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According to University Herald, a new study published in the Journal of Economic Entomology found that bed bugs can survive temperatures as low as 3 degrees Fahrenheit (-16 degrees Celsius) for up to three days time.

For the study, researchers recorded what temperatures led to 100 percent mortality of all life stages of bed bugs. They discovered that it would take 80 hours to kill all bed bugs at 3 degrees Fahrenheit and 48 hours to destroy them at -4 degrees Fahrenheit. In other words, sticking your infected sheets and clothes in the freezer wont really work, at least in the long term, unless you can replicate these conditions.

According to the study, the bugs high cold tolerance is attributed to its use of a freeze-intolerant strategy, meaning the parasitic pest can actually lower the freezing point of its bodily fluids when faced with harsh conditions.

The news comes at a time when major cities around the globe have seen a resurgence in bed bug infestations. Although the presence of bed bugs has traditionally been seen as a problem in developing countries, it has recently been spreading rapidly in parts of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other parts of Europe, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, noted.

According to NBC News, bed bugs have infiltrate hotels, homes, schools and even offices. They can live in the crevices of sheets, clothing, wallpaper, headboards, mattresses and dresser tables.

Fortunately, the bugs are not known to carry diseases, but they do leave an irritating and itchy rash on their victims. Theyre also incredibly hard to eradicate.

To treat bedbugs, the CDC recommends hiring a professional exterminator who will probably use an insecticide spray to kill the bugs in your home or apartment. The best way to treat bed bugs is to catch them early. Look for signs of bed bugs in your home. If you see dark spots on your sheets about the size of the period at the end of this sentence, that could be bed bug excrement. Also look for small blood stains on your sheets caused by crushed bed bugs.

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‘Freeze-Intolerant’ Bed Bugs Can Survive Subzero Temperatures For Days

British Columbia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [+]

British Columbia i/brt klmbi/, also commonly referred to by its initials BC or B.C., (French: Colombie-Britannique, C.-B.) is the westernmost province of Canada. In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada. British Columbia is also a component of the Pacific Northwest, along with the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington.[4][5] The province's name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858, reflecting its origins as the British remainder of the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company. Its Latin motto is Splendor sine occasu ("Splendour without Diminishment").

The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada, named for the Queen that created the Colony of British Columbia. The largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, the largest in Western Canada, and the second largest in the Pacific Northwest. In 2012, British Columbia had an estimated population of 4,622,573 (about two and a half million of whom were in Greater Vancouver).[6] The province is currently governed by the BC Liberal Party, led by Premier Christy Clark, who became leader as a result of the party election on February 26, 2011 and who led her party to an election victory on May 14, 2013.

British Columbia's economy is largely resource-based. It is the endpoint of transcontinental railways and the site of major Pacific ports, which enable international trade. Though less than five percent of its vast 944,735 km2 (364,764sqmi) land is arable, the province is agriculturally rich (particularly in the Fraser and Okanagan Valleys) because of its mild weather. Its climate encourages outdoor recreation and tourism, though its economic mainstay has long been resource extraction, principally logging, farming, and mining. Vancouver, the province's largest city and metropolitan area, also serves as the headquarters of many of the Western-based natural resource companies. It also benefits from a strong housing market and a per-capita income well above the national average. While the coast of BC and certain valleys in the south-central part of the province have mild weather, the majority of BC's land mass experiences a cold winter temperate climate similar to the rest of Canada. The Northeast corner of BC has a Subarctic climate with very cold winters.

The province's name was chosen by Queen Victoria when the Colony of British Columbia, i.e. "the Mainland", became a British colony in 1858.[7] It refers to the Columbia District, the British name for the territory drained by the Columbia River, in southeastern British Columbia, which was the namesake of the pre-Oregon Treaty Columbia Department of the Hudson's Bay Company. Queen Victoria chose British Columbia to distinguish what was the British sector of the Columbia District from that of the United States ("American Columbia" or "Southern Columbia"), which became the Oregon Territory in 1848 as a result of the treaty.[citation needed]

British Columbia is bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west side, by the U.S. state of Alaska on the northwest as well as parts of the west, on the north by Yukon and the Northwest Territories, on the east by the province of Alberta, and on the south by the U.S. states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The current southern border of British Columbia was established by the 1846 Oregon Treaty, although its history is tied with lands as far south as California. British Columbia's land area is 944,735 square kilometres (364,800sqmi). British Columbia's rugged coastline stretches for more than 27,000 kilometres (17,000mi), and includes deep, mountainous fjords and about six thousand islands, most of which are uninhabited.

British Columbia's capital is Victoria, located at the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island. The province's most populous city is Vancouver, which is not on Vancouver Island but rather is located in the southwest corner of the mainland (an area often called the Lower Mainland). By area, Abbotsford is the largest city. Vanderhoof is near the geographic centre of the province.[8]

The Coast Mountains and the Inside Passage's many inlets provide some of British Columbia's renowned and spectacular scenery, which forms the backdrop and context for a growing outdoor adventure and ecotourism industry. Seventy-five percent of the province is mountainous (more than 1,000 metres (3,300ft) above sea level); 60% is forested; and only about 5% is arable.

The Okanagan area is one of several wine-producing regions in Canada and also produces ciders; other wine regions in British Columbia include the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, and the Fraser Valley. The cities of Kamloops and Penticton, and rural towns of Oliver, and Osoyoos have some of the warmest and longest summer climates in Canada, although their temperature ranges are exceeded by the warmer Fraser Canyon towns of Lillooet and Lytton, where shade temperatures on summer afternoons often surpass 40 C (104F) but with very low humidity.

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British Columbia, Canada Bed Bug Registry Map – Bed Bug ...

Cedar, Cinnamon, Lemon Grass, Peppermint, and Clove Oil? Theres No Proof They Will Eradicate Bed Bugs, Agency Says

The Federal Trade Commission filed deceptive advertising charges against two marketers of remedies for bed bug infestations, who allegedly failed to back up overhyped claims that they could prevent and eliminate infestations using natural ingredients, such as cinnamon and cedar oil. One marketer also allegedly made misleading claims that its products were effective against head lice.

In one of the two cases, RMB Group, LLC and its principals have agreed to settle the charges relating to their Rest Easy bed bug products. In the case against Cedarcide

Industries, Inc. and others, challenging their marketing of Best Yet! bed bug and head lice treatments, the defendants have not settled, and the FTC is beginning litigation against them.

Bed bugs have been a growing public health pest in recent years, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Consumers plagued with bed bugs experience considerable stress, discomfort, and expense in attempting to rid themselves of these pests, and many are unaware of the complex measures needed to prevent and control them, according to the EPA.

Consumers concerned about bed bugs also should see the FTC publication, Good Night, Sleep Tight, and Dont Let the Bed Bugs Bite . . . Your Wallet, which urges caution about advertisements that offer quick solutions, and provides advice to consumers for treating bed bug infestations.

Also, as children head back to school this fall, the FTC urges parents to carefully research products that claim to treat head lice infestations.

In both cases, the FTC charged the marketing companies as well as the individuals behind them with deceptive advertising for claiming that their products can stop and prevent bed bug infestations. The Cedarcide defendants also are charged with making deceptive claims that their product can stop and prevent head lice infestations, and that the federal government endorses and is affiliated with their product.

The Cedarcide Industries, Inc. defendants market BEST Yet!, a line of cedar-oil-based liquid products they claim will treat and prevent bed bug and head lice infestations. The defendants sell the product to consumers nationwide. They also sell it to hotels and other commercial establishments for treating bed bugs, and to school districts for treating head lice. Consumers can buy the product online, by phone, at the Cedarcide website , and at Amazon.com. The cost of the products ranges from $29.95 for the quart-sized spray bottle to $3,394.95 for a hotel-motel bed bug eradication kit.

One radio advertisement for the product stated:

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The Bed Bug Resource