Paul's Bed Bug Removal Hypothesis

image by Orin Zebest

I recently stayed in a hostel in which I got bitten by bed bugs and although I have not continued to sleep there I have been thinking of an eradication took that could prove lethal.

Abstract: Bedbugs will die if exposed to great amounts of carbon dioxide; when dry ice melts carbon dioxide is created; bedbugs will flee and either die or get stuck in a duct tape trap.

Detail: As bed bugs are typically found in beds and around them in the crevices of walls and hence it is hard to get rid of them using some of the methods out there so I propose a sort of fusion of ideas outlined here.

Tools:
Dry ice about 1 pound
Freeze proof bowl
duct tape
other tape to seal up the infected room

Some preliminary work must be done to eradicate these things, again this is a hypothesis and it has not been proven.

Seal up all windows in the room with masking tape or towels including the door when you are done.

Place the duct tape around the feet of the bed, you can use masking tape to protect the finish and the put duct tape on top of that sticky side out. Also place duct tape around the edges of the room and around the bottom of places of interest where you think it would be possible for bed bugs to live. If there is a multitude of things in your room you can put duct tape everywhere on the ground to catch the fleeing critters.

Place the dry ice in the freeze proof bowl on top of the bed then leave the room sealing up the door behind you with tape or a towel.

Leave the room for a few hours, when you come back you will be able to see if you have caught the bed bugs.

Theory: Dry ice creates carbon dioxide when it melts and carbon dioxide is heaver than air and poisonous to bed bugs the bed bugs will flee and because of the duct tape trap they will get caught fleeing.

Unfortunately it is not know if this will kill the bed bug eggs as there might not be a large enough concentration of carbon dioxide to do the trick as they are in an egg state, but if all goes well you will after getting rid of the bugs see where most of them were coming from and use that information to figure out where the eggs are and hit it with a good amount of pesticide or insecticide.