Just a Reminder

Bedbugs are on the prowl again

The bedbug, virtually eliminated decades ago, is taking a fierce new bite out of Victoria, with experts reporting an exponential increase in outbreaks in homes, apartments and hotels.

By Times Colonist (Victoria) August 29, 2008

The bedbug, virtually eliminated decades ago, is taking a fierce new bite out of Victoria, with experts reporting an exponential increase in outbreaks in homes, apartments and hotels.
"Since 2003 there have been huge increases year upon year," says Blair Dooley, owner of Old Island Pest Control.
"All the data I get from associations in the U.S., companies are reporting between 300 and 500 per cent increases yearly," he says, explaining that the situation is the same here.
“A lot of people are under the impression that bedbugs are invisible or that they don’t exist,” said Sean Rollo, creator of the Bed Bug Resource website and a pest-control operator in Vancouver.
“I’m amazed at the seminars I do where there’s over half the people in the room who have never heard of bedbugs.”
Nemeth, however, managed to rid himself of the bugs using diatomaceous earth, a fossil shell powder that dehydrates and kills the bugs, and some sticky tape in a roll around the bed. He's been bedbug-free for a year now, a rare occurrence for those who deal with the bugs on their own. Most infestations are only eliminated after several pesticide treatments by pest control companies. The bugs, which live by feeding on the blood of humans and other warm-blooded hosts, were largely believed to have been eradicated 40 years ago due to the widespread use of pesticides like DDT.
But the 21st century has seen a marked increase in infestations -- which Rollo and Dooley attribute to a change in cockroach control methods. Cockroaches used to be killed with residual pesticides, which would kill any bedbugs at the same time, but they are now killed with gel traps. As well, preventive pesticide sprayings in homes and hotels are no longer allowed under new pest control laws.
"So now if someone does bring a bedbug into a hotel room, there's nothing there to control them," says Rollo. "They could be sitting there for months before we even know."
Rollo and Dooley also blame an increase in travel and more people bringing used upholstered furniture into their homes.
The bugs can live anywhere, regardless of cleanliness -- behind baseboards, in box springs, mattresses, or small cracks in furniture. While they usually feed every five to 10 days, they are able to go without feeding for up to 18 months, which makes them extremely hard to eliminate.
All it takes is a few bugs on clothing or furniture to cause a problem, says Dooley.
In one week in July, he sprayed a house and a townhouse, as well as multiple units in two hotels and two apartment buildings. The bugs are only eliminated after multiple treatments.