2. Effective Isolation of Your Belongings to Kill Bed Bugs

Isolation is an inexpensive way to fight bed bugs.

Although bed bugs can live for a surprisingly long time without a liquid meal, isolation from a food source can be used to starve, desiccate (dehydrate), and therefore kill, bed bugs with minimal effort. Isolation techniques include installing encasements on mattresses and box springs, placing items in airtight zippered plastic bags or sealable plastic bins, or using pitfall traps/interceptor devices.

All bed bug life stages, except eggs, are susceptible to desiccation, but newly hatched, first instar nymphs are believed to be most vulnerable. First instar nymphs do not have a thick cuticle (waxy insect skin) like adults and may not have had their first blood meal. This is important because blood meals feed and hydrate bed bugs.

The length of time required for bed bugs to die from starvation or desiccation depends on several factors, such as the time since its last blood meal, temperature, humidity, and the setting (laboratory versus field).

In general, warmer temperatures increase metabolic activity and result in quicker death for bed bugs. When studied in the laboratory, bed bugs survived 3 to 10 months at 70°F (near room temperature). In non-lab settings, recent research conducted in apartment buildings demonstrated that adult bed bugs can survive at least 4.5 months after their last blood meal, and unfed nymphs may survive just as long. In these settings, bed bugs can prolong their lives by hiding in cracks and crevices. However, effective isolation methods may increase desiccation and result in quicker death.

How to Isolate Your Belongings

• Use Encasements
• Use Clear Zippered Plastic Bags and Sealable Bins
• Pitfall-Style Traps
• Carpet Tape Barrier

A. Use Encasements

Throwing out a lightly infested mattress or box spring can be an expensive mistake. In fact, discarding the bed (or other furniture) does not eliminate bed bugs. Hasty attempts to remove furniture and sleep in a different location or replace furniture can actually spread bed bugs to other areas in the home. As a result, newly purchased furniture can quickly become infested. This should be avoided.

There are many encasement brands available for purchase, and they differ in quality and effectiveness. See “Consider This” below for traits of a good encasement. The following steps are general recommendations; directions on the encasement package should be followed. After you have selected a brand, follow the procedures below:

• Measure the depth (height) of the bare mattress without bedding or pads (Fig. 12). Buy the correct size encasement.
• Vacuum the mattress and box spring (Fig. 13) according to the instructions in “Vacuuming”. This will remove any bed bugs and reduce allergens.
• Enlist the help of a friend. To avoid injury or damage it is recommended that two people install an encasement.
• With two people, one on either side of the mattress, slide the mattress off the box spring so that the foot of the mattress touches the floor.
• Grab the sides of the mattress and stand it up on the foot end, resting it against the wall.
• Starting at the top of the mattress fit the encasement on one corner, then the other (Fig. 14).
• Verify that the seams are aligned, and pull the encasement down over the length of the mattress slowly and evenly.
• With the encasement still open, follow the same procedure for the box spring.
• Place the box spring back on the bed frame – DO NOT drag the box spring or mattress across the floor once encasement is installed. This could result in a tear or damage to the zipper.
• Secure the encasement by closing the zipper (Fig. 15). Most encasements have a special feature on the zipper that protects it from infestation (Fig. 16). Seal the zipper as instructed on the product directions.
• Follow the same procedure for the mattress by placing it on the box spring and closing the zipper.
• Precaution: You may want to install felt strips or duct tape on the encasement and the bed frame where the mattress or box spring sit on the frame, to avoid rips.
  
  Seal any rips in the encasement with duct tape, which is sticky enough to last and comes in a variety of colors, including white.
  
  Some people may feel compelled to remove and wash the encasement. But opening and removing it from the bed can lead to reinfestation of bed bugs. Leave the encasements on!
  
  Encasements are also available for luggage (as inside liners or to protect the whole item), sofas and pillows.

Consider This

Several encasement brands are available on the internet or in bedding stores. Consider the following traits when buying an encasement:

• Color: It should be white or light-colored to make bed bugs and their fecal stains easy to see.
• Size: It should be the right size (twin, queen, king) for your mattress, box spring, and pillow (Fig. 17).
• Fit: It should have a snug fit on your mattress or box spring but not so tight that it could rip apart. Too much loose fabric can create folds that provide harborage for bed bugs, (Fig. 18), reducing its effectiveness.
• Zipper: The zipper should have a protective mechanism that eliminates seams or folds and prevents bed bug entry and escape.
• Rip-Resistant: The material must be strong and tear-resistant. Stretchy fabric encasements are less likely to rip than vinyl and are more comfortable to sleep on. Vinyl will rip, eventually, but can be a cheaper first line of defense. Keep the duct tape handy. Padding (duct tape or cloth) on the corners will help protect the encasement and reduce tearing caused by friction with the bed frame.
• Escape-Proof: There should be no openings large enough to permit bed bugs entering or escaping.
• Bite-Proof: Some encasements have been tested and shown to be “bite proof”, which means bed bugs cannot stick their tiny mouthparts through the material to feed on sleeping hosts. This is not an issue for box spring encasements, and likely not a concern for most mattress encasements since bed sheets also increase thickness and protection to sleeping hosts.
• Insecticidal: Some encasements are pre-treated with permethrin – a pesticide that binds to fabric and kill pests that encounter it. This treatment has been deemed safe, and has been used for decades to protect individuals in the armed forces. However, this cannot be used alone to fight bed bugs. Some have shown resistance to pesticides like permethrin, so treated encasements are not always effective.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Encasements:

• Advantages: Encasements offer protection, whether you are dealing with an active infestation or being proactive.
  • Encase and isolate bed bugs: Mattress and pillow encasements enclose bed bugs inside so they cannot feed on a sleeping person. The fabric weave and zipper protectors are designed to prevent bed bug escape, therefore putting an end to feeding and growth. Thus, the mattress and pillow do not need to be replaced.
  • Eliminate harborage: Encasements are designed to eliminate the seams, piping, or other features of mattresses and box springs used for harborage.
  • Help inspections: White encasements provide contrast when inspecting for bed bugs, including fecal stains and live bed bugs (Fig. 19). Cast skins and nymphs are translucent yellow and may be difficult to see, as are the white eggs. Use a bright flashlight when inspecting.
• Disadvantages: While most encasements are effective at preventing feeding and can save a mattress and box spring, Some products may tear as a result of friction against the bed frame or other sharp objects. Any tear in the encasement makes the product ineffective.

B. Use Clear Zippered Plastic Bags and Sealable Bins

Just like encasements, these supplies can be used to protect personal items or as an isolation method to kill bugs by desiccation and starvation.

Protection: For people that work where bed bug introductions may occur, or for workers that visit homes as a part of their job, personal belongings should be isolated before and after use. This includes coats, bags, laptop computers, tablets, binders, clipboards, and medical equipment brought into a client’s home. Items should be kept in the bin or bag when not in use (Fig. 20 and Fig. 21). This precaution can
limit the chances of personal items serving as bed bug transportation.

Kill bugs on infested items: If a particular item is infested, place it in a large, airtight plastic bag or plastic bin with a lid and store it in a warm, dry location. Warmer temperatures speed starvation and desiccation, reducing the average time of five months usually necessary to kill bed bugs. If the bin is not airtight, carefully seal around the lid edge with duct tape. After a month or so, thoroughly inspect bags, bins, and stored items for bed bugs, which may have crawled off into corners.

Consider This:

• For isolation to be effective, the bag or bin must provide a secure, airtight seal that will not provide an escape for a tiny bed bug nymph. First instar nymphs are about the size of a poppy seed, but very flat, and capable of squeezing through the smallest gaps. Duct tape around the lid will ensure that no bed bugs escape. Clear bags/containers are preferred because they allow for inspection of items. If bed bugs are present, they may be observed in the corners of bags as they attempt to escape.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Plastic Bags & Sealable Containers:

• Advantages: This technique can prevent bed bugs from hitchhiking on personal items and moving into living spaces for people who visit homes for a living, work in areas where bed bug introductions are likely, or for those who travel.
• Disadvantages: This technique requires months of isolation for bed bugs to die. Many items are used daily and cannot be left in complete isolation for five months or more. Make sure to inspect those items and keep them away from bed bug infestations.

C. Pitfall-Style Traps

These devices were initially created to protect beds and furniture from wandering bed bugs by placing the furniture legs in the middle of the trap (Fig. 25). In an attempt to access a host, bed bugs crawl up the roughened exterior of the trap and fall into the smooth-surfaced pit that they cannot escape. Although they can hide and survive for several months in cracks and crevices, pitfall traps expose bugs to circulating air, and faster death by starvation and dehydration. New research has shown that bed bugs move throughout the environment more than previously thought, so placing traps around living areas or workspaces can lead to faster detection (Fig. 26). Furthermore, it has been shown that when trap devices are placed under furniture legs and along walls throughout the living space, traps can eliminate small populations of bed bugs in multifamily housing.

Consider This:

Pitfall-Style Traps: Pitfall trap technology continues to change. While the original traps had a smooth inner-surface, they were lined with a talc powder to decrease friction and keep bugs inside the smooth well. For this design, traps that are dusty or need to be cleaned of bed bugs require a new coating of talc, which can be applied using a sock filled with talc powder (not insecticide dust) or a cotton ball (Fig. 27). These traps often have an inner and outer well, which provides useful information during an inspection. If bugs are found in the inner well (where the furniture leg sits), it suggests that the furniture is infested. If bugs are found in the outer well, this means that bugs are approaching the bed from another part of the room.

Pitfall-style traps that do not require talc powder are now available (Fig. 28 and Fig. 29). However, some of these traps have only a single well with a smooth surface. Those are efficient at monitoring and eliminating small bed bug infestations, but provide less information about where bugs are coming from (the bed or elsewhere in the room). Black traps are more discreet, but trapped bugs are more difficult to see. Another type of pitfall trap includes a pheromone lure to attract bed bugs. While no published research is available to date, scientific trials have shown that non-baited traps are equally or more effective than baited traps (and less expensive).

Finally, researchers have shown that dark colors are more attractive to the bugs than light-colors, which may influence your trap selection. For all traps types (except those that incorporate a lure) traps may be cleaned with a vacuum using the technique described in the section below.

Did you know that pitfall traps like the ones pictured can eliminate a small bed bug infestation?

Advantages and Disadvantages of Pitfall Traps:

• Advantage: Once used only to intercept bugs as they crawled up furniture legs, traps may be more effective than other methods (human inspection or scent-detecting dogs) for early detection. Traps are always present and active, whereas inspectors and dogs are short-term visitors. Interceptors require no bait or pheromone, do not break down over time, and can be reused over and over again.
  Research has also shown that they can be used to eliminate small populations of bed bugs in multi-family housing, and when used in combination with other actions, can prevent bites while sleeping.
  Pitfall traps can be used both to isolate a piece of furniture and as a monitoring device near furniture (Fig. 30).
• Disadvantage: Because they are placed on the floor behind or under furniture, the smooth-surfaced wells that prevent bed bugs from climbing out can be filled with dust, debris and other insects (Fig. 32). As a result, bugs can crawl out of the smooth-surfaced well. If traps are not checked and cleaned regularly, they may become ineffective. Further, some devices become ineffective when heavy furniture causes them to crack. Look for heavy-duty traps if needed.

D. Carpet Tape Barrier

Bed bugs avoid crossing sticky surfaces, so it is unlikely that they will be caught on sticky traps. Use this to your advantage by placing strong, two-sided carpet tape on bed legs and elsewhere to prevent bed bug movement. Carpet tape is very strong two-sided tape that can be placed on bed legs and many other places to stop bed bugs from traveling across that spot. Carpet tape can be used as a barrier to protect a variety of items. For example, carpet tape around the legs of a baby’s crib can provide good protection as long as blankets do not touch the floor. Examine the tape frequently to make sure the surface is still sticky and not full of dust or hair.

References for Isolation:

• Cooper, R, C. Wang & N Singh. 2015. Mark-release-recapture reveals extensive movement of bed bugs (Cimex lectularius L.) within and between apartments. PLoS ONE 10(9): e0136462
• Cooper, R, C. Wang & N Singh. 2015. Effects of various interventions, including mass trapping with passive pitfall traps, on low-level bed bug populations in apartments. Journal of Economic Entomology 109(2): 762-769.
• Doggett, SL, MJ Geary & RC Russell. 2006. Encasing mattresses in black plastic will not provide thermal control of bed bugs, Cimex spp. (Hemiptera: Cimicidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 99(6): 2132-2135.
• Jones, SC, JL Bryant, FS Sivakoff. 2015. Sublethal effects of ActiveGuard exposure on feeding behavior and fecundity of the bed bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae). Journal of Medical Entomology 52(3): 413-418. Kells, SA & MJ Goblirsch. 2011. Temperature and time requirements for controlling bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) under commercial heat treatment conditions. Insects 2: 412-422.
• McNeill, CA, RM Pereira, PG Koehler, SA McNeill, & RW Baldwin. 2016. Behavioral responses of nymph and adult Cimex lectularius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) to colored harborages. Journal of Medical Entomology 53(4): 760-769.
• Singh, N, C Wang & R Cooper. 2015. Vision and mechanoreception in bed bug, Cimex lectularius L. behavior. PLoS ONE 10(3): e0118855.
• Wang, C, K Saltzmann, A Gondhalekar, T Gibb & G Bennett. 2014. Building-wide bed bug management. Pest Control Technology 42(3): www.pctonline.com/article/pct0314-building-wide-bed-bug-programs/
• Wang, C, N Singh, C Zha, & R Cooper. 2016. Bed bugs: prevalence in low-income communities, resident’s reactions, and implementation of a low-cost inspection protocol. Journal of Medical Entomology 53:639–646.
• Vail, K, & JG Chandler. 2017. Bed bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) detection in low-income, high-rise apartments using for or fewer passive monitors. Journal of Economic Entomology. doi: 10.1093/jee/tox053