How To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs
Getting Rid of Those Pesky Bed Bugs
Most of us grew up never thinking about the possibility of bed bugs. We may have known that they’d been an annoyance in the distant past, but we never connected them with our world at all. Things have changed recently, though. Bed bugs are back with a vengeance, and people now want to employ modern methods in order to get rid of the nuisance bugs.
The Cimex Lectularius is the most common species of bed bugs, and they like living off humans even though other types of bed bugs prefer animal hosts, such as bats or birds. Bed bugs are brown or dark red, about a fourth of an inch long, and have oval-shaped bodies. Since these bugs started appearing in people’s homes again a few years back, more and more people are looking for the best ways to kill them and eliminate the problem.
The old-fashioned methods for killing bed bugs, such as washing bedding and clothing in very hot water, still work. In addition, though, we now have clothes driers which, when set on the highest heat, are effective in destroying the bugs. For items that weren’t made to be heated, modern food freezers make a remarkable substitute. Still, there are large, bulky items, like mattresses, which need to be sealed in black plastic and then left to cook for awhile in the sun. As heat builds up inside the plastic, the bugs die. Unfortunately, this method can take up to two weeks and may ruin the materials inside the plastic as well as the bugs.
The Best Place to Kill Bed Bugs: At the Source
A lot of people wonder how to go about killing the bed bugs at the source, especially if they aren’t really sure about where the source is. Because of this, it’s often the best bet to call in a professional exterminator. What happens with bed bugs is that during the day they hide in places that make it impossible for most of us to find them, such as behind baseboards. They only come out at night to feed on people as they are sleeping. By the time the people awaken in the morning, the bugs are long gone back to their hiding places.
Think about what a rude awakening it would be to wake up covered with bites and blood from the bites. You’d definitely want to find the most effective remedy as soon as possible. There are chemicals which have little odor that can be used successfully, but, once again, the chemicals are better left in the hands of the professionals. These people are trained in the handling of dangerous chemicals as well as in how to find the places where the bugs are hiding.
Another type of chemical kills the bed bug population by causing male infertility. This is crucial since a female bug will lay as many as 200 to 500 eggs at one time. These chemicals have been proven to work well, but they won’t do it overnight, and if more eggs hatch before the chemical takes effect, the male babies may not be affected at all, because the chemical may have already worn off.
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