5 replies to this topic

[WreckWench]

A growing Bug Epidemic...Bed Bugs that is...

One in five or an unprecedented number of Americans reported bed bugs last year, so now the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) is scheduling a series of workshops across the country to educate property and hotel managers how to deal with the problem.


NPMA has partnered with the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the National Apartment Association, the Association of College and University Housing Officers International, and the US EPA’s Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program for the programs.


“From identifying bed bugs to inspection techniques to public relations issues and legal ramifications, NPMA has gathered nationally-recognized experts to provide management tips, both preventative and corrective, to help these groups make informed decisions and stay out of the newspaper -- and the courtroom,” the group says.


Visit www.npmapestworld.org/events/bedbugworkshop.cfm for a full schedule.

[WreckWench]

WAYS TO PREVENT BRINGING THESE GUYS HOME WITH YOU:

1. Leave your suitcase up on a chair or suitcase rack if possible.
2. Leave your suitcase zipped up at all times.
3. When you return do NOT take your suitcase into your bedroom and try to avoid your home if possible. Rather leave it on a porch, garage, breezeway, etc.
4. If the weather is cold when you return from a trip allow your bags to freeze overnight if possible or at least sit out where its cold for as long as possible to kill any unwanted guests.
5. If the weather is hot when you return from a trip allow your bags to 'cook' for several days in the heat to kill any unwanted guests.
6. Unpack your items and take them directly to the washer and then take the clean items to your bedroom.
7. After fully unpacking your suitcase continue to air it out for several days to minimize the transfer of bugs into your home.

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

Good advice.

Now, if we could just avoid all the other bugs while actually on vacation! I really hate to shower after a long day of diving, just to spray the oily bug spray all over myself.

[Racer184]

• Take your bags to a neighbor's house (definitely one that you don't like) and unpack directly into their clothes dryer and turn it on REALLY HOT for a couple hours.
  or
• Go shopping at Goodwill etc before your vacation. When you return, strip nekked into a 55 gallon drum, put all the vacation clothes into the drum and burn everything.
  or
• Write congress and tell them you want DDT made legal again when sold in small containers, since apparently nothing else works on bedbugs.

[Muktuk]

Cabin life has it's advantages...
Whiskey in the winter, because the beer bottles freeze and explode. But the bed bugs don't stand a chance!

[lynnlchan]

Cabin life has it's advantages...
Whiskey in the winter, because the beer bottles freeze and explode. But the bed bugs don't stand a chance!

Too funny.

Great tips Kamala, thanks.