Bed Bugs!!!

Advice From the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County

Client:  I think I've found bed bugs in one of my children's beds. What can I do to identify and get rid of them?

UC MGCC Help Desk:  Thank you for calling the Master Gardener Help Desk. I'm so sorry to hear about the bed bugs, but I will give you resources below to help you deal with the problem. Controlling them can be a real challenge, but it's not impossible. While a bed bug infestation can be scary, at least they don't transmit diseases.

Contra Costa County's Health Department is the County's lead agency to combat bed bugs. The Department has a good website with lots of links to bed bug information for homeowners, tenants, landlords, and pest control professionals. The following link will take you to that website: http://cchealth.org/bedbugs/. There you will find additional links to methods to protect your other children's beds by using easy-to-make traps for the beds' legs that you can use right now. There is also a link that will help you hire a pest control company that is competent to take care of the problem. Treatments can include vacuuming, heat treatment, steam cleaning, clutter control and careful use of pesticide sprays or dusts.

Bed Bugs eggs on paper

If you are living in an apartment, you will need to alert your landlord immediately because bed bugs can easily spread to adjacent apartments. The Contra Costa Health Department website I included above also has a section specifically for landlords.

The University of California has a very complete document on bed bug management. It also includes a link to a good video on how to search for bedbugs which can help you figure out how extensive your infestation is now, as well as help you monitor your home after treatment.

UC document:  http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7454.html 
UC video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORR7yAT-Vic

Please don't hesitate to contact us again if you have more questions.

Help Desk of the UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa County (SEH)
all pictures from the UC Pest Note 7454 on bed bug management

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Note: The  UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions.  Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA  94523. We can also be reached via telephone:  (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog  (//ucanr.edu/blogs/CCMGBlog/).

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