Bedbugs
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 Bedbugs 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 Bedbugs 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.