Category Archives: Bed Bugs Texas

Bed bugs can be especially overwhelming for low-income families. The pests are drawn to apartment complexes with lots of people packed into small spaces, and they cause pain, anxiety and financial stress.

Some apartment complexestreat theinfestations, then send the bill straight to the tenants.

Something Wasnt Right

When her little girls started waking up each morning with red welts on their faces, Shelby Rodriguez was worried. It was summer though, so sheassumed theywere mosquito bites.Besides, she had already checked their mattresses thoroughly and had seen no sign of bed bugs.

But the bites kept appearing and she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something was in the house. So she pulled her toddlers' bunk bed away from the wall and investigated with a flashlight.

"And that's when I found them, so all along the frame, the floorboards and then in the crevices and the screw holes of the beds is where they were hiding out. From eggs, to the early stages of the bed bugs, and to the ones that had been feasting on us which you could tell because they were the darker, brownish-red color, she says.

Taking Action

So Rodriguez and her husband called the apartment manager to report the problem, they lived in Euless at the time.After a week with no action, they showed up in person, requesting pest control, still nothing.Three weeks later,they went to the Texas Tenants' Union for advice, thenmade a formal request in writing. At this point, the bedbugs were everywhere. They threw out two beds, a crib, all the mattresses and their living room set.

"Everything that we had tossed we had only had for about three months. So that was a few thousand dollars that went out the window, she says.

The apartment complex did respond to the written request and treated theapartment for bedbugs. The Rodriguez family was shaken though, and didn't want to finish out their lease. The complex denied their request to leave earlyand charged them the final three months rent.

A Low-Income Issue

Mike Merchant isan urban entomologist for theTexas A&M Agrilife Extension Service. He says a lot of North Texastenants just like Rodriguez are fighting bed bugs. Unlikeher, many of them are stuck paying for the treatment themselves -- or just going without. That's because many rental companies have added a page to their lease that puts responsibility on the renter.

"They're usually asked to sign a statement saying they've inspected the apartment and there are no bed bugs in their apartment, he says.

Merchant says there's just one problem with that.

"Even a professional cannot go into a freshly painted, cleaned up, empty apartment and be able to tell whether there's bed bugs lurking in the walls."

The reason why is pretty unsettling. Bed bugs have no interest in empty apartments because there's nothing to eat. They're hiding out, waiting.

"They've got us to feed on and it has nothing to do with how sanitary we are, or aren't, Merchant says. It's just we're providing blood for them at night, and all they need is a place to hide during the day."

Trying To Fix An Expensive Problem

So tenants move in, report that their apartment is clear, even though bed bugs may just be out of sight, then discover them weeks or months later. But they've signedthatextra page on thelease, so the cost of extermination is on them. It can run from $300-$1,500. And that's not an option for many low-income families. Merchant says they'll often try to treat the problem themselves, which doesn't work. Then some families give up, and move out. Bringing the bed bugs with them.

"For someone with money, it's going to be frustrating, but is something you can take care of. But if you don't have enough money to pay the pest control, then you're just going to be stuck with it, Merchant says. Perhaps for years.

And that's something Shelby Rodriguez wouldn't wish on anyone.

"I mean my kids were sleeping on the floor at one point, crying, not understanding what's going on. So you feel powerless, and everywhere you go, you just feel like you're on the lookout for bed bugs, she says.

And even 10 months later, settled into a new, pest-freeapartment in Bedford, she doesn't expect that feeling to go away anytime soon.

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Bed Bugs: An Expensive Pest Problem That Low-Income Renters Often Pay For - KERA News

Local News

LUBBOCK, TX - Cases of bed bugs across the South Plains have increased nearly 500% in the past year. Bug Tech said the reason for several of these cases is due to traveling.

Mainly you're going to get them a lot in traveling in big social areas or anywhere you set your bags down. They jump on you through baggage and through clothes. It's really where a lot of traveling happens, through airports and hotel rooms and other places like that, Chase McDonald, a Business Development Manager at Bug Tech said.

Bug Tech said the majority of the bugs are picked up when people are traveling to and from hotels and airports. They said the best way to defend yourself is to make sure you double check all your items.

These bugs don't judge, they will go after you, they will go after me, as long as they can get that blood they're fine. It doesnt matter if its really nice big homes, you can see them there or you can see them in the lower income homes, McDonald said.

With the amount of cases increasing in Lubbock, he said right now Bug Bed requests are 50% of their overall work.

That's kinda what we specialize in, most is bed bugs believe it or not. I know a lot of people keep quiet about it because it's nothing you want to brag about, McDonald said.

Bug Tech said you can search the mattress for a little bug. If you believe you have bed bugs, you can reach out to Bug Tech for a free estimate.

Link:
Bed Bugs In Lubbock - Story | Lubbock, South Plains, West Texas - EverythingLubbock.com

Two women were sitting down in a rest area in Parkdale Mall when one of the women noticed something crawling on her.

Sheri Aldrich, KBMT 10:49 PM. CDT June 11, 2017

BEAUMONT - Two women were sitting down in a rest area in Parkdale Mall when one of the women noticed something crawling on her.

The two women noticed bed bugs on the couch. "The couch was infested with thousands of those nasty bed bugs" stated Jerica Cane-Landry.

The bed bugs were all hidden in the corners of the couch, according to Landry.

"I literally told five people to not sit on that couch. It was disgusting! Afterwards, we literally had to turn the couch over to avoid other customers sitting on it" stated Landry.

Landry ended her Facebook post by warning others to be careful when sitting in public places because you never know what may be hidden in or on the piece of furniture.

"We are aware of the complaint and are investigating it further. The furniture identified by the customer, as well as all upholstered furniture in the immediate area, has been removed from the floor" stated Stacey Keating, ParkdaleMall spokesperson.

2017 KBMT-TV

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Facebook post goes viral after woman alleges she found bed bugs on Parkdale mall couch - 12newsnow.com

San Antonio- A woman who has been living at the Aurora apartments for four years says shes one of the residents dealing with a massive bed bug problem there.

She says she has no idea who brought them to the apartments but has found them in her door seal, window seal, even her ears.

This was in both my ears. It was horrible when I saw them after I cleaned my ears, the woman said.

Now, her apartment looks like its been flipped upside down after word of the pesky problem reached the city.

Late last week treatment began right away.

A second woman says she's even been picking at the problem.

I would take them out. I filled a jar, said the other woman.

Now, she worries since cleanup is underway, she may have little to come back to.

Nobody knows what they are going to walk back in to, she said.

By signing a bed bug addendum in accordance to the Texas Apartment Association if bed bugs are found in your apartment 48 hours after moving in you must pay for treatment.

If the bed bugs are discovered during the first 48 hours, property management pays.

During treatment, you must destroy or remove any personal belongings that cannot be treated like mattresses and furniture.

Not cooperating can result in lease termination.

So if property has to be thrown out, the best chance you have at getting it replaced is by finding the person who is the source of the problem and having them pay.

Its a mystery trained exterminators say is hard to pin point.

The woman says all she wants is to be able to live in her apartment with peace of mind.

That Ill be able to stay in my apartment without fear of them coming back, that they will reappear because I dont have anywhere else to go, the woman said.

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'This was in both my ears' a woman says about bed bugs at the Aurora Apartments - FOX 29

Bed Bug Facts

Bed bugs are universal pests of humans and domestic animals, as well as of bats, birds, and various other mammals. The sole food of bed bugs is the blood of warm-blooded animals. Common names used for the bed bug include mahogany flat, chinch, and red coat.

Prior to World War II, bed bug infestations were common. Since the development of synthetic organic insecticides such as DDT and chlordane almost 70 years ago, bed bug infestations in buildings have declined significantly - almost disappeared. In fact, in the United States, bed bug infestations have been exceedingly rare - almost non-existent - until a few years ago.

Today, bedbugs can be found in every State in the United States, and almost every city. Bedbugs are so common now that the federal government considers them almost "epidemic". The National Pest Management Association has declared war on bed bugs and has held bedbug meetings all across the Nation to help educate pest control companies in an effort to help control them.

The most frequent bed bug encountered in the United States is Cimes lectularius, the common bed bug. However, one other bed bug species occasionally found in the southern United States, is Cimex hemiperus, the tropical bed bug. Both of these species are oval, flat and reddish brown. They range from one-fourth inch to five-eighths inch in length. Nymphs and adults have piercing-sucking mouthparts and are incapable of flight. However, small stubby wing remnants can be observed on the adults.

In laboratory tests, bed bugs have been found to carry the causative agents for several diseases, such as anthrax, plague, tularemia, yellow fever, relapsing fever, and typhus. However, there is little evidence that they carry these disease organisms under normal conditions, so they are not considered an important factor in disease transmission.

Occasionally, you might find other bugs which resemble the common bed bug including the bat bug and swallow bug. Both of these species superficially resemble the common bed bug. However, their primary hosts are bats and birds and there are small but diagnostic morphological differences. Problem infestations with these bugs may occur in attics or unused chimneys. Typically, when one host is gone these bugs seek an alternative host blood meal. This is when humans are bitten. It is important to differentiate between the common bed bug and other bugs that feed on bats and birds because control efforts can be targeted at the wrong sites and infestations can continue.

Bed bugs have an odor that in pronounced and in severe infestations has been described as an "obnoxious sweetness". Harborage sites are marked by brown or black spots of dried blood on surfaces where bugs rest.

Bed bugs are very hardy insects. Both adults and nymphs can survive prolonged periods without food or under adverse temperature conditions. Adults can live for a year or longer without feeding and can survive over winter in an unheated building. Nymphs are not as hardy as adults, but they can survive for considerable periods under adverse conditions.

An adult bed bug is about 1/5 inch long and 1/8 inch wide. Its reddish brown to mahogany-colored body is greatly flattened and oval shaped. After feeding, the bug's body enlarges considerably, becoming longer and much less flattened. Although the body is covered with tiny hairs, these hairs are so small that they are almost invisible to the naked eye, so the general body appearance is shiny. Bed bugs have piercing-sucking mouthparts that enable them to pierce the skin and suck blood from their hosts.

Bed bug females lay between 200 and 500 eggs during their lifetime in batches of three to four eggs per day. These eggs hatch after 6 to 17 days. Nymphal bed bugs molt five to six times before becoming adults. Under the best conditions, the life cycle is complete in four to five weeks, but since ideal conditions are rarely found it can take four to five months. Adult bed bugs can live 10 months or more without food. Nymphal bed bugs are known to survive for more than two months without feeding.

Bed bugs tend to live in clusters similar to German cockroaches. Adult bed bugs generally travel 15 to 20 feet, or less, from their harborage sites. Common bed bugs feed on human blood just below the surface of the skin with their piercing-sucking mouthparts. Those bitten by a bed bug may develop small, white to red, hard welts at the bite site. These bites itch intensely.

Bed bugs feed exclusively at night. They take approximately three to five minutes to engorge on blood. Once feeding is complete, they return to their harborage. Feedings take place every few days and nymphs require approximately six blood meals for complete development. Humans are the preferred host for the common bed bug, but it will feed readily on other animals, such as poultry, mice, rats, canaries, dogs, and cats, when necessary. Normally the bugs feed at night, but they will feed during daylight hours in places such as theaters, offices, and rest rooms that are not ordinarily used at night.

1. Perform an extensive bed bug inspection

This includes identifying the bed bugs, assessing the structure and considering your treatment strategy. Bed bugs generally hide in cracks and crevices during normal daylight hours. They enter such areas easily because of their extremely flattened bodies. Typical hiding places are in the folds and tufts of mattresses, coils of springs, cracks and hollow posts of bedsteads, and upholstery of chairs and sofas. However, they are not restricted to these places. In heavy infestations, bed bugs are frequently found in places such as behind loose wallpaper, behind pictures on the wall, under door and window casings, behind baseboards, and even in light fixtures or medicine cabinets. When inspecting for bed bugs, you must look in any place that offers darkness, isolation, and protection.

2. Prepare your home for bed bug treatment

Bed bugs are tough to control. They hide in many places - in beds, closets, furniture, behind pictures, in tiny cracks in the walls, and even inside the walls - so inspections and treatments must be thorough. Before you can treat your home for bedbugs, you must prepare it.

Disassemble your beds - remove all sheets, blankets, mattress covers, pillowcases, etc. from your beds and wash thoroughly. Fold them and place them in plastic garbage bags. Do not put them back on the bed until after the treatment.

Remove everything from bedroom and closets. Your closets must be empty. Empty all dresser drawers and night stand drawers. Take everything out of nightstands and other furniture near the beds. Dresser drawers and nightstands must be empty. Remove all clothing, toys, boxes, etc. from bedroom floors. Place items in the living room.

Wash ALL clothing, towels, and other linens. This means everything. After washing, place the clean items inside plastic storage bins or plastic garbage bags. Store them in your living room until after treatment.

Vacuum floors, furniture, inside closets, dresser drawers, and bed stands. Also vacuum mattresses and box springs. Dispose of vacuum bag outdoors.

Move furniture away from walls. Make sure you can get into all closets. If possible, move bedroom furniture away from walls so there is a 3 foot space between the furniture and walls. You need plenty of room to be able to treat and inspect.

Pull carpet edges back from walls. Being careful, take a pair pliers and gently grab the corners of the carpet and pull the carpet back about 1 foot. Do this one wall at time during treatment. After treatment as described below, replace the carpet and tuck under the baseboards. If you do this 1 wall at time you will not usually need to re-stretch the carpet.

3. What to spray and how to treat for Bed Bugs

Your thoroughness in your treatment is as important as your thoroughness during inspection. Beg Bug treatment can begin after you remove the bedding, disassemble the bed, empty nightstands, pull up carpet edge and vacuum.

Dust the wall voids. Bed bugs can often travel from room to room, especially in apartments, hotels and condo's. They travel along electrical wiring and plumbing lines. Specifically treat wall voids with a hand duster either by removing wall switch plate covers and/or drill access holes discreetly between studs. Cimexa Dust or Delta Dust are excellent choices for void applications. It kills populations in walls and voids and creates a repellent, hostile environment which reduces the likelihood of bed bugs traveling through voids to other areas. Use a small hand type duster to "puff" insecticidal dusts into these areas. A light coating is all that is needed. To much dust and the bed bugs will just crawl around it.

Dust every crack and crevice. Every crack and crevice, electrical switch plate, wall switch - EVERYTHING - within 10 to 15 feet of the bed should be treated, particularly those closest to the bed. Use the "running method" of moving the application tip along the length of the crack. Look for cracks from the ground level to the ceiling as you treat each section of the room. Use Cimexa Dust or Delta Dust. If you make a mess, simply wipe it up. To much insecticide is better than too little for bed bug control.

Treat mattress box spring and furniture voids with Cimexa Dust or Delta Dust. Turn bed box springs over and remove the cloth cover seal. Thoroughly inspect and treat the box springs area with insecticidal dust. After treatment replace the cloth cover seal with staples or screws. Hollow bed-frames, platforms, headboards and any other voids discovered during inspection should also be treated where possible. The upper mattress can be sprayed and treated with Bedlam Plus, Zenprox or Sterifab.

Apply residual Bed Bug Insecticide Spray. After every crack, crevice, switch plate, electrical switch, baseboard, box springs, mattress, etc, has been treated and everything is put back, it is time for the residual treatment. Using a hand held sprayer such as the Chapin Sure Spray apply Optimate, Cy-Kick, Suspend SC or Demand along the baseboards in the bedroom and closet, under and around the bed, behind the headboard, inside bed stands etc.

Do not spray these products directly onto the Mattress or box spring, only Bedlam Plus, Zenprox or Sterifab should be used on mattresses and on box springs. After spraying, wait until all surfaces are dried before putting everything back and continuing your treatment.

Encase Mattresses and use bed bug interceptor traps on bed frames. After everything is put back and all pesticides are dried, vacuum the area again to remove any dead or dying bedbugs and to pick up any spilled dust or pesticide. Be sure to throw the vacuum cleaner bag away outdoors. A thorough treatment is essential to achieve adequate control. It is usually desirable to apply insecticides for bed bugs early in the day, so that insecticide spray residues will have several hours to dry, or dusts will have time to settle, before the room will be used again for sleeping. As a safety consideration it is particularly important to dry and cover mattresses completely before they are reused. A mattress encasement such as The Elite Zippered Mattress and Boxspring Encasement should be used to cover and conceal the mattress and the boxsprings. It is important to use a quality zippered encasement (cover) with a special zipper closure to make sure that bedbugs do not crawl out of the zipper opening.

Bed Bugs can re-infest your freshly treated bed, so be sure to stop them from crawling up the bed posts by using Climb-Up Bed Bug Insect Interceptors. The Climb-Up Insect Interceptor is a small dish that is placed under the bed post and captures bedbugs in a a powder coated ring. These type of bed bug traps are very effective and should be used on every bed to help make a complete bed bug proof bed.

Monitor Bed Bug movement with Traps. Bed Bug traps don't work to control bed bugs - they only monitor bed bug movement. Try using Catchmaster 288i Professional Bug Traps by placing them against walls, behind furniture, sticking them under bedframes (yes they work upside down), and anywhere you think bed bugs could be crawling to get back to the bed. Inspect these traps every few days. If you capture bed bugs, then you may have to retreat and do this entire procedure over again. If the traps are empty, then pat yourself on the back for a job well done, but don't think that bed bugs are gone forever. They could be walking around the trap or just waiting for the comforter to hit floor before they climb back into bed!

The best bed bug traps are those that are used under the bed. The Climb-Up Bed Bug Interceptor is placed below the bed frame rollers or legs. The Climb-Up prevents bed bugs from being able to crawl either from the bed to the floor or from the floor to the bed. The Climb-Up works very well at isolating the bed from the floor and making it bed bug proof. As long as the comforter or some other linen is not touching the floor, then the bed is protected.

Other bed bug traps include Pro Pest Bed Bug Monitor. These bed bug traps are actually mattress traps. They are placed in between the mattress and box spring to capture bed bugs.

To use heat or not to heat? While not always successful, there are other methods of bed bug control. For example, using heat above 98 F is lethal to bed bugs. This type of treatment should usually be peformed by an experienced company since great damage can be done to walls, furniture, flooring, etc, not to mention that you need the proper equipment to be able to perform it. If you are interested in hiring a company to perform a heat treatment, contact us for recommendations for companies in your area.

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How To Get Rid of Bed Bugs Fast - epestsupply.com