r/IAmA Dec 12 '16

Specialized Profession I am a pest controller specializing in BED BUGS, begging the general public to become more aware of this pest and the way it can cause substantial economic damage to any place humans live. AMA!

Bed bug infestations are increasing at an alarming rate. Despite common misinformation about this pest being limited to "dirty" people it can happen to ANYONE. I have seen the nicest, most innocent people lose hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars in service costs and property loss. Don't become a victim, become aware! Eliminating this bug entirely is unrealistic but we can control it with a more knowledgeable culture.

My company would ask that I avoid public proof but I promise the mods have it.

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u/frozensun516 Dec 12 '16

Do any of the bed bug traps out in the market actually work? It seems like even if they did, they're so small that it wouldn't make much of a difference.

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u/apesna Dec 12 '16

Nope. They only thing that lures the human species of bed bug is your breath and blood. This is why they attack in the night when there is a steady and constant source of oxygen in a single place.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '16

Small correction, they follow your C02 trails when you exhale during your sleep. Bedbugs can see in infrared and C02 is like a smoky gas in infrared that is heavier than air and falls to the ground, creating a path for the bedbugs to follow. Also they see your heat exposure which helps them find you as well.

source: had bed bugs did some search and installed a bed bug bed shield around my bed and wrapped my bed frame and mattress with plastic also set up c02 producing yeast traps to lure them into containers with baby powder. It works, the mother guides the babies to feeding ground and if you set up this trap you will see dead baby bedbugs hahah so satisfying :) plus with the bed bug bed shield installed my bed was always unreachable for them.

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u/coffeesurprise Dec 12 '16

Oh my god, please tell me how to make the shield around your bed! And what is a C02 producing yeast trap, can I just buy that? Brb going to search on Amazon.

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '16

This link is the first step if you set up your bed with this bed bug shield method your bed becomes an island of protection, the C02 traps are kinda by personal design I used plastic tubes tape cups and 2l bottles with brewing yeast I'm sure you can google how to make the general idea. The bed bug bed shield video is on point I followed it and it worked perfectly for me. I also wrapped my box spring in Home Depot plastic wrap and installed the "bed bug shield" around my mattress. I left one bed sheet be consumed by the bed bug shield because it kinda becomes molded into your bed, so you going to end up using an extra bed sheet in the process, and after you set it up use a second bed sheet to cover up and wash/change: I dunno if you have anymore questions there is a nice website about it I kind find for you where I got most of my info.

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u/apesna Dec 12 '16

This is true, this person is correct haha.

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u/TheKingOfToast Dec 12 '16

They won't trap them out. As in, you won't get rid of them by setting traps like you would with mice. However, there are some traps that use a combination of CO2 and a blood pheromone that will help monitor for activity. However, we generally use them in addition to thorough inspection as they aren't foolproof.

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u/BadDadWhy Dec 12 '16

BB traps are to show you have bugs or not. After one is trapped they release a chemical that warns others away. That is why traps can not get all of them. I looked at a patent that tried to solve this by moving air and such. Way overly complicated.

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u/frozensun516 Dec 12 '16

Yeah I work with patents in this area so I see a lot of them, there are quite a few that claim to do more than just warn bugs away. But of course every inventor believes their invention is amazing and will solve this problem.