What are bedbugs? 
Bedbugs are small vampire insects (about the size of an apple seed), flat and fast. Bedbugs feed on human blood at night, feed every 2-3 days, injects local painkiller and anti-coagulant which only 30% of people respond to with bite reactions. Female bedbugs lay hundreds of eggs during lifetime, lays 10 eggs a day, resistant to most pesticides. Bedbug eggs are sticky and can cement themselves to bed frames, bedside tables, baseboard, and other hard surfaces making them hard to eliminate.
How do you get bedbugs?
Bedbugs are travel opportunists, luggage, sports bags, aircraft holds, luggage handling equipment, clothes, pets, visitors, used furniture, borrowed beds, etc. Often you can pick them up from pets, hotels (even ncie ones), motels, hostels and resorts.
How do I avoid bringing bedbugs home when I travel?
A key way to avoid bedbugs is to keep your luggage and sport bags on the luggage racks commonly provided by hotels. Check the bed, headboard, and drawers for signs of bedbugs. Keep clothes and gifts in sealed plastic travel bags.
Open your luggage away from your bedroom ( e.g. garage, kitchen) open outside, bag and leave empty luggage on balcony or outside storage.
How do I know I have bedbugs?
Bites - a good indication of bedbugs – especially in winter.
Live bedbugs in room – especially on bed.
Blood marks or dark red feces around bed or walls.
Bedbugs in folds of mattress, box spring, head board or locations especially near bed. They are attracted to human sent, heat and carbon dioxide at night. They hide and avoid light during the day.
What do I do if I find bedbugs or suspect an infestation?
REPORT IT! Ask around, no one want to talk about it, your friends may avoid you, your workers may shun you, your dorm MAY NOT HAVE A CONTROL PLAN OR CONTROL BUDGET.
In your dorm, turn your bed into a BEDBUG FREE OASIS.
Why? In a dorm you have clutter, under bed storage, stuff near bed, covers touching floor, clothes not hung up, sticky eggs, bugs 5 m from bed, most near head of bed or in bed, they like to be near food (you), they can live 1 year with no food, hide everywhere you can stick a fingernail or credit card.
Bedding and clothes treatment – commercial laundry , borax soap and high heat to dry – 10 minutes extra
Clutter – remove, treat with diatomaceous earth, bag remove, store elsewhere.
Pesticides – reduce or avoid for health reasons
GREEN PROTECTION - using diatomaceous earth, cleaning with strong detergents and/or isopropyl 70% alcohol, and heat treatment.
Prevention – catch bedbug outbreaks early !
Action: contact dorm supervisor, do they have plan? exterminator only? Plan to clean all dorm?
Exterminators use insect toxic chemicals - apply them every 2 weeks as eggs hatch in 2 weeks
Pesticides may be toxic for some, you may react to the chemicals and their residues. Report health concerns immediately
Bedbugs are active at night, they avoid spraying by hiding, most pesticides are only good on contact sprays. In addition, there are 14 – 16 strains resistant to insecticides.
Minimize how much of the bedding is sprayed. Long term effects of sleeping with pesticides are not known.
Make your bed bug free oasis:
Bag and commercial clean bedding and clothes
Treat mattress and box spring with diatomaceous earth. Encase both with bedbug rated encasements
Treat and seal bed frame, headboard
No storage underneath bed or near bed unless in space bags or airtight bags.
Remove clutter near bed
Keep bedding off floor.
Create diatomaceous earth (DE-10) barrier around bed legs or use lift trap.
Treat side tables to create barrier.
Treat wall outlets – power, phone, light, heat, holes with diatomaceous earth.
Be patient – bedbugs hatch every 2 weeks, can live for year without food
Keep clothes off bed.
Watch for evidence of bites.
Treat your bedroom to prevent infestations:
Steam carpets and treat with a fine layer of diatomaceous earth – one foot around edges of wall and bed posts.
Treat wall perimeter with diatomaceous earth.
Spray and wash one meter of bottom wall strong detergent to remove any eggs.
Spray any live bugs, nymphs, and eggs with isopropyl 70% alcohol (rubbing alcohol)
Keep luggage and sport bags away from bed – bag in plastic when not being used and store on balcony if possible.
Re-apply diatomaceous earth blend as needed or every other month
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