[Noisebridge-discuss] Noisebridge-discuss Digest, Vol 43, Issue 9 (bedbugs)

[Geoff Horne]

For all of those of you who are over-engineering the Bed Bug solution. I
offer the following Advice :


0) If you've never had bedbugs, you don't know how to get rid of them.
Trust me on this. I've had bedbugs and 90% of theory doesn't work.

Getting rid of Bed bugs is just like doing a security audit to get rid of a
trojan stuck somewhere in the system. BE METHODICAL AND MISS NOTHING.

1) GET A SNIFFER DOG!! (http://www.scent-tek.com/). For the ~$250 it will
cost to survey NB, they will find and confirm any source. (They work, and
I've used them to save me a lot of time and pain)

If the dogs declare the place free of bugs you can relax and don't have to
panic.

2) Traps, foggers etc aren't the solution. The chemicals don't kill the
eggs, and the traps don't catch them. You need something better.

3) heating to 120 degrees only works if you heat EVERYTHING to 120 degrees.
You would have to turn NB into a giant sauna to get this option to work.
there are companies that can do it but the power bill alone would be very
expensive.

4) An exterminator CANNOT FIX a place like NB. They will walk in and say
   the following (after they stop laughing) :
    "Yes, you probably have bedbugs"
    "No, I can't guarantee to get rid of them 100%"
    "Yes, you will have to throw out most of this crap"

5) Find the KNOWN SOURCES of the bugs and you have a chance of cleaning the
place. Miss even ONE source and you are back to your starting point

6) BE VERY CAREFUL when you throw things out. Think "How can i move this
without dropping eggs and bugs somewhere else"

7) RE_SCAN after you've done the cleanout. Wait 12 days for any eggs to
hatch, Get the dogs back and confirm that you didn't screw it up.

YMMV.

good luck.