Bed Bugs Get An A+

Bed bugs have gotten top grades for their skills in the infiltration of dorm rooms at college campuses. With the transient nature of students and the fact that they rotate at least every four years years if not sooner in and out of these dorm rooms makes it a perfect storm for bed bugs to get in and reek havoc. All it takes is a student's friend to come over to their room to study and one bed bug hitch hiking on that students book bag and bang, another bed bug infestation. Is there a way around this spread of bed bugs? Not really. It seems like we are getting to the point in our bed bug lives where we are going to have to learn to co-exist with these little buggers.

Do Bed Bugs Like College Life?

Bed bugs are life long learners, in fact, they are professional students. Back to School time is here and the sorry reality is that bed bugs are back and back strong! These critters have infiltrated the dorms rooms of Wake Forest, NYU, North Carolina, Missouri State,just to name a few. These are all recent infestations as reported in the news for this school year. How scary is that? They have moved into colleges across the country and are not going anywhere and what is worse, if the students are not aware of the infestation and they go home with an overnight bag, these bugs can hitch hike home. Now mom and dad have the problem. It is a problem that is wide spread and getting worse and the college dorm room scene is where the bed bugs are hot to trot.

Living With Bed Bugs

Are we at the point of defeat in this battle of the bed bug? Can we as Americans say that? It looks like these days we are at the very least, challenged. With the fact that bed bugs are resistant to the chemicals out there to kill them, and the fact that the EPA is not being very cooperative to let some old chemicals that may work better come back into production, it looks like we may have to learn to live with a control bed bugs rather than eliminate them. Of course there are other treatments like thermal remediation or heat treatments for bed bugs and fumigation, these procedures are often very expensive and out of reach for the common American. Even companies and colleges want to be cost conscience and limit the higher cost treatments, opting for the traditional controls. The reason for this is because you have to have a 3-D approach to treating these kinds of units. You need to treat the adjacent dorm rooms, above, below, and side to side. The cost to heat treat potentially 5 dorm rooms can be upwards of seven thousand dollars, which can make the elimination of bed bugs cost prohibitive. This is why it is important to monitor and try to catch a bed bug infestation early because the earlier the bed bug is found the easier it is to get rid of them. As much as I hate to say it, until we find a "silver bullet" to kill these bugs, we may have to learn to live with them.

Bed Bug Monitor for Dorm Rooms

There is a devise that is a perfect tool to monitor whether you have active bed bugs in your bed or trying to climb onto your bed. The device is called a Climb Up Interceptor. It's a simple round "coaster" type piece of plastic with an outside and inside well. It is coated with a powder that is slippery and does not allow the bug to crawl out of it. You put the climb up under your bed frame legs. They are cheap and simple, but well worth the investment.

Picture of What To Look For-Bed Bug Signs

How To Spot Bed Bugs In Your Dorm Room

Bed bugs are experts when it comes to hiding in nooks and crannies, they are so good, in fact, that entire companies are dedicated to finding them. These companies use dogs to sniff out the bed bugs for their clients. So do you need to go to that extreme? Maybe not. There are some tell tale signs of bed bugs if you know what to look for.

If I were living in a dorm room or apartment setting these days, I'd start a weekly bed bug check. Start off by changing your sheets to a light color. This will help you find blood spots or smears. Bed bugs will bite you and often times will leave a rusty spot on the sheet. If you start to notice spots or blood type stains on your sheets, let someone know. Another step I would take is to pull the sheets back and expose the mattress and look for live bugs or spot marks. Check the buttons and tufts or the mattress.

Another thing to look for are bite marks on your body. The problem is that you can get itchy spots from mosquitoes, fleas, allergies, etc. It's worth looking further if you do notice bite marks and maybe it is also worth visiting your doctor to get his or her opinion.

One other place to look is the bed frame and head board. bed bugs will hang out in an area that is least disturbed. The head board is a relatively quiet spot for a bed bug, a strong flashlight and a good set of eyes will be able to located any bed bugs that are on the head board.

Bed Bugs Infiltrate Dorm Rooms Across The Country

The new school year has begun and the fear that bed bugs will sneak their way into your dorm room this year is growing. A lot has changed since the bed bug epidemic started a few years ago with the heavy media coverage leading the way for these changes. People are more aware of the possibility of getting bed bugs and they are aware of how hard it is to get rid of them once you do get them. Aide from the army of college students who fear these bugs, parents are also loosing sleep over this issue. Why? Have you forgotten about winter and spring break. Those kids have to come home and the old days of dropping off a bag of laundry to mom is long gone. It's a strong possibility that you will be dropping off alot more than laundry in these bags. Bed bugs are notorious hitch hikers and can easily hitch a ride to mom and dads house on the boxes and bags that are taken back a forth to college each year.

Why are bed bugs so successful in dorms? Mostly because of the common pipes and wires that run along these rooms. Another reason is the back and forth nature of friends in the dorms. Once one room has an issue, the possibility of the neighboring units to get bed bugs is very high. The worst part is that many times the student doesn't know he or she has bed bugs because the bugs and bug bites can be mistaken for other problems and not bed bugs. This allows the bed bugs to breed and become a more established infestation. The bugs then settle into the cracks and crevices or you beds, every fold and button of the mattress, in the nooks of the furniture, the flaps of your book bags. Bed bug are extremely resourceful and opportunistic, they spread like wildflowers, and reek havoc and misery for many. Not to scare you too much, but as the nursery rhyme goes, "Sleep Tight...Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite."