Sep 25, 2011 – Some Like It Hot, Bed Bugs Don’t
QUESTION:
I have been told that heat treatment for bed bugs is the best way to go. My concern is that while the room is heating up the bed bugs will run deeper into the walls, even into another room to get away from the heat. Some experts are telling me that the bugs are attracted to heat. So, when they are climbing the wall as the room is heating up are they coming to the heat or running from it? I currently use the steam method and your answer will help me determine if I will start using heat. Thanks
ANSWER:
There appears to be a little confusion in the midst of the folks who are advising you. Definitely one of the stimuli that attracts bed bugs to a food source is the BODY heat of that warm blooded animal, but we are talking about a moderate level of heat, and the bed bug is not forced to live in that 98.6 degree temperature, but only to stand on it for 10 minutes to get a drink. However, heat is the absolute ENEMY of bed bugs, and once the temperature gets above about 103 degrees Fahrenheit they are at risk of dying. According to some university studies 104 degrees of dry heat will kill bed bugs within 24 hours, 113 degrees takes only 1 hour, and a clothes dryer at 175 degrees does them in within 5 minutes. We take advantage of this susceptibility to heat with heat chambers, steam, washer and dryer, and now whole-house heating. In fact, Dr. Mike Potter suggests that a good quality steamer will push 180 degree steam (wet heat) 6 inches into crevices and will kill all bugs and their eggs instantly at that temperature. So, please do not stop using a steamer. It has some excellent uses and advantages.
So, onto whether the bug is coming or going, and I will say that very definitely it is RUNNING FOR ITS LIFE when it begins to detect the environmental temperature around it getting uncomfortable. In fact, once again our university experts have advised us that this can be one drawback to heat. If the bugs have the ability to move quickly (and they do run pretty darned fast) to a cooler place they will do so. Putting things in a black plastic bag and placing it in the sun may not work if the bugs can move to the bottom and under things where the temperature may stay cool enough for their survival. If a single room in a hotel is sealed and heated the bugs within the walls might move further away and begin to infest surrounding units. Heat works beautifully, but only if the bugs are trapped in the space that is being heated to above the lethal temperatures. Any bugs seen running around during the heat-up process are definitely not thinking that food must be nearby. They have been forced out of their hiding places due to this increasing heat and they are only looking for survival now and a cooler place to be.
Is a heat treatment the best way to go? Well, it has advantages and disadvantages, and we discussed some of the "cons" already. Bugs may find a way to survive by moving to a cooler place and in a large structure this could spread the problem. Heating is done using propane tanks for the fuel, and as one recent explosion shows there can be a problem with faulty equipment. There may also be some kinds of equipment or materials in a room or home that are sensitive to heat, and might be damaged if the temperature gets too high.
On the "pro" side, heat is non-toxic. It also is efficient at killing bugs and eggs quickly, so properly done a heat treatment should completely, 100% rid an infested place of the bugs. Items that can be moved out of a home are easily treated in mobile heat chambers, and there are smaller units that can accommodate small items for heating directly when insecticides would not be appropriate. Bottom line though, the bugs are not going on a feeding frenzy during the initial buildup of heat in whole-structure heat treatments. They are recognizing that their survival is at stake and they are trying to escape.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
I have been told that heat treatment for bed bugs is the best way to go. My concern is that while the room is heating up the bed bugs will run deeper into the walls, even into another room to get away from the heat. Some experts are telling me that the bugs are attracted to heat. So, when they are climbing the wall as the room is heating up are they coming to the heat or running from it? I currently use the steam method and your answer will help me determine if I will start using heat. Thanks
ANSWER:
There appears to be a little confusion in the midst of the folks who are advising you. Definitely one of the stimuli that attracts bed bugs to a food source is the BODY heat of that warm blooded animal, but we are talking about a moderate level of heat, and the bed bug is not forced to live in that 98.6 degree temperature, but only to stand on it for 10 minutes to get a drink. However, heat is the absolute ENEMY of bed bugs, and once the temperature gets above about 103 degrees Fahrenheit they are at risk of dying. According to some university studies 104 degrees of dry heat will kill bed bugs within 24 hours, 113 degrees takes only 1 hour, and a clothes dryer at 175 degrees does them in within 5 minutes. We take advantage of this susceptibility to heat with heat chambers, steam, washer and dryer, and now whole-house heating. In fact, Dr. Mike Potter suggests that a good quality steamer will push 180 degree steam (wet heat) 6 inches into crevices and will kill all bugs and their eggs instantly at that temperature. So, please do not stop using a steamer. It has some excellent uses and advantages.
So, onto whether the bug is coming or going, and I will say that very definitely it is RUNNING FOR ITS LIFE when it begins to detect the environmental temperature around it getting uncomfortable. In fact, once again our university experts have advised us that this can be one drawback to heat. If the bugs have the ability to move quickly (and they do run pretty darned fast) to a cooler place they will do so. Putting things in a black plastic bag and placing it in the sun may not work if the bugs can move to the bottom and under things where the temperature may stay cool enough for their survival. If a single room in a hotel is sealed and heated the bugs within the walls might move further away and begin to infest surrounding units. Heat works beautifully, but only if the bugs are trapped in the space that is being heated to above the lethal temperatures. Any bugs seen running around during the heat-up process are definitely not thinking that food must be nearby. They have been forced out of their hiding places due to this increasing heat and they are only looking for survival now and a cooler place to be.
Is a heat treatment the best way to go? Well, it has advantages and disadvantages, and we discussed some of the "cons" already. Bugs may find a way to survive by moving to a cooler place and in a large structure this could spread the problem. Heating is done using propane tanks for the fuel, and as one recent explosion shows there can be a problem with faulty equipment. There may also be some kinds of equipment or materials in a room or home that are sensitive to heat, and might be damaged if the temperature gets too high.
On the "pro" side, heat is non-toxic. It also is efficient at killing bugs and eggs quickly, so properly done a heat treatment should completely, 100% rid an infested place of the bugs. Items that can be moved out of a home are easily treated in mobile heat chambers, and there are smaller units that can accommodate small items for heating directly when insecticides would not be appropriate. Bottom line though, the bugs are not going on a feeding frenzy during the initial buildup of heat in whole-structure heat treatments. They are recognizing that their survival is at stake and they are trying to escape.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
