Dear What’s That Bug:
Thanks for your informative web site. I had the misfortune of moving into an apartment that was infested with German cockroaches about a month ago. On average I see around 10 of the critters a day throughout the unit, sometimes more. After negotiations with my landlord, I’m planning to move out in the next few weeks but I’m terrified of taking these pests with me. I took very few clothes to the apartment and never used two of the closets nor did I ever use the kitchen normally. Most of my belongings are in lidded plastic bins and anything that has remained in a box I plan to re-pack in a plastic bin. I plan to get rid of my dresser drawers as I often saw roaches on them. How worried should I be about taking these things with me? Can you recommend anything else I can do in terms of my furniture to help prevent them coming with me? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you bug man!
Nervous in Virginia
Dear Nervous,
You have every cause to be concerned. These roaches are insidious. Unfortunately, you can never be positive that you are not transporting tiny immature roaches to your new apartment. I don’t normally endorse fumigation, but it would be wise to find some way of poisoning the stowaways who might be infesting your belongings. You might want to take your clothes to the laundermat and wash them before going to your new place. Do not return them to the site of the infestation or you may get new hitch-hikers. Good luck.