DocumentaryRussian Federation

They come at night

This story began when the bedbugs appeared in our communal apartment. Of course I looked for ways to destroy them.If fact this situation was worse than I thought in the beginning. No chemical cleaning killed them. The number of bedbugs grew more.

For many years people have belittled the problem of bed bugs, but now they begin to realize how serious it is. Bed bugs spread quickly in residential buildings, hospitals, cinemas, hotels. According to Rospotrebnadzor, the number of these insects doubles every year. In addition the number of tropical bugs greatly increased in Russia in recent years. Outwardly they are few different from ordinary bed bugs. But these parasites are more resistant to poisons, they have long legs and they can crawl along smooth vertical surfaces, bite a person not only at night but also during the day.

The problem of infection with bedbugs is dangerous not only because of its scale, but because of public prejudice. Bed bugs are shameful and dirty. People experiencing horror and disgust. Friends and relatives avoid going to guests and invite those who have bed bugs to themselves.
Itching from bites, allergic reactions, sleepless nights, a threat to reputation and constant anxiety – all this leads to a huge emotional stress.

«They come at night» are the stories of people who fought whith the bed bugs. Aromatic herbs, a vinegar, an iron, a meditation, a smoke bomb — this methods of dealing with tiny insects.
Almost all the characters in this movie asked not to indicate their names. But participating in this project for them is an opportunity to talk about a problem which is not accepted to talk about.
The names of all the heroes have been changed.

Method 1. Aromatherapy
Put bunches of dried rosemary, St. John’s wort, thyme, wormwood or valerian in the habitats of bugs. Wipe solid bed surfaces with vinegar (9%) or vinegar and water.

Luba • I had never seen badbugs before they appeared in my flat. It troubled me, I had nightmares. I did not turn off the light at all. I slept in clothes, poured out vinegar on a sofa, laid out aromatic herbs. I remember that once after a nap I opened my eyes and saw two badbugs on the back of the sofa. One day I came to visit my friend. I didn’t want to go home. I asked him if I can spend the night on his flat. He allowed me on condition that I would iron my clothes all night. How could I like this guy before?

Method 2. High temperatures
Set the maximum temperature on the iron and then iron clothes, linen, mattress. Pay your special attention to seams and folds.

Kate • It is a terrible feeling that there is someone in your bed who drinks your blood. I was lying in my bed when noticed that someone was crawling nearby. I was not sure that it was a badbug but I poured water into a can and put a bug there. I couldn’t sleep anymore. In the morning I got up very early and started to check the whole bed. I knew that high temperatures killed bugs. So I ironed the whole bed, the linen, the pillows. I hoped that if bedbugs were there, then thay would died. Then I cleaned everything around with vinegar. I did not find traces of other bugs. But for another two weeks I did not sleep well. It seemed to me that someone was crawling over me.

Method 3. Meditation on cleansing space
Spread the mat on the floor. Slowly turn your thoughts inside your body. Create a mood for a space of inner silence through the phrase: «Everything that happens in the outside world does not bother me, but only helps».

Ira • I did not invite them to my house and do not allow them to live where I am. Bedbugs are not allowed to live here. I threw out the bed and mattress. Meditation helps me. I’m working on a cleansing now. I thing that the problem is the polluted energy of this place. It is necessary to change it and harmonize the space. So far, bugs seem not to be visible.

Method 4. Delete an infected object
Sofa and other sleeping places where bugs are found should be thrown out immediately . Write a note that the sofa is infected with bedbugs. An alternative is to remove the upholstery, treat all areas with a suitable insecticide.

Dasha • It was in a rented apartment. My neighbor and me pushed the sofa away from the wall and saw bedbugs there. There was a feeling that if we throw out the sofa, the problem will disappear. Of course it is stupidity. But I realized that I could not sleep on it anymore. My friend and I pulled out a huge double sofa bed from 4-th floor at 3o’clok in the morning. And then I slept on chairs for several nights. I put up four chairs in a row and slept in pose of mummy. I smeared the legs of the chairs with vinegar. It seemed to me that it was hard for bedbugs to climb into my new «bed».

Method 5. Crayon “Mashenka”
Circle with crayon hard-to-reach habitats of insects: back surfas of furniture,inside wardrobes and sofas . For the maximum effect circle the entire room along the perimeter with a continuous line of at least 2 cm wide. The activity of the chalk strip laststs for a long time.

Galina • We changed the floor, re-glued the wallpaper, threw out the bed. I added karbofos to the new glue for wallpaper. But the bedbugs still crawled out from somewhere. It seemed as if they falled from the ceiling. My husband sprayed everything with dichlorvos regularly and I outlined the circle with the chalk “Mashenka” every evening . My brother laughed at me. Once we left and he stayed in the room. In the middle of the night he called to ask: “Where is the chalk?”

Method 6. Powder “Hector”
The feature of “Hector” drugs is that they are fatal to bugs (and other insects), leading to rapid dehydration and death. Handle the room in a respirator. To protect eyes from the dust use safety glasses. Apply the product evenly over the areas where the insects may live. Use special traps under the beds. Pour the powder with a layer about 1 cm in plastic container. Each leg of the bed needs to be installed in such container. After three or four days of disinfestation it is necessary to sweep dead insects, collect the remnants of the poison and wash it down the drain.

Diana • I felt something crawl across my face. I woke up immediately! Turned the light on and found a huge fat bug on my pillow. I spent the rest of the night on the Internet in searching of modern means to combat bedbugs. The advertisement said about powder “Hector” that it was harmless to humans and animals. Bedbugs, getting dirty in it, should have died from dehydration. I scattered this powder in my room. It was everywhere: on the walls, on the bed, on the floor, on me, in the air. All the neighbors of our communal apartment came to me because the dust from this powder reached them. Everywhere was the smell of wet plaster and everyones eyes were mucus. It was difficult to breathe. The next morning I woke up with a severe headache and dehydration. But my suffering was not in vain. On the back of the sofa I found several dry, like a herbarium, bedbugs.

Method 7. Isolating of things
Bed sheets, clothes, books, paintings need to be folded into plastic bags, pre-treated with an insecticide.

Valya • I woke up from the fact that someone was shining a flashlight in my eyes. My roommate was standing above me and was looking at something. «Quiet», she whispered, «the bedbugs». I woke up immediately, threw a blanket and a pillow out of bed. The bedbugs were everywhere. Then I packed the linens with the bugs in the garbage bags and wrapped the bed with stretch film. And after it I layed on the floor in a sleeping bag and laid out immortelle flowers around me. This flowers repel insects. In the morning I invite a private pest control service into my flat. Thay cleaned the room with the latest cold fog method. I spent a lot of money. But when I back home In the evening I saw how the bugs ran and ran again.

Method 8. Packing sleeping places
Produce polyethylene packaging after the first treatment insecticide and drying out the mattress. The sleeping place should be moved 15-30 cm from the wall. Put a wide polyethylene film on top of the bed, throwing over the back. You need to wrap the sides of the film under the bottom of a bed or a sofa. Fix it with tape, so that the film does not move out during sleep. Buy or build canopies over the sleeping place.

Katy • In the beginning red pimples appeared on my hands. They itched very much. Then they appeared all over the body. I went to a dermatologist. I drank a lot of drugs. Then the culprits were found. I was in shock. I called to sanitary epidemiological station and invited them to make a treatment my room.. But the bugs did not die immediately. I had to wrap the whole bed with film. On a smooth surface they do not can climb. But they can crawl along the wall to the ceiling and fall from there. So I had to cover myself from above.

Method 9. The treatment with Pervak
To find a person who brews moonshine. Pervak is what comes out of the moonshine at the very beginning. It contains a high concentration of harmful impurities, methyl alcohol, acetone, etc. To make the treatment pour the solution into the spray gun and irrigate the treated surface. The drug does not kill eggs of bugs, so the treatment should be making twice, it should be repeated after the larvae emerge from the eggs (in a month).

Ivan • I have caught several bugs and put them in a jar. Then sprinkled with Kombat – zero effect. Sprinkled Executioner – the same effect. That evening I made moonshine. When the mash begins to overtake on moonshine, some part (Pervak) must be poured out, you can’t drink it – it poisonous and smells bad. But it is almost 100 degrees. In short, I took this bottle with Pervak and dropped three drops into a jar with bedbugs. Ten seconds later, the bugs seemed to have been shot! On the next day I sprayed upholstered furniture. While processed – almost fell stunned myself from the smell. And then for more than a month I walked not bitten.

Method 10. Smoke bomb “Quiet evening”
Close all windows and doors in the room tightly. Seal with tape all vents. Do not let the smoke spread outside this place. Place the smoke bomb on bricks, metal sheet or in a bucket. Start heating it up. The product is safe for people and animals.

Lena • I lived in a wooden house with my big family and we got bed bugs. My aunt said that the bugs don”t like smoke. I went to a veterinary pharmacy and talked about bed bugs. The seller advised me to burn a sulfur checker. I also read somewhere that shamans drive bugs out with smoke. It was an extreme measure, but I decided that if it helps, then I will do it. We drove out bedbugs and at the same time we did prophylaxis against mold.

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Oly Matveeva

Photographer.

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