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Bed bugs are probably the most ghastly of household pests in many peoples’ eyes. Cockroaches are bad enough, but they do not suck on you. Mosquitoes suck blood and are annoying, but we accept them more than bed bugs. But bed bugs suck your blood when you are asleep and then mess in your bed as a thank you note.

Luckily, these insects do not carry any human diseases that we are aware of, so they are quite ’safe’ in that regard, whereas there are quite a few deadly diseases that you can acquire from mosquitoes such as malaria, dengue fever and yellow fever amongst others. Still, most of us prefer mosquitoes to bed bugs.

If your house is infested with these insects, you will surely want to eliminate them, so you will need to know something about the habits of these creatures. Bed bugs like to hide themselves during the day time in cracks, crevices, torn wallpaper and linoleum, broken plaster, a ripped mattress and stacked clothing, books, magazines etc..

The common belief prevalent until a few decades ago was that bed bugs just liked dirty households, but this is not the case. Cockroaches like to search for fallen food as do ants, but bed bugs just eat blood and do not even have mouth-parts to eat dropped food if they were starving.

Therefore, bed bugs do not have to live in a slovenly house, just in one that is run-down, poorly taken care of or cluttered. If you want to clear up an infestation of bed bugs, the first thing to do is launder all your clothing in hot water or dry-cleaning fluid and then store them in sealed plastic bags.

The next step is to repair anywhere they could be hiding. Stick back or replace any tattered wallpaper and seal off any loose woodwork such as skirting boards and architraves with a line of mastic or filler. Seal the woodwork top and bottom, so that any bed bugs hiding in there will not be able to get out again. This saves attempting to kill them.

Put away all books, piles of newspapers, toys and general clutter and inspect your furniture for wobbly joints. For instance, if a chair or table is a bit ricketty, tighten the screws or mastic the joints together. Plug nail and screw holes with filler or mastic.

Roll up your carpets and check the floor boards. Cork the joints, fill screw holes and check the line of mastic at the base of the skirting boards.

Check the framework of your bed and renovate as mentioned above. Are there red or brown smears on your mattress? if so, they could be living in your mattress. Sew up any tears and seal the mattress in a mattress case which can be zipped closed in order to trap any bugs inside. Otherwise, maybe it is time to replace it.

Standard pesticides do not have much effect on bed bugs, so be wary what you purchase. You need something that has an abrasive element in it. Some use finely ground up glass, which might pose a health risk to you or your pets.

Diatomaceous Earth is far less risky. Sprinkle or spray it under your carpets and around the base of the skirtings, where bed bugs like to scuttle. Relay your carpets and steam clean them.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is now involved with pictures of bed bugs. If you want to know more, please go to our website at Picture of Bed Bugs.

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