Experiment Update

As introduced I have bottled a number of bed bugs at various age stages in order to examine feeding behaviors and longevity without feeding.

It is purported that bed bugs can live for 365 days (or more) relatively quietly while waiting for their next meal to arrive. Actually many bugs reliant on blood feeding have this same trait. I have seen documentaries about tics in the desert that bury themselves into the sand until a passing buffet disturbs the ground and they wake up and jump on for a feed.

Well, I bottled my samples five months ago and most of the samples are still going strong. There have been a few deaths, a few babies but mostly adults. I cannot say for certain how old the adults I captured were already, but this is what I have noticed.

-Most of the adults have died.
-The babies who have never fed before who were born a few months ago are still alive.
-The babies who have fed and have shed their skin and morphed to the next stage are still alive.
-The gang, adults and young ones held in an airtight container are not doing as well as those in a fresh air container.

One bottle group I put mesh over the opening, and another I put cotton cloth and have intermitently fed them by placing the material against my skin.

First I blow through the material to activate the bottle with CO2 and then tip it onto my wrist or arm, and then observe who is feeding and how long it takes.

My first purpose was to test if they could bite through material, and if so, how thick a layer can they effectively bite through. My second purpose was to have a control group, a group that is fed periodically versus a group that is not fed and to test the longevity of both.

This is what I have noticed about the material thicknesses:

-The adults do not bite through the cotton. They take no interest in it. Even if they have not eaten in months! However the newly hatched babies and the young ones not yet morphed into an adult seem to recognize skin through the cloth and eagerly chow down.
-The adults and the babies do recognize skin through mesh however and feed heartily.
-The bugs also prefer to bite at the edge of the opening rather than the middle, however if the places around the rim are taken they will snug in next to their neighbors or just wait their turn.

The latter point proves to me my theory that bed bugs prefer to feed where they perceive shelter. I quite often find a line of bites running up my shin. When I sleep I do so on my side. My leg is lying on the bed and where the mattress is in contact with my leg, along the edge there is where the feeding takes place.

In this way I can tell from this pattern, the bites occurred while I was lying down.

I also have had a line or grouping of bites across my foot near my toes and realized that the line matches exactly the straps on my sandals so that means that the bites are occurring while I am standing or sitting somewhere for long lengths of time, probably at my desk, and should investigate that area for bed bugs.

I hope you have found this post of interest, by signing up for the newsletter you will get updates in your mailbox when I have posted something new.

Bed Bug Quiz

Here is a quiz from medicinenet.com to test your knowledge about Bed Bugs! Think you know everything? Check again!

Bed Bug Quiz

Should I Throw Out the Couch?

Visitors are asking, if they have bed bugs, should they throw out their couch, or their bed?

The answer depends on circumstances.

When you discover you have bed bugs, the temptation is to throw everything out, which is fine, but do not bring in new furniture until the bugs are gone from your home. In most cases it is possible to clean the bed bugs from the furniture while you are treating the home against them.

But if you are insistent at throwing it out, for example the bed or the chair or the sofa or the couch could be the only thing that is infested or it is so badly infested you cannot imagine clearing it of bed bugs, and if so, please do throw it out.

If you decide to toss the items, to ensure that you do not spread the bed bugs around to others, take the following precautions:

• Contact your municipality to let them know you are throwing out a big item and that it is infested with bed bugs so they send the proper collection service. 
• Also paste a big sign on it "Bed Bugs!" warning pickers from taking it home with the bed bugs.
• Try to put it out on a sunny day, because the bugs will dehydrate with the heat and it will be less likely they will survive a hike to the nearest building.
• Also, put the item at least five feet away from the building so they don't have access to returning.

If you decide to treat the couch or bed, there are a number of steps to go through which I will go into in a separate posting, but I will share a really easy one:

Put the furniture out in the baking sun for a day.

What's Biting You Guide Coming Soon!

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• Are these bites or just a rash?
• Why do I get these bites and my partner doesn't?
• How can you tell the difference? 
• Can you tell from the bite alone? 
• What about the location of the bite? 
• And the color markings around the bite zone? 
• Is it red because of scratching?
• Am I just going crazy?

"Look, I keep getting these tiny bite marks, two little punctures right beside each other. Could they be spider bites?"

Inside the Guide you will get:

-- Descriptions and photo examples of the red spots and marks that you can compare yours marks too.
-- Ways to trap whatever may be biting you to find out if it is a bug or what.
-- Steps towards taking care of the problem once you have determined what it is.

"I got my place sprayed three times for bugs and even sprayed my own can of spray everywhere only to find out I did not have bugs at all -- I was allergic to my laundry soap! I am glad that was all it was!"

How to Pre - Order: Click on the link below. It will take you to PayPal where you can take care of the payment, You will be added to the newsletter list and then we will notify you by email when the book is available and how to get it downloaded. It Is as Easy as That!

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Guarantee Your 100% satisfaction is guaranteed. Not happy with your purchase? I will return every penny you paid for the book. But I am sure you will love it. What a relief it will be to finally identify what creature is biting you so you can finally take care of the problem once and for all!!!


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Removing Eggs from the Curtain Hem

Another inspection of the bed area shows fresh Eggs and Fecal droppings in the hem of the curtain near the bed.

It is very important after treatment is applied to continuously inspect the room for more nests and other evidences. If the treatment agent does not kill them they just move and set up shop somewhere else.

There is no treating and forgetting where bed bugs are concerned!

Finally, when the inspections pass without any findings, and when a whole month goes by without a bite, can it be declared the problem is finally gone.

This is a rough clip I did with my iPhone 4 rendered with iMovie.