The essential guide to bed bugs
Bed bugs: two words that can create psychological havoc with most people. Although bed bugs were nearly wiped out in the developed world by the 1950’s, these tiny parasitic insects have made a tremendous comeback in recent years.
Bed bugs are insects in the family Cimicidae. The most common species of bed bug is cimex lectularius. They feed entirely on the blood of vertebrates, however, they have a preference for human blood. Bed bugs are sneaky, hiding in places where they can have rapid access to a blood meal and with as little disturbance as possible. Once they have fed, bed bugs will quickly abandon their host and hide.
Potential hiding spots include beds, sofas, chairs and near any other location where humans are sedentary for extended periods of time. You should learn how to find bed bugs in your home or how to check for them in a hotel room.
Bed bugs are found almost everywhere humans inhabit, and according to the National Pest Management Association and the University
almost 100% of pest management professionals have treated for bed bugs in the past year. Bed bugs are regularly found in places such as single family homes, condos, apartments, hotels and motels. Additionally, there are increasing incidents of bed bugs infesting places such as retail stores, movie theaters, public transportation and restaurant
The Ultimate Guide to Bed Bug DIY Treatments (Do’s & Don’ts)
Bed Bug infestations can cause constant suffering for you and your loved ones, so it’s understandable to want to explore all options to remove an infestation. While bed bug treatments require the help of a bed bug professional, there are some DIY solutions that could help reduce the infestation.
The frightening truth about bed bugs is most people aren’t aware that they have a problem until days after they have been bitten. Once you see the first signs of an infestation it’s important to act quickly.
Wash and Seal Bedding
After you noticed bed bugs did you see any bedding dotted with reddish or brown spots? Does your bedding have a slightly musty odor to it? If the answer is yes to either of the above questions, it’s important to properly wash your bedding. This should be washed in soapy water at a temperature of at least 120 degrees (The hot water setting on your washing machine should be enough).
The dryer settings of a normal household are typically hot enough to kill bed bugs, and they typically cannot survive a hot dryer for longer than 20 – 30 minutes. Be sure to check the washing instructions of your items first, and keep in mind that high heat can damage or shrink certain fabrics. You should move your bedding straight to the laundry room using sealed hamper bags to prevent any cross-contamination.
Vacuum Your Bedding
Take a handheld vacuum and run it across your mattress, inside the bed frame, along baseboards, and even across your headboard. It’s important to be thorough in all cracks and crevices where bed bugs or their eggs could potentially be hiding. You can see certain bed bugs with the naked eye, so make sure to run the vacuum over any visible bugs.
Bed Bugs And Why Do You Need To Get Rid Of Them
Why do you need the bed bug treatment?
1. They bite! : One of the major issues you must get rid of bed bugs and their infestation are the bites. You are the source of nutrition for bed bugs – the more they feed on you, the more they will breed.
2. Itchy rashes: Bites from bed bugs often leave rashes that makes you itch every now and then. Often, the urge to scratch is so strong that you are unable to restrict yourself, wherever you may be. These rashes also might leave nasty marks on your skin. This is a very important reason to get rid of bed bugs.
3. Transferability and portability: Another reason to get rid of bed bugs is that they easily travel from one bed to another through many sources like pillows, bed sheets, and people as well. So once these bugs are in your house, it is likely that they will continue to spread everywhere.
What is the treatment all about?
You need to get rid of bed bugs and stop them from infesting your house. The basic information about bed-bug removal is available everywhere, but this procedure involves microscopic details. And if the steps are not followed properly, the bed bugs are likely to come back.
Step 1: A thorough inspection of all the possible places bed bugs might reside in is required, starting from the corners of your room to the furniture and mattresses. The extent of the bug infestation determines the kind of treatment that will be required in your house.
Step 2: After determining the depth of the situation, it becomes easy to figure out whether you require a change of mattresses, a bed bug spray or heat and steam treatment. You may also need to move out of the house for a specific time period. In any case, chemical application is almost unavoidable.
Step 3: The process of bed-bug control is not limited to the treatment. Once the treatment is done, regular house cleaning is advisable to avoid future trouble. Even after the process is finished, the tiny bed bugs may be hidden in nooks and crannies as it is not possible to spray the chemicals on every single surface. So deep clean the house with hot water and vacuum the carpets every now and then.
Bed Bugs: The Ultimate Guide
Bed bugs have been bothering humans for thousands of years. Researchers have found evidence of these pests dating back to ancient Rome, Greece, and Egypt. Despite their long existence alongside humans, during the 1950’s bed bugs were nearly completely eradicated in the developed world. It wasn’t until the 1990’s that the United States saw a major resurgence in bed bugs . This could be due to increased international travel, use of targeted pesticides, growing bed bug resistance to pest control products, or a lack of prevention understanding among the general public. Whatever the reasons may be, bed bugs have become a major problem, and residents across the U.S. are scrambling to know how to get rid of them.
Professional bed bug control has become big business for pest control companies. These treatments can be very expensive, so many frustrated people have started tackling the problem on their own. It can be tricky, but it can definitely be accomplished. Bed bugs are one of the most difficult pests to eliminate, so it is widely recommended that control methods involve many different approaches, both non-chemical and chemical. With a well thought-out plan, effective bed bug treatment products, and continued use of bed bug prevention methods, do-it-yourself bed bug control can be achieved.
Bed Bug Identification
If you are concerned about a possible bed bug infestation, proper identification is the first important step. There are many different bugs that are often mistaken for bed bugs including: fleas, carpet beetles, ticks, booklice, spider beetles, and cockroach nymphs. Before you waste a lot of time and money, make sure that you are really dealing with bed bugs.
Adult Bed Bug Characteristics
The common bed bug (cimex lectularius) is brown or reddish-brown in color and typically 5-7 mm long, which is roughly the size of an apple seed. Bed bugs feed exclusively on blood, so their looks can change depending on how recently they have eaten. Blood-filled bed bugs appear elongated and balloon-like, while unfed bed bugs are long and flat with an oval-shaped body. Sometimes they may appear slightly striped because of their hair growth patterns. Bed bugs have 6 legs, 3 body parts, 2 antennae, and residual wing pads, but no actual wings. Bed bugs do not jump or fly, but instead crawl to their food source. They also have a sucking mouth part that can pierce the skin of their blood source. They will then inject an anticoagulant and an anesthetic to aid in getting their blood meal.
Bed Bug Nymph Characteristics
Immature bed bugs are called nymphs and differ in appearance from adults. Nymphs are smaller, and some can be nearly translucent in color. Others may appear to be whitish-yellow. Red coloring may be noticeable in bed bug nymphs that have recently fed, but immature bed bugs that have not eaten recently can be nearly invisible.
Bed Bugs
Bed bugs, Cimex lectularius, are a fast-growing pest of public health importance in the United States. In multi-family housing units, bed bugs spread by moving from one apartment to another, by bed bug-infested furniture being brought into the building, by travel, resident turnover, and by visits from friends and family of residents.
Research has found that 53% of apartments that were adjacent to infested apartments were also infested. In addition, 50% of the interviewed residents who had infestations were unaware of the bed bug problem in their own apartments. Clearly, there is an urgent need for public education, catching the problem early, and adoption of more effective bed bug monitoring and intervention programs to curb the exploding problem of bed bug infestations.
The health department responds to bed bug complaints from residents at rental properties and multi-unit housing situations such as apartments, boarding homes, hotels, nursing homes, etc. If you suspect a bed bug infestation, save the insect in a vial or sealable bag so that it can be positively identified.
Practical “Do It Yourself” Steps for Dealing with Bed Bugs
It takes a lot of time and persistent effort to get rid of bed bugs. They can hide inside of anything and may survive without feeding for one year. Do not assume that they are gone until eight weeks have passed since the last bite. The following steps are practical suggestions compiled from published research on dealing with bed bugs. These do-it-yourself steps can be paired up with a comprehensive bed bug control program that includes residents, landlord, and a commercial pest control contractor.
As 70% of bed bugs are in the bed or where you sleep, start work there. Take the bed completely apart. Clean and vacuum all folds of the mattress and box spring with a stiff furniture brush and crack and crevice tool. Treat the bed with a pesticide labeled for bed bugs (always follow the label). After cleaning and treatment, cover the mattress and box spring with bed bug proof encasements sold at retail stores and online.
Move the bed away from the wall, other bedroom furniture, and household items where the remaining 30% of bed bugs are hiding. Make sure that nothing on the bed is touching the floor (e.g. blankets, bed skirts, etc.) besides the legs of the frame. Install sticky traps or insect interceptor traps under each leg of the bed. The traps will collect bed bugs for identification and keep them from climbing back on the bed. Traps will also help you judge how well the control effort is working.
Clean and treat the remaining furniture by the bed and in other rooms where people rest and sleep. Female bed bugs glue their eggs in hidden areas, making it difficult to remove 100% of them with a vacuum cleaner. Move and scrape the crevice tool along seams, folds and along the edge of wall-to-wall carpet. Heavily upholstered furniture that has a lot of folds, ruffles, buttons, etc. can provide many hiding places for bedbugs. This type of furniture may need to be discarded. Remove clutter to eliminate bed bug hiding spots and follow all sanitary recommendations made by your landlord and the commercial pest control company.
Pesticide products labeled for bed bugs will kill bugs on contact, but their residual effect is limited, meaning that the chemicals don’t stick around for long on the surface they are applied to. Rubbing alcohol will kill bugs on contact, but it is flammable, dangerous and has no residual effect. Essential plant oil pesticides with clove, peppermint, cedar, and geraniol have proven almost as effective as commercial grade pesticides. They work slower but kill all stages, including eggs, and provide residual effect on cotton for several days. To date, they are only sold by retail outlets on the internet.
Bed bugs survive cold temperatures well, but do succumb to heat. For items that can be laundered, use water at least 160°F to be effective on all life stages and tumble dry on hot cycle (120°F) for at least 30 minutes. Un-washable items may be treated with a heat gun, hair dryer, or commercial grade steam cleaner. Dry cleaning chemicals also kill bed bugs.
Mattresses, box springs, luggage and small furniture may be treated with a Mattress & Luggage Treatment Kit available online and in hardware stores. The kit contains a pesticide strip and a large sealable plastic bag. Items sealed inside the plastic bag are exposed for 7 days to a controlled-release vapor of an organophosphate pesticide called Vapona (also known as Dichlorvos or DDVP). It kills all stages of bed bugs. Be sure to wear gloves when using pesticide and always follow the directions for use on the label.
For people who must remain in an infested home until a more comprehensive control effort is conducted, a portable cot with bed bug traps set under each leg will help to prevent bites. A mosquito bed net or a small, finely screened tent set on top of a cleaned and treated bed (with traps under each leg) may also alleviate bites. According to a 2013 study, DEET, the most commonly used insect repellent applied to the skin, provided a high level of repellency against bed bugs. The label on repellents should always be read thoroughly before use