Bedbugs on the Big Island

[islandboo]

quote:

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Originally posted by Wao nahele wahine


Islandboo,

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

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

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Thanks!!

[TheodoreJay]

Ha my home town Denver was just named 6th worst for bedbug infestation w/ New York as the worst. Turns out that destination cities are a good candidate for bringing the criters from other parts of the world.
Renters and VBRO types in the Puna area should pay particular attention to this one cause you never know where your renter has been.

[AlohaSteven]

There are several resource links for identifying bedbugs and so on in this 16SEP2010 CNN news story:
Bedbug threat irks hotels, spooks guests
by A. Pawlowski
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/09/16/bed...tml?hpt=C2

The article quotes a gal who "...was bitten on her back and shoulders while staying at a luxury hotel in New York earlier this month. 'People should be aware of the danger in NYC hotels right now'...It may cost a hotel hundreds if not into the thousands of dollars per room to get rid of an infestation, Mount said. But the majority of hotels are bedbug-free, he added, and people are still traveling. Vigilant staff trained to look for signs of bedbugs can reduce the chances of an infestation."

Puna's B&B industry might want to take note of that last part in particular.



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Günther - Tutti Frutti Summer Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3sNARLNu_Y

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[robguz]

Someone tell the Singer family. Another project they can take on, "Save the Bedbugs!"

[AlohaSteven]

Environmental guru Umbra Fisk holds forth with perspective, advice, and useful links in this informative 20SEP2010 article planet-friendlier ways to prevent and kill bed bugs
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-09-17-...l-bed-bugs

She prudently notes "The recent bedbug burst has led to pesticide misuse, like spraying hazardous chemicals intended for outdoor use in the house. These pesticides are dangerous. They can damage the central nervous system, and even cause cancer. Given the choice of lying in a bed filled with bedbugs or one sprayed with unapproved pesticides, I'd have to choose the bedbugs. They are gross and annoying, but they're far less dangerous to your health. Besides, bedbugs have become resistant to most household pesticides. Using harsher pesticides may only make them stronger in the long run. A trusted professional is your best bet for chemical treatments."

Which begs the question (since the day when bedbugs are a problem in Puna as well as Cincinnati seems inevitable), who are the most-trusted home pesticide professionals on the East Side of the Big island?


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Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Günther - Tutti Frutti Summer Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3sNARLNu_Y

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[asly]

As summer travel comes to an end, I have to share that we went to WA State and stayed in a series of 4 hotels, each one very nice, and came home bitten by bedbugs. My friend and her family went to Vermont and a few surrounding states, stayed in a nice resort for a week, and came home bitten by bedbugs. Another friend just returned from San Diego, bitten by bedbugs, stayed at a nice place. And yet another friend came back from New York bitten up too.... this was all in the same month of August.

So, yes, it does seem inevitable that these infestations are traveling. What can be done as a prevention measure? Any natural method suggestions?

I did have a customer in my lavender shop a few months ago who mentioned traveling in Europe and every night she was instructed to rub the pile of milled lavender onto her bed before she went to sleep to ward off pesky bugs.....

Enjoy the day! Ann

[Dave Smith]

I saw a piece on television that recommended putting your suitcase either in a plastic bag or into the bathtub when you stay at a hotel to avoid bringing the critters home with you.

[AlohaSteven]

A good travel tip, that! Thanks, Dave.

When you arrive home it might also be useful to place your suitcase, laundry, and so on in black plastic trash bags, seal the bags, and set them out in direct sunlight for a few hours. The intense heat buildup inside the bags may kill off any bedbugs which stowed away and invited themselves home with you despite the bagging and bathtub isolation at hotels en route.



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Günther - Tutti Frutti Summer Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3sNARLNu_Y

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[Larry T]

A E mail.

Much of our clothing, sheets, towels, etc. now comes from companies outside of America, (sad but true), even the most expensive stores sell foreign clothing from China, Indonesia, etc. The bed bugs are coming in on the clothing as these countries do not consider them a problem. He recommends that if you buy any new clothing, even underwear and socks, sheets, towels, etc. that you bring them into the house and put them in your clothes dryer for at least 20 minutes. The heat will kill them and their eggs. DO NOT PURCHASE CLOTHES AND HANG THEM IN THE CLOSET FIRST. It does not matter what the price range is of the clothing, or if the outfit comes from the most expensive store known in the U.S. They still get shipments from these countries and the bugs can come in a box of scarves or anything else for that matter. That is the reason why so many stores, many of them clothing stores have had to shut it down in NYC and other places. All you need is to bring one item into the house that has bugs or eggs and you will go to hell and back trying to get rid of them.

[AlohaSteven]

I just saw this informative news item over on Damon Tuckers blog:
http://damontucker.com/2010/10/20/bed-bu...next-week/

"Good advice is to make the bed an island, leaving a bed bug’s only passage to the blood meal (YOU!) through The Bed Moat monitor. The Bed Moat will trap any bed bugs that want to take this journey but unknowingly this trip becomes a travel of death. The use of mattress encasements is also highly recommended....The Bed Moat will be featured at PestWorld at the National Pest Management Association show in Honolulu, Hawaii October 20-23, 2011."

Judging from the diagram and description it seems to me the efficacy of this strategy depends on the only part of the bed coming in contact with the floor being the bedlegs. Any bedspreads, blankets, or suchlike which hang down to touch the floor would create an alternative route, a bridge, past the moat traps. Certainly seems like a good idea in concept if one does not routinely kick covers half-off the bed during the night.


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Jaan Pehechaan Ho by Mohammed Rafi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgeuUAzThto

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