Bed bugs are a growing source of aggravation, especially in the developed Western world, because bed bugs were largely cleared out there by the late 1950's.
This means that most people under 50 years of age had probably never seen a bedbug until after 1995, when they made a big comeback. Their numbers are still rising fast, so lots of people are thinking about how to kill bed bugs.
This is due to two major reasons: their natural toughness and their tolerance to modern household chemical pesticides. Their natural hardiness is due to a waxy coating on their bodies which protects them from surfactant pesticides to a great extent.
Their resistance to chemical pesticides is most likely due to the fact that they were almost exterminated in the West in the 1940's and 1950's by the extensive use of DDT.
The waxy coating on bedbugs blocks their rapid dehydration, which is why they are capable of lying dormant for up to five months waiting for a fitting host to come along. It is also the reason why a lot of contact pesticides are ineffective. Therefore, one of the tactics for killing bed bugs is getting rid of that waxy coat .
People understood this 150 years ago, but they did not have the technology to truly take advantage of the information. People frequently used to lay down crushed dried leaves or sharp sand.
In the 19th century, lime, ash and diatomaceous earth were utilized to erode the outer waxy coat. The latter was especially effective and has seen a resurgence in usage during the last few years as an option to chemicals.
One way of killing bed bugs that will not work is catching them and crushing them, even if you did wrap sticky insect bands around the legs of your bed. Bed bugs cannot fly, but they could still get at you. They are not averse to walking up to the ceiling and dropping on to you.
If you would like to try chemical pesticides, then there are three basic kinds. The first type tries to mimic the effects of diatomaceous earth.
It is a spray that contains pulverized glass or silica mixed with a contact insecticide. This does not sound a healthy environment for humans or pets either though. Breathing powdered glass or silica seems like bad news.
Contact insecticides have limited effect, partly due to the waxy coating, but also because to be effectual they have to be robust and this makes them a repellent, which means that the bedbugs will just stay away from it if they can.
Insect growth regulators are effective at killing the nymphs, which is great, but the adults can live for around a year, so that is not so good, unless you are considering a long world cruise.
Contractors usually use steam these days, because none of the bed bug's life stages can survive temperatures above 45c, so you could try| this technique by getting in a steam wall paper stripper or a hot air paint stripper for the weekend and going over your walls and woodwork. In fact, if all your wall paper and paint is going to fall off, you might as well combine the session with your next redecoration.
This means that most people under 50 years of age had probably never seen a bedbug until after 1995, when they made a big comeback. Their numbers are still rising fast, so lots of people are thinking about how to kill bed bugs.
This is due to two major reasons: their natural toughness and their tolerance to modern household chemical pesticides. Their natural hardiness is due to a waxy coating on their bodies which protects them from surfactant pesticides to a great extent.
Their resistance to chemical pesticides is most likely due to the fact that they were almost exterminated in the West in the 1940's and 1950's by the extensive use of DDT.
The waxy coating on bedbugs blocks their rapid dehydration, which is why they are capable of lying dormant for up to five months waiting for a fitting host to come along. It is also the reason why a lot of contact pesticides are ineffective. Therefore, one of the tactics for killing bed bugs is getting rid of that waxy coat .
People understood this 150 years ago, but they did not have the technology to truly take advantage of the information. People frequently used to lay down crushed dried leaves or sharp sand.
In the 19th century, lime, ash and diatomaceous earth were utilized to erode the outer waxy coat. The latter was especially effective and has seen a resurgence in usage during the last few years as an option to chemicals.
One way of killing bed bugs that will not work is catching them and crushing them, even if you did wrap sticky insect bands around the legs of your bed. Bed bugs cannot fly, but they could still get at you. They are not averse to walking up to the ceiling and dropping on to you.
If you would like to try chemical pesticides, then there are three basic kinds. The first type tries to mimic the effects of diatomaceous earth.
It is a spray that contains pulverized glass or silica mixed with a contact insecticide. This does not sound a healthy environment for humans or pets either though. Breathing powdered glass or silica seems like bad news.
Contact insecticides have limited effect, partly due to the waxy coating, but also because to be effectual they have to be robust and this makes them a repellent, which means that the bedbugs will just stay away from it if they can.
Insect growth regulators are effective at killing the nymphs, which is great, but the adults can live for around a year, so that is not so good, unless you are considering a long world cruise.
Contractors usually use steam these days, because none of the bed bug's life stages can survive temperatures above 45c, so you could try| this technique by getting in a steam wall paper stripper or a hot air paint stripper for the weekend and going over your walls and woodwork. In fact, if all your wall paper and paint is going to fall off, you might as well combine the session with your next redecoration.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently concerned with how to test for bed bugs. If you want to know more, visit our website now at Pest Management at Home.
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