Holidays are a time for welcoming family and friends. But what if your loved ones accidentally bring along unwanted guests—bed bugs? These insects are excellent hitchhikers, hiding easily in luggage and sometimes on clothes. Bed bugs can be found in the finest hotels and accommodations such as dormitories, senior living facilities, and nursing homes, both in the United States and overseas.
Whether you are hosting a dinner party or overnight guests, below are a few tips to prepare your home for welcoming visitors and deter unwanted ones.
Make It Easy to Monitor for Bed Bugs
- Clean your space and reduce clutter to minimize hiding places and make it easier to inspect for bed bugs.
- Use a bed bug detector on furniture such as couches and beds to monitor for bed bugs. Learn how to use a bed bug detector from this video.
- Use mattress encasements designed to prevent bed bugs from establishing on the mattress.
Bed Bug Prevention Tips for Hosting Guests
- For short visits, hang your guests' coats and scarves away from sleeping areas, such as on a coat rack. If you hang coats in a hall closet, remove all clothing prior to your guests' arrival and use it only for guests.
- Ask guests to remove shoes upon entering your home and leave them by the door.
- If your overnight guests have or have had bed bugs, offer to launder all their clothing when they arrive. Wash and dry all clothing at a high temperature.
- Place luggage and bags in a large plastic tub that can be sealed.
After Your Guests Depart
- Thoroughly inspect for bed bugs immediately after your guests leave. It is much easier to manage a bed bug infestation when the population is small.
- Vacuum all areas where you suspect bed bugs may be, including the seams of mattresses and box springs, couches, along perimeters of carpets, and other cracks and crevices.
- It is not necessary or recommended to spray pesticides or use foggers or “bug bombs”. Inspection and vacuuming are usually enough and will be safer than using pesticides.
- Wash and dry all bedding at a high temperature.
For more information on identification and management, see our Pest Notes: Bed Bugs and read our Bed Bugs Quick Tip.
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Tis the season for holiday travel. As you make reservations for rental accommodations to visit family and friends, we wanted to share a few suggestions to help you avoid bringing bed bugs home with you. Regardless of what type of lodging you choose-- hotel, motel, cabin, or other type of rental-- no place is immune to bed bug introductions or infestations.
We don't wish to alarm you, but we do want to point out that bed bug infestations are on the rise in the United States. Take precautions to save yourself from later issues and costs in case bed bugs do find their way into your home.
When settling into your room
- Before plopping your luggage down on the bed, couch, or floor, we recommend doing a quick bed bug check of the room. You can either leave the luggage in the hall or place it in the bath tub, where bed bugs are not likely to be. Traveling with the family? Let them and all the luggage sit comfortably in the lobby while you do the room inspection.
- Do a thorough inspection of the bed, night stand, upholstered furniture, and closets. You can use a flashlight or a phone light to help you look for bed bugs, shed skins, or fecal matter.
- Some establishments use bed bug mattresses and box spring encasements. These can make it easier to detect bed bugs or be used as a preventative measure.
- Not sure what you are looking for? We created this video to show you what bed bugs look like and how to search for them.
After You Return Home
- Before you bring luggage back into the house, inspect it for any signs of bed bugs that may have hitched a ride. Store luggage away from the bedroom to prevent potential introductions.
- To be cautious, launder all the clothes from your trip on the hottest settings to kill bed bugs that may have gone unnoticed. For items that cannot be washed, freezing them for several days will also kill bed bugs.
- If you do find bed bugs, these steps will help reduce the risk of infestation. See more about identification and management in our Pest Notes: Bed Bugs
Follow these tips to enjoy your holiday travel, reduce your risk of getting bitten by bed bugs, and not bringing bed bugs home with you.
Staying home for the holidays? Here are some tips to host a bed bug-free holiday!
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Apricot trees need to be pruned in summer instead of fall to avoid a disease called Eutypa dieback. It causes limbs and twigs to wilt suddenly and die. Shot hole disease is another common apricot pest which appears as purplish or reddish spots on new buds, leaves and shoots. The disease is most severe in years with rainy winter and spring weather.
Plums and other stone fruit can be attacked by brown rot, a disease that causes flower blossoms to turn brown, wither, and stay on the plant. Fruit that does develop turns brown or has tan spots that can appear sunken over time.
Peach and nectarine trees are susceptible peach leaf curl. Tree leaves have reddish areas that thicken and pucker, causing leaves to curl. In rare cases, fruit develops reddish, wrinkled areas that become corky and tend to crack.
Many vertebrate pests such as tree squirrels, birds, rats, and others also enjoy snacking on stone fruits. Visit the vertebrate Pest Notes to learn ways to keep them from ruining your harvest.
You can find more information about caring for stone fruit trees, as well as a list of the common pests, disease and disorders that affect these trees at the following links:
Apricot Nectarines and Peaches
- Author: Andrew Mason Sutherland
[From the Summer issue of the UC IPM Retail Nursery & Garden Center News]
You could be looking for do-it-yourself (DIY) ways to manage bed bugs, and see that many stores may carry dozens of products claiming to provide cheap and easy bed bug control. Research has shown, however, that bed bugs are very difficult to eradicate, even for knowledgeable professionals equipped with advanced pest control methods. So how can you be successful?
Know Your Rights as a Tenant
Identify the Problem
Bed bugs cannot be confirmed by dermal symptoms (“bites,” wheals, or rashes). The bugs themselves or their signs; such as cast skins, fecal spots, or eggs (Figure 2); must be recovered to positively identify the problem and move forward with pest management. For help identifying a bed bug infestation go to the UC IPM Pest Notes: Bed Bugs.
You can confirm a bed bug infestation by using bed bug monitors. Many models exist, though the most effective may be “interceptors,” pitfall traps that can be placed under the legs of beds and other furniture items (Figure 3). For more on bed bug monitors, read the ‘Pests in the Urban Landscape' blog article entitled “Bed Bug Monitors.”
Promote Nonchemical Tactics
Mattress encasements (Figures 4a. and 4b.), fine-mesh cloth covers for mattresses and box springs, help to prevent bed bug establishment by eliminating cracks and crevices and can also be used to trap bed bugs within; they will eventually die of starvation. Vacuums are very effective at removing exposed bed bugs; ensure a HEPA filter is in place to minimize airborne allergens.
Consider Insecticides Carefully!
Desiccants such as silica gel and diatomaceous earth may work better for a DIY approach; these powders absorb the waxy cuticles of bed bugs, causing them to die of water loss. Desiccants should be applied to cracks, crevices, and void spaces where bed bugs live and breed. They should never be applied liberally in the open where they can be breathed in; this may cause respiratory irritation.
Finally, your local store may carry products that claim to repel bed bugs, but almost none of them have been proven to work by research-based science.
Hopefully this information will help you control bed bugs if you decide to do it yourself. Please note, however, that professional services are almost always required to eradicate large infestations.
/span>If you have insects invading your kitchen or pantry, or if you've ever opened stored food products and discovered pests inside, you'll want to watch this new video from UC IPM. It describes several types of pantry pests, foods they are attracted to, and includes steps on how to prevent, manage and eliminate them from your home.
For more detailed information, read the Pantry Pests Pest Note. You can also read an article about pantry pests in the Retail and Garden Center IPM News at http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PDF/PUBS/retailipmnews.2015.july.pdf
Did you know that UC IPM has over 35 helpful home and garden videos? Visit http://ipm.ucanr.edu/IPMPROJECT/videolibrary-ur.html to watch more.