Cimex Lectularius vs. Landlords
After hiding out for the last 30+ years, Cimex lectularius, more commonly known as bedbugs, have crept out of hidey holes and re-infested our homes, offices, hotels, stores, offices, airplanes, buses, trains, hospital rooms numerous other places where they can lurk unnoticed. In fact, WCBS-TV found that four of the six New York City clothing stores they checked had bedbug infestations, report Bello and Frank in “Bed Bug Toolbox.”
The Mayo Clinic in its article “Bedbugs,” says “Bedbugs don’t care if their environment is clean or dirty.” Instead, they look for conditions that make them feel at home, someplace with plenty of hiding places. “Even pristine homes and hotels can harbor bedbugs,” the Mayo Clinic continues.
As landlords, that means that just because one of our rental properties has bedbugs, it doesn’t mean the place or our tenant is filthy. It just means the critters got into the building somehow. In fact, bedbugs are so small, adults are a ¼” to 3/8” long, that they can move from floor to floor through cracks, crevices and walls in multistory buildings. Of course, if a neat-freak tenant discovers bedbugs in his or her home, the immediate conclusion is likely to be that the landlord is somehow responsible. That is not even remotely possible.
Bedbugs are always on the lookout for nice, warm, inviting places to live. And what with being bugs and having bug brains, they don’t think ahead very far and certainly don’t analyze logically. They will simply hop onto whatever looks to be convenient and hitchhike to their next smorgasbord of human delight. You see, mostly all they eat is human blood.
So a bedbug that finds itself in a hotel room or airplane seat may sniff that yummy human smell and squeeze into a nice comfortable crevice where it can hitchhike to a new home on luggage or in some dirty socks.
Because of that, once they land in a new spot, they gravitate to places where being able to suck human blood is most likely such as places people sleep, rest or sit for long periods of time, and look for exposed skin. They move fairly quickly, about the same speed as a lady bug, report Bello and Frank, so they can get to a feeding site in a matter of minutes.
It sounds like an alien invasion, but it is simply the latest earthbound challenge facing rental owners and managers.
The bites can look very much like flea and spider bites, so might be dismissed as those when someone wakes up in the morning and sees small red bite marks. Even so, it would make sense to look where bedbugs might hide out. Those can include box springs, mattresses, bed frames, tufts, folds and buttons on mattresses, desks, chairs, behind wall paper, clocks, inside pictures (such as between the glass and the frame), cracks in floors, under carpets and in laundry rooms, says the University of Minnesota Extension service.
They are, as I mentioned earlier, ¼ to 3/8 inch long, and they are light brown colored except after they eat when they turn a purplish red because of the blood they have sucked. Signs of having bedbugs, in addition to the bites, reports the Mayo Clinic, are dark splotches on pillows and bedding, empty exoskeletons, and bloody smears.
Even if the critters can’t be found, that doesn’t mean they are not waiting to waylay their next meal. If the signs are there, the University of Minnesota Extension Service recommends calling in a pest control company. If the critters are found in abundance, it almost assuredly will require the services of a pest control company. As the UM Extension Service warns, “Controlling an infestation requires very detailed work and much moving (and disassembly) of furniture.” Moreover, the chemicals the pest guys use are not available to consumers because they require special equipment and training.
Of course, Bello and Frank, pest control experts, agree with the idea of hiring a pest control company to eliminate those nefarious critters. But there are some things that “civilians” can do to kill the bugs.
The Mayo Clinic offers the following treatment solutions:
Vacuuming
That would include cracks and crevices and physically removing the bedbugs. “But vacuum cleaners can’t reach all hiding places.” Hot Water. Water of at least 120 F kills bedbugs.
Clothes Dryer
Wet or dry clothes at medium heat for 20 minutes kills both bedbugs and their eggs.
Enclosed vehicle.
In the summer, bagging up infested items and leaving them in a car parked in the sun with windows rolled up for a day will bring the temperature up over 120 F and so kill the bugs.
Freezing.
Temperatures below 32 F will also kill them, but that will require leaving them outdoors or in the freezer for several days.
What’s a landlord to do?
As I pointed out earlier, a bedbug infestation is almost assuredly not your fault. It can happen in any home at any time bedbugs hitch a ride into a residence. As a result, technically you are not responsible, but tenants are. They or their neighbors are the ones who brought the critters into the building. The problem is, if it’s a multi-unit building, attaching blame is a problem and useless.
One thing to do is give each tenant a flyer explaining about bedbugs and how to avoid them. One, aimed at the Boston area, is available at http://www.cityofboston.gov/isd/housing/pdfs/bedbugflyer.pdf. If you do a search for “bedbug flyer,” you may be able to come up with a generic one or one designed for your area.
Unfortunately, if an infestation occurs in one of your properties, you are likely the one who must deal with it by hiring a pest control company. The place to begin, though, is with tenants. They need to take responsibility for getting rid of bedbugs in their own homes. But, bedbug infestations will only get worse since each female lays 200-250 eggs in her lifetime, which is about a year. Half of those eggs will hatch as females, each of home will lay another 200-250 eggs. At that point, it gets even worse.
The first step is making tenants aware of how bedbugs get into homes and how they can avoid infestations. The second step is to instruct tenants how to get rid of bedbugs in their homes. The last step is to actually hire a pest control company yourself to get rid of the critters. The bugs are not your responsibility, but they can certainly become your problem.
References
Bello, P. J., & Frank, L. (2011). “Bed Bug Toolbox.” Pest Management Professional, 79(1), 28. Retrieved fromEBSCOhost..
Kellis, S. and Hahn, J. (2006) “Prevention and Control of Bed Bugs in Residences.” University of Minnesota Extension Service. Aug. 23, 2006. http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/housingandclothing/DK1022.html
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2010) “Bedbugs.” http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bedbugs/DS00663