tropics. They can be found all over too, not just beds and bedrooms. An upscale Victoria's Secret in Manhattan had to close down for months and totally remodel to get rid of their infestation. Hotel rooms are especially vulnerable because people from all over pass through for such short periods.

Carol
Carol

Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
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#6
Okay Carol - now I've got the crawlies! LOL I saw the news the other night when they did a piece on this...it's true we hear more and more about this.

Carrie

http://www.sapphiresoap.etsy.com

"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future..." Galadriel LOTR
Carrie Rojo

"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future..." Galadriel LOTR
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#7
Sorry, Carrie. Someday I will tell you my hitchhiker's kid with ukus story. You will be scratching your head for weeks and never pick up another hitchhiker.

The truth is these parasites (bed bugs, ukus, scabies amongst others) will all do extremely well as long as there are hosts for them, and at 7 billion and counting there are lots of people for them to feed on. These pests cross all geographic and socioeconomic lines, wherever there are people, there are parasites. The best policy is awareness of the signs of infestations, sanitary awareness like not sharing combs, and preventative segregation of possibly exposed items when bringing them into your home. I am super sensitive to insect bites, and I get long term negative secondary skin conditions from them that are really uncomfortable, so I am more vigilant than most people.

When ukus made the rounds of my daughters' school we found that the poor and working class families dealt with it right away and thoroughly, even if it meant missing work and spending grocery money at the laundromat washing everything you own that can fit in a washer. The more affluent families tended to be in denial and made really half assed efforts at first. The wealthiest family in the school reinfected the whole class 3 times. Finally, I had to sit down and show the Mom how to use a nit comb to go through every hair on her kids' heads, and explain how and why to wash, freeze, or bag up all possible carriers. She kept saying "But we aren't dirty, how can we give anyone head lice?" But the fact that there was an embargo on her kids being invited to anyone's house finally woke her up, and after seeing the evidence with her own eyes she realized that these things can happen to anyone who is around other people, especially kids.

Carol
Carol

Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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#8
Yes, my daughter kept bringing them home from school. She was seated next to a girl whose mother was just not concerned with the many times her daughter was sent home, or the notes that were sent regarding this girl's headlice.

Finally, the girl was not allowed in school until passing a headlice check everytime she went to school.

I kept asking them to change my daughter's seat so that she was not next to this girl, I put her hair in very tight braids, etc. Gena told me that she would play with her on the playground because she felt sad for her.

It's nice the kids are older and out of school! Haaa Haaa

Carrie

http://www.sapphiresoap.etsy.com

"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future..." Galadriel LOTR
Carrie Rojo

"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future..." Galadriel LOTR
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#9
"I will put my carry on bag in a garbage before I go in the room, then I will check for the tell tale signs of bed bugs along the edges of the mattress and box springs, and ask for a different room if I find any signs."

So what are the signs one should be looking for?
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#10
quote:
Originally posted by islandboo

"I will put my carry on bag in a garbage before I go in the room, then I will check for the tell tale signs of bed bugs along the edges of the mattress and box springs, and ask for a different room if I find any signs."

So what are the signs one should be looking for?


Islandboo,

Here's a link about bedbugs that might answer your question:

http://www.bedbugsguide.com/identifying-bed-bugs.htm



Wahine

Lead by example
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