| The
facts
Bed bug infestations can start for a number of reasons.
Most bed bugs find a new home because they were transported
from place to place by travelers. Often times, they hitch
rides in suit cases or laundry to end up in the home of
their next host. It is recommended that when traveling to
areas that are known to have higher numbers of infestations,
the traveller should make sure to sleep with clean bed linens
and wash laundry before taking it back home. Motels, hotels,
and other sleeping areas that have high turn over rates
for travelers are at a much greater risk for infestation.
Bed bugs will usually take refuge some place near their
food source. Since their food source is mostly sleeping
humans, the most logical place to find a bed bug is near
the bed. Bed bugs will use their small flat bodies to hide
themselves in the crevices or folds of sheets and mattresses.
They will usually stay hidden during the day, and come out
only at night to feed. This makes them very difficult to
detect, and infestations can become very large and out of
control before they have ever been seen. At night, while
the host is asleep, the bed bug will venture out and find
its food source. It can take up to ten minutes for an adult
bed bug to fully engorge itself with blood. As they fill
themselves with their hosts blood, their bodies enlarge
and turn a darker red color. They will then crawl back to
their hiding spots where they will digest their meal and
sleep until time to feed again.
Where do Bed Bugs live?
Bed bugs are found wherever human beings sleep within a
property. They can be carried into the home on luggage brought
in after a stay in an infested hotel or dwelling. Bed bugs
can also enter the home on second hand furniture and in
very rare cases, can be brought in on a person's clothes.
They are nocturnal and spend most of their time hiding in
areas such as floor cracks, under carpets, behind loose
wallpaper or pictures, loose skirting boards, door frames
and the surrounding structures of infested rooms. They commonly
appear in the seams, piping and buttons of bed mattresses
and on bedroom furniture. Modern buildings often allow bedbugs
to migrate along terraced houses and between flats, spreading
the problem away from the original infestation.
Why keep Bed Bugs under control?
The close association of bed bugs with humans can cause
a substantial nuisance through the blood feeding habits.
Bites often result in a hard, white swelling unlike flea
bites, which leave a dark red spot. Itching caused by bites
and the possibility of secondary infection caused by scratching
is most common. If infestation is high then there can be
a risk of anaemia. Bed bugs are not known to be carriers
of human disease.
Prevention & Control
Bed bugs are often carried from infested premises in luggage,
second hand furniture, etc. Careful inspection of these
articles for bed bugs should be made if there are any doubts
about their origin.
Treatment
Contact Paramite Pest Solutions
if you suspect you may have a problem and we can advise
you on the best course of action. A visit by our pest control
officer can be arranged. He will carry out a survey and
suggest what action needs to be taken. Treatment must be
very thorough and should therefore be carried out by a professional.
The standard treatment for infested premises is the application
of an insecticide approved for use against bed bugs. The
insecticide should be applied to all cracks and crevices
where bed bugs could be hiding, including the crevices of
bed frames, flooring, skirting boards etc. Mattresses can
be lightly sprayed with a water diluted spray. All bed linen
should be washed at the hottest temperature that the material
will allow.
Paramite Pest Solutions will take all possible precautions.
Revisits will be made until the problem is cleared. |
