Bed Bugs- What You've Been Told is Totally False

Mark accidentally avoided the most simple advice that everyone hears but pays no attention to, he did in fact let the bed bugs bite.

Well this makes me feel at least a little better traveling from hotel to hotel

As someone who grew up with the horror of bedbugs, I was scared to watch this video.
But I'm glad I did, awesome video Mark

This video has been so helpful! I just got my first bedbug issue and I’ve been crying and freaking out not knowing what to do. This video helped me calm down and focus on how to get rid of the bugs. Thank you Mark ❤

I needed this like 8 months ago. We spent more than $1000 on chemicals including Diatomaceous Earth (DE). The battle lasted for about 3 months and we continually monitor for signs. The whole thing was very traumatic for us, and I'm really not being dramatic saying that, those who have been through a moderate infestation understand. To learn that all that cash we spent in the effort was not necessary, that the DE and steam was probably all we needed, is the biggest takeaway from this video. I applaud your scientific approach. I hope others in need find your video. Thank you

I hate bugs. But I love learning. Great and informative video. I now know way more about Bed Bugs than I ever would have. Thanks to Mark, the team and everyone involved. :)

Bad idea watching this at 2am while in bed. Now I feel things crawling on me!😭

Mark, my daughter and I are huge fans of your videos and we look forward to our crunchlabs box every month. You are a positive role model in our household and I'm sure many others. For that I cannot thank you enough. This bed bug video was great! As we watched we felt a roller coaster of interest, humor, and maybe a little disgust. I will however be billing you for one night of sleep because my daughter woke me up at 3am complaining that she didn't want bed bugs to crawl on her and that she was joining my wife and I for the remainder of the morning.

Another thing he failed to mention was how bad it can get for certain people that get bitten. He's lucky he didn't get a reaction. I had no idea the hotel I was staying at had bed bugs or that I was even bitten at first. In a few short hours, I had over 50 bites all over my body, arms and legs. The itching was the WORST. It became unbearable for about 2 weeks and I still have marks from all the scratching. I thought flea bites were bad but this was on another level. Always check the mattress and furniture wherever you stay.

I found in my ugly experience getting rid of these little buggers is using rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle
work quite effectively. They raise their little butts straight up and shake like some weird dance.
Also home made Co2 traps worked quite well. These traps will also let you monitor if you still have them.
Worked like a charm for me. And watching them dance was very entertaining.

When I dealt with bed bugs in my apartment a few years back the little bowls with talcum powder were really helpful. We put them on our bed as well as our couch. After we installed them the bugs got a bit hungrier and I was able to find one crawling on me in the middle of the day. My landlord was a jerk and we needed physical proof of bed bugs before he would do anything about it, so this was crucial in getting the heat treatment.

I'm jealous of the people who don't react to the bites. I got welts larger than quarters on my body that itched like crazy. In case anyone needs to know, rubbing the inside of a banana peel on the bite will make the itching go away instantly. It's temporary, but still very much needed when you're dealing with them on a daily basis.

This is fascinating, please do one with fleas! (probably much harder considering their mobility..)... one of our cats got out for 10 minutes, ONE time... we had a flea infestation for 8 months after. Monstrous little buggers.

My mom has been at war with bed bugs for almost 2 years now, spent over 8000 on exterminators all failing to do their job, not one of them even suggested steam or how to properly use diatomaceous earth, she can't afford exterminators anymore and has resorted to harsh chemicals which seem to have handled the bulk of them, but with what I've learned here I can hopefully help her to finish them off and prevent future problems, thank you.

I had to clear two infestations myself. The methods chosen by me, diatomaceous earth in bedpost coasters combined with putting it in the corners of the baseboards, and then taping over all the baseboards with packaging tape. This trapped them in the baseboards with the diatomaceous earth. I also got a plastic impermeable mattress bag. Finally, we covered the pet beds in diatomaceous earth and put all beds and cloth furniture high on shelves after doing this. Exterminators in northern Utah have no idea how to handle bed bugs and they failed to experiment the two times we tried the professional route.

We love all of your videos, but this one has a special place in my heart as a board certified entomologist in the pest control industry for 20+ years. Thank you for making this! Anytime you want to make more gross bug videos you let me know! Our industry is amazingly interesting and overlooked by many.

Thanks, Mark! This was very informative. INFO: the applicator Mark uses to dust with the diatomaceous earth is available on Amazon, for about $9. There are other ones of varying prices

As far as I know here in Finland people once upon a time used to get rid of them by putting what you could not wash easily in a sauna when it was heated. The other way was using winter temperatures when it got to minus 20 Celcius or colder. Either leave things out, or in an unheated outbuilding, or sometimes move somewhere else and let the whole house get cold for days when it was a smaller building. Since both were easier to use in the countryside and by people who had their own saunas and houses bedbugs were supposedly more of a problem in towns and cities.

Bed Bugs / Stink Bugs it seems both are constantly mating

Prof. Wong is the kind of academic I love. Huge nerd, loves his subject, happy to share, has a lab of horrors in the basement.

I’ve treated bed bugs a few times in different houses. I use $15 heat guns and hair dryers to heat the room to 130 (usually about 4). Had to use extension cords so that we wouldn’t trip any breakers.
When the room reached the temperature, we go in and move things around enough so that there are no cold spots (like under a pillow).
It always works.