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Henna, I think luvnyc was merely trying to say - "be wary on the Internet". Which is good advice, if you've yet to notice. Maybe don't take it so personally. Your post added nothing to the discussion, so why don't you take it up in private messages.
It's clear you're going through a hard time but no need to take it out on me. Your post above makes absolutely no sense. Guess you are sleep deprived. Hope your situation resolves soon.
I just got done putting out a C02 trap when I was out of town for two weeks at the end of TWO YEARS of bedbuggery. After two years, and 10 exterminator visits, I still didn't know if I was free of them.
Nothing was caught in the trap, thank god.
I will say that after a while, you stop going mental. It just seems like a permanent condition to be dealt with.
Congrats. Did you purchase your CO2 trap or make it yourself? I plan to make my own since a littler sugar and yeast added to a bottle of water will ferment and produce CO2 for weeks. Use a little plastic tubing and channel the CO2 into a plastic cup or tin can, and tape some paper towels to the outside so the bedbugs can climb up and inside, and voila, you've got yourself a bedbug trap. Then just put some talcum powder on the inside so there's no way they can get enough traction to climb out, plus some diatomaceous earth so they'll die, and you won't even have to squish them yourself!
Harlem Resident is right. I'm normally contemptuous of 311, but in this case, it puts the landlord on notice with the city. Unfortunately, 311 will probably not let you talk to anyone, but you can try tracking down the Vector Control department, which I think is the NYC division that handles bedbugs. (It might be part of the Health department.) If you get a person's name, I'd write to the LL (although I think certified mail is a waste of money) and send a copy to that person.
May I ask how/where you did your research? Because I've been trying to look up a few things, and am getting nowhere.
There is a web site called "bedbugger" ? I have never heard of it, although we have not had bedbugs. I only knew about the registry, which is an important resource I think.
HPD will write violations for bedbugs, and 311 complaint calls (which are, I agree, results-wise useless) are listed as complaints on the HPD site. This is also a good place to check a building's history before you move in.
Otherwise, sadly, 311 is only useful for creating paper trails ... They do issue complaint numbers.
That's kind of harsh to say all that about the bedbugger site. That's very odd that you'd say there are no entomologists on the site when in fact there is a highly regarded one, Lou Sorkin, from the American Museum of Natural History, who posts regularly on the site (or at least he did when I was reading it). He is generous with his knowledge and in fact does help with ID'ing bugs for people.
You are saying the first question people ask you is how you know it's a bedbug, or to make sure your bug is properly ID'd. OF COURSE this is the first question to ask. The reason they ask is because people are on there going crazy about having "bedbugs" when in fact they might have found a cockroach nymph, a bird mite, a spider beetle, etc. And there are plenty of quacks out there who would go to your house, take your money and tell you that you have bedbugs when in fact all you have is a roach nymph. So it's actually silly if you don't take the opportunity on a free website to have your bug ID'd by an expert like Sorkin.
Also, several of the exterminators who post on that site do not even have businesses in this country, so it's highly doubtful that they are on there (in England or Italy, for example) hoping to get New Yorkers to hire them.
I guess you're mad about something that happened when you participated in the bedbugger forum, and I have no idea what people said to you. You can feel however you want about that site, but don't come on here saying stuff that's untrue and make others scared to use it.
.
You must have a personal connection to that site.
Be it harsh or not that's my opinion of the site. The way they have treated some on the site is despicable only b/c they shared how something worked for them. As I said before they will grill someone who has already had the bugs identified by an exterminator. The OP can go there and form his own opinion.
It's also the OP's choice on how to handle his situation and if he decides to go to the site and use an exterminator there is also his business, it won't be any skin off my back.
Sharing my experience was a way to help in the interim something shunned on that site.
So again unless you have a personal connection I don't understand why my opinion would ruffle your feathers so, especially since you've said you've never had bed bugs.
Diatomaceous earth is used in grain storage for a reason--it controls
pests.
Yes, for one reason...all pests in grain EAT the grain and the Diatomaceous Earth with it. This is similar to roach treatment with boric acid because in cleaning themselves the roaches ingest the poison. Bedbugs eat nothing except blood.
DE is as effective against bedbugs as it is against mosquitoes.
If it worked well, we would not be in the midst of this epidemic. Do you think people would be spending thousands of dollars and two YEARS getting rid of bedbug if perimeter control with some quick puffing of diatomaceous earth was effective?
Yes, for one reason...all pests in grain EAT the grain and the Diatomaceous Earth with it. This is similar to roach treatment with boric acid because in cleaning themselves the roaches ingest the poison. Bedbugs eat nothing except blood.
DE is as effective against bedbugs as it is against mosquitoes.
If it worked well, we would not be in the midst of this epidemic. Do you think people would be spending thousands of dollars and two YEARS getting rid of bedbug if perimeter control with some quick puffing of diatomaceous earth was effective?
You don't know what you are talking about, so just stop. Why do people insist on discussing that which they do not understand?
And once again, no one is talking about using DE alone against bedbugs. I suggested using it in conjunction with high heat, steaming, isolation techniques, and professional exterminators. Why does this suggestion chap your ass so much? Did a 4 lb bag of diatomaceous earth murder your entire family in front of you?
Anyway, here is yet another source stating the efficacy of DE in killing bedbugs:
Quote:
Diatomaceous earth (also called diatomite), dust, and other small particulate matter have been used for thousands of years to protect stored grain from insects. Diatomaceous earth and dust kill insects by absorbing the waxy fats and oils from the epicuticle of insects. If sufficient waxy material has been absorbed, the insect cannot maintain proper water balance, and perishes due to dehydration. To a lesser degree, diatomaceous earth affects insects through abrasion, though this attribute is very compatible with the effects of oil sorption. Lastly, some repellency effects have been documented, though this is the least important attribute.
...
Diatomaceous earth has been shown to kill ants, bedbugs, silverfish, caterpillars, crickets, termites, fleas, earwigs, beetles, ticks, mites and many other athropods.
Capinera, J. (2008). Encyclopedia of entomology. (2 ed., Vol. 4, p. 1215-1216). Florida: Springer.
Kefir the bugs don't ingest the DE their exoskeleton is scratched when they walk through it which allows them to dry out, killing them.
I know, that's the cover-story. But I think it's facile because insect exoskeletons are not like gossamer, ready to be torn apart easily by a brush with some ancient diatoms. They used the same story about how boric acid scraped apart cockroaches causing dehydration...it was disproven, the roaches are POISONED by ingestion.
So I repeat, consider that those selling you diatomaceous earth may be peddling false hope at a huge markup.
Use it if you must, be careful with it...remember your lung cells ARE like gossamer, readily torn apart... and don't expect a bedbug cure.
Last edited by Kefir King; 07-02-2013 at 10:12 AM..
I know, that's the cover-story. But I think it's facile because insect exoskeletons are not like gossamer, ready to be torn apart easily by a brush with some ancient diatoms. They used the same story about how boric acid scraped apart cockroaches causing dehydration...it was disproven, the roaches are POISONED by ingestion.
So I repeat, consider that those selling you diatomaceous earth may be peddling false hope at a huge markup.
Use it if you must, be careful with it...remember your lung cells ARE like gossamer, readily torn apart... and don't expect a bedbug cure.
Please refer to post #28.
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