k_bedBug_wisdom

See also staggering marginal ROI

Some people think a single sighting implies they must treat everything in the entire building, and stay in hotel for a few days. Even after treatment , they fear the bedbugs could come back from neighbors. So every family in the neighborhood has to move out to hotels 3 times a year (carrying bedbugs)? Well, germs (and covid viruses) are around us everywhere except clean rooms, so we humans have to live with them.

I read that “Since they prefer to nest within about 15 feet (5m) of their host, you’ll probably find them hiding in tight spaces near your bed.”

Q: if you find up to 3 bedbug on your bed and nowhere else, do you need to treat entire house? It’s a touch chocie of cost vs risk.

• If you opt for higher (not 100% permanent) protection, then move to hotel, treat entire house, move back and clean everything. Tcost would be many hours, far heavier than the $cost. Unfortunately, I won’t believe any guarantee by anyone that the bedbugs will not come back within a month. Note bedbugs can come from neighbor or carried by a host including visitors. So this is a super-high-cost, lower-risk, 99% reliable option.
• If you opt for pragmatic living, then you can choose to treat (or replace) the mattress and observe. If bedbugs /resurface/ in a month, then they probably have a nest outside the mattress (unless the professional treatment was incomplete.. unlikely) so you may need to treat or replace the bed. If bedbugs only come back afer a year, then you may consider using cheaper mattress from now on, so you can replace them easily. This is a low-cost, higher-risk option.

— https://www.epa.gov/bedbugs/how-find-bed-bugs hints that bed bugs mostly hide on the bed, and in other parts of home only if heavily infested.

— https://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=SG&hl=en-GB&v=EVk3xFClDQA video says Infestation takes months. In the beginning, they only stay on your bed.

Weekly check.

—http://bedbugscrusher.com/how-to-search-for-bed-bugs/
But the good news is there are very common areas that will usually be heavily infested prior to them spreading to these tiny little hiding spots that may be more difficult to uncover. So if you start with these areas and find the problem has just begun and the infestation has not become severe yet, it is possible to get rid of the problem on your own without the need for expensive professional help. It is still a LOT of work, but many people in recent years have been able to completely rid their homes of bed bugs all by themselves.

If you checked your entire bed and haven’t seen one little 1/4th inch size bug running away from you when he’s been exposed, then you probably don’t have any bed bugs in your home. They would not build a nest 10 feet away from their food if there is still tons of real estate available within a foot or two of their food.

Now if you have confirmed bed bugs, even if it’s just a handful, you need to treat your entire house.