- Joined
- Jan 20, 2008
- Messages
- 53
Just want to share with everyone a solution for bed bugs. A tenant of mine called me last May to report a bed bug issue. The suite he is renting has been treated before. We followed all the rules of the pesticide company with regards to preparations before and after treatment. In fact the suite was totally vacated when the treatment was done. It wasn`t occupied until a month after by this current tenant. Still, the bed bug came back after one year.We then started to do some more research because the heat and chemical treatment was too expensive. The pest control companies we spoke with also do not guarantee the place to be bug free beyond 3 months of treatment. Finally, in one of the forums, we read about someone using diatomaceous earth. One of the sites we checked was www.bedbugcentral.com. They have information about this on their site. Since I am based in Edmonton, I was able to buy the stuff in a store located in the West side (forgot the name, should be in my receipt...). The guy I spoke to there said while this powdery thing doesn`t get rid of the bugs right away, it does kill it over time. It has to be left on the floor and crevices for at least one month. Then after, it should get rid of the bugs. The way it works is that it kills the bugs "mechanically" but chemically. Once a bug touches this stuff, their bodies get scratched and dessicated. Then they die. The reason it has to be left for a month is because when new eggs hatch, the new bed bugs needs to be killed. The amount of time it takes to get most of those new bedbugs out is more or less a month.We spoke to our tenant and he agreed to give it a shot.We gave the stuff not only one, but two months to make sure it kills most if not all the bugs. It`s now July (two months) and the tenant said he no longer sees any bugs or gets any bites. We made sure to also sprinkle in the adjoining siutes just in case they migrate there. Cost of Diatomaceous earth? $74 for 5 kilos which we used only 1/4 of. Aparently, there is also a special type of bed casing you can buy that can be used to prevent existing bed bugs from getting out of the bed. Using it for a period of time encapsulates the bugs so they cannot feed on anyone and they eventually die because of hunger. In this case, there is no need to throw away the mattress.Sorry for the lengthy post, just want to share the good solution we have had success with because I know lots of people spend so much when it comes to bed bug treatments.