eChipmunks

Bed bug confusion. I had bed bugs for months but now they seem to have disappeared?

Okay so my family and I moved to an apartment. We live in West Los Angeles. My brother was first to notice little bugs on his bed. After a lot of research on my part i found out they were bed bugs. Soon everyone seem to get "bites". I forced my family to do something. I threw out most of my stuff out including my nice bed( it was wood and there was no hope for it) I cleaned my rooms walls and floor frequently, i put tape in every corner, i washed all my clothers in hot water, and dried them in the highest heat, all electronics went into bags as well as books, and anything else that couldnt be washed. I kept them there until I knew what to do with them. Before all this I had used Bayers Pest Control Spray. I convinced the rest of my family to do the same. They were reluctant to do anything. My mom found out that the neighbor in the building had them but they didnt know it was bed bugs. So i know that the building has them. Anyway the landlord finally brought some exterminator form terminix. When I heard this I was devasted. I knew they would use useless chemicals the landlord was too cheap to hire a company that uses non chemical products. Terminix came only one time wich is not enough. The landlord didnt want to fumigate the whole building. I knew they would come from the other apartment. Sure enough my broher found bugs in their latest stage( before we had only seen the third stage) After several weeks everyone stopped gettings the bites. Nobody saw any either. There were no longer any blood stains on the sheets. NO black spots. Nothing. I KNOW these little vampires dont just go away. Can someone explain why they seem to have disappeared.

Public Comments

1. There are two types of products used to kill bed bugs, knock down products which kill bed bugs and bed bug eggs on contact, and residual products that provide lasting protection by interfering with the bed bug life cycle. The residual products take longer to work, usually about 7 days, so you are likely to see bed bugs during that time. Some companies also use a natural dust product called diatomaceous earth (also called fossil dust or bed bug dust) which are finely ground animal fossils. When the bed bugs cross into the dust field, it clings to their outer layer and eventually kills them. So my best bet is that the IGR (insect growth regulator) applied to your building started to work. If you don't see bed bugs for 2 to 3 weeks, you are probably in the clear.