With infestations at an all time high the recession has bitten and so have the Bed Bugs. The effects of the recession or the slowdown as the government so diplomatically puts it seems to be effecting the Bed Bugs as well as the people, only in a positive way, for the Bed Bug that is. As belts are tightened and we batten down the hatches, it seems that the Bed Bugs are the only ones who are going to sleep tight.
Less and less people are paying for pest control and although this has resulted in a boom in sales for amateur pest control products in the UK it has also resulted in a sharp rise in infestations of a variety of pests. Whilst laying some bait down for mice and rats is easy, dealing with a serious infestation of Bed Bugs is a different kettle of fish.
Bed Headboards Only
The biology and nature of a Bed Bug makes it hard to treat and eradicate them successfully. Normal insect sprays from the pound shops or the more expensive ones from the DIY stores may kill a Bed Bug if you have a few but a house full of bloodsuckers can only be dealt with effectively by a pest control company and unfortunately that's where the problem begins. With the competitive pest control market that we have today many companies have resorted to quick and inexpensive treatments usually with cheaper and less effective insecticides in order to get your business.
Effective Bed Bug control can only be achieved by proper preparation and effective and correct treatment procedures. In order to get rid of Bed Bugs the whole property must be treated apart from kitchens and bathrooms unless they have been seen here. An example is in a three bedroom house it is imperative the bedrooms are all treated the loft is treated and the stairways and landings are included. Although some pest control companies don't treat the living room it is one of the most important areas to treat as this is the first place Bed Bugs will land if it is brought in from outside.
This is a detailed guideline of how to prepare your property for treatment.
The following rules apply only to bedrooms, living rooms, hallways and any other rooms other than the kitchen and bathroom.
o All beds should be stripped of bed sheets pillows and duvets. Any beds which have drawers should have the entire contents removed. This is because all beds and headboards should be sprayed with a residual insecticide and the beds should be turned upside down in order to gain access to underside of the bed where the Bed Bugs are normally located. The hessian on the underside of the beds, chairs and sofas should also be cut open in order to maximise the success of any treatment.
o All furniture i.e. wardrobes, drawers and shelving etc. must be cleared of any items i.e. clothes, shoes, toiletries, blankets. There must be no items left in wardrobes, under beds in chest of drawers or any other furniture. All items should be removed and placed in black bags and stored in the kitchen or bathroom.
o It is not necessary to remove televisions, computers or other electrical items as these will not be affected by the treatment.
o In all rooms and hallways it is necessary to clear away all items on the floor apart from any furniture. This is because Bedbugs can also live under the edges of the carpets and in the gaps of floorboards and the carpets and flooring will need to be sprayed.
o The pest control company should spray all the rooms with a residual insecticide. They should spray all furniture and carpets where necessary. Please note that in rare cases it is possible that there may be Bedbugs on some of the clothes that have been removed from the rooms. Once the furniture has been treated and the clothes have been placed back into the furniture the Bedbugs will crawl over the insecticide and die.
o Where the infestation of Bedbugs is very bad the technician treatment the premises may request that some of the beds and/or furniture are thrown away. However the technician should carry out an inspection whilst carrying out the first treatment and advise you accordingly.
The above is normal procedure for a few of the professional companies out there, however the majority of pest control companies and a lot of the local authorities are happy just to take your money and spray a bit of insecticide around the bed and on the carpets and off they go.
The result of this has been a spike of Bed Bug infestations across the UK with no end to the problem. Another reason that has contributed to the problem is the reduction of the use of residual insecticide sprays over the last ten years. With the introduction of cockroach gels and the ever increasing need to be greener and more eco friendly many companies are looking at ways to reduce the uses of harmful sprays and turn to other methods of detection and eradication but at what cost.
Many years ago it was common practice to spray a premises whether they had a problem or not and this normally attributed to the common belief that prevention is better than cure. This was true as during the course of normal cockroach treatments a technician would spray a premises killing the cockroaches but at the same time killing the Bed Bugs too. Now we have moved to the notion that detection is better than cure. With the introduction of cockroach gels that don't smell and enable technicians to treat properties without having to empty kitchen cupboards there has been sharp decline in the use of insecticide sprays and an increase in Bed Bug resistance to the same. Manufactures of insecticides are introducing stronger and more effective chemicals to beat the bugs it what seems to be have turned full circle but my belief is that it's not the chemical itself but how and where it is being applied that is incorrect.