What you do with firewood this upcoming 4th of July (and year-round!) can impact more than just the s'mores on your campfire. If you move firewood around the state, you could spread deadly plant diseases and invasive insects. Don't take firewood with you if you travel or camp this holiday weekend.
Bringing firewood from home, even dry, aged, and seasoned wood, can spread pests. Once you arrive at your destination, pests can emerge from the firewood and spread to the surrounding area. Invasive pests like the emerald ash borer, shothole borers, and goldspotted oak borer, kill millions of healthy trees every year and can be spread to new areas on firewood.
Buy firewood within 50 miles of where you plan to stay or buy firewood that is certified, heat treated. Be a good steward and protect the areas you love; buy it where you plan to burn it!
To learn more, visit https://www.dontmovefirewood.org/.
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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- Author: Wendy Powers
I'm on vacation this week. So far, it has been convenient to keep up with email because I can connect once a day and get through emails quickly. Then connect again, if and when I wish. This helps avoid having piles of email to plow through upon my return.
Many of you know where I am but for those who don't, here are some hints:
- The city is home to the largest inter-city park in the world; some 5 times larger than New York City's Central Park. What I love about all of the local green space is the number of parakeets you see throughout the city.
- A 30-min train ride brings you to the world's second biggest wool-selling center. We made a visit to this area yesterday.
- The state represents approximately one third of the continent's land area but contains less than one eighth of the population.
- Pinnacles National Park is a 2-hr drive away. We are heading there for the evening.
Figured it out? I'll have more hints next week. I suspect many of you have been here before, given how well traveled UC ANR personnel are. I ran into someone with a Cal Bears sweatshirt on; he spent a sabbatical leave at UCB.
On Sunday, we head to our second destination during the 2-week vacation, then back home. I suspect even less work will be completed next week, other than thinking.
Here's one last quiz. What is the animal in the photo, below? Need a hint? It is only found on the island just off the coast of my current location. We haven't made a trip to the island yet; that's on tomorrow's agenda. In case I don't find one to photograph, Mark helped out by sending me one.
June 4-10 was Bed Bug Awareness Week, but it was also California Invasive Species Action Week, so here at UC IPM, we were busy posting every day about invasive pests. Bed bugs aren't considered an invasive pest, although bed bug infestations have been on the rise in California in the past decade.
Protecting yourself and your family from bed bugs takes a little know-how. Before you head to your summer destination, find out about more about them. Read the Pest Notes: Bed Bugs, then watch the following video with these important tips:
- How to identify bed bugs
- Key places bed bugs like to hide
- How and where to inspect for them (hint: not just the bed!)
- Precautions to take during your stay to prevent bringing them back home with you
- What to do if you discover bed bugs in your accommodation