Ready to consider any options, but it is desirable to choose products that do not stain the furniture. In addition, we have children, so too much chemical is also undesirable. Please advise how to choose the right remedy for the prevention of bed bugs. Are there any subtleties in the treatment. I have never dealt with this before, so I have no knowledge in this area. I am very grateful in advance.
The author of the portal answers the question:
In my material below, you will learn about all the ways to prevent bed bugs in your apartment and home.
Ways for bed bugs to enter the house
Parasites They appear in human habitation for a variety of reasons. If they don't have enough food (their neighbors have too many insects) or places to hide, bed bugs will look for a new object. Sometimes they appear by accident.
Neighbors
If you don't take action, insects, including bed bugs, will keep crawling in from nearby apartments. This is inevitable because the parasites multiply quickly and need additional food sources. A new generation grows up in two weeks under normal conditions.
In just a few months the room will be heavily infested, so the neighbors will have insects as well.
New stuff.
Bedbugs can inhabit objects of different purposes, not only in apartments/houses. This explains their appearance among the new items purchased. The reason is the violation of sanitary norms in the facility where clothes, appliances, and furniture are stored. Bed bugs will be there as long as there is food.
Furniture
When you buy an old couch, bed, or closet, you can get bedworms. Sometimes the source is also things of relatives that are accepted as gifts. It is necessary to carefully check the interior surfaces. Pay attention to the back walls, shelves. Inspect the internal structure of the sofa, its upholstery.
Clothing
If things have been stored for a long time without being used and bed bugs have entered the room, over time these insects will inhabit closets and dressers with old clothes. If they are sold and not carefully inspected, they will become a source of bed bugs.
Instruments
When parasites are found on a new object, the probability of nesting inside furniture and appliances increases. Once they inhabit the couch, bed (where a person sleeps), they will move to neighboring areas in search of shelter. TV, refrigerator, printer, computer, air conditioner - any and appliances (if it has been idle for a long time) can become a habitat for insects.
Bed bugs have a narrow body, which allows them to penetrate the mechanism.
Poultry
Bedding parasites attack other animal birds: cats, dogs, rats, chickens, etc. But parasites consider only humans as their main food source. The properties of his skin and blood are most suitable for these insects. Alternative food sources are other warm-blooded creatures. But it is more difficult to notice the infestation of the coop with bed bugs, so the consequences can be worse (diseases, inflammation of the puncture sites of the outer covers of the bird).
Moving to a new place of residence
Secondary housing and new construction are both equally likely to be infested. In the first case, bed bugs are often already in the room when you buy it (crawled in from neighbors or got in by accident). In a new apartment, the parasites show up with the owners' belongings.
When moving into secondary housing, you need to look at all the hidden areas before you move in.
Biological and epidemiological characteristics of bed bugs
Bedbugs are wingless synanthropic insects. They feed on human blood, which allows the parasites to multiply. The average number of eggs 1-12 pcs. per day. Rarely, more offspring appear. The female fixes her eggs on the surfaces of hidden areas, for which she secretes a special secret during the laying process. The substance is characterized by a specific odor, which helps to detect parasites in time.
As a side note:
The parasites are afraid of natural light, so they attack mostly at night. If they get very hungry and stay in diapause for a long time, the appearance of a person after a long absence will cause the bedbug to attack during the day.
In the digestive system bedbug contains harmful microorganisms. Infection of humans with dangerous diseases does not occur because the blood that the insect has received from another host does not enter through the proboscis when it is bitten.
How not to take a bedbug with you when you visit a cheap hotel
It is necessary to inspect the accommodation immediately. The likelihood of room infection increases in hostels, motels, as well as guesthouses, where rooms are rented without providing documents to anyone who is willing to pay for a place to stay overnight. In addition, you should secure your belongings - put a cotton pad with a drop of essential oil in your suitcase. The smell will help scare away the parasites, but will remain on your clothes.
How to check if there are bed bugs in the apartment
You can use a variety of means:
- at night, you need to prepare a flashlight, without turning on the main source of light, you need to observe the room;
- you can turn on the light sharply at night: bed bugs are active between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m.
Preventive measures carried out at home
One way is to inspect the premises frequently. It is necessary to check the presence of parasites, their signs in all areas where adults and juveniles prefer to live. This is the easiest way to prevent bed bugs in the apartment and does not require investment.
You should also inspect the body in the morning - look for bites that form a track-like pattern.
Protecting your home from bed bugs with folk methods
The use of such agents is primarily considered as a prophylactic. For the most part, they do not kill insects (the exception is household chemicals, which in direct contact can kill parasites), but create unacceptable conditions for staying bedbugs homes:
- Herbs with bitterness. These include wormwood and tansy. Fresh raw materials or dried plants are used. However, the methods of using herbs are different in each case. So, fresh herbs need to be changed often, because they dry out and the smell becomes less intense. Dried herbs are used to prepare decoctions: 2 tbsp. per 1 cup of water, then the concentrated solution must be diluted with water and applied to areas where bed bugs occur.
- Ammonia alcohol. Add 1 tbsp. to the water for cleaning the floor, you can also apply the substance to some furniture (if the properties of the coating allow it). As a result, a thin film is formed, exuding a pungent smell.
- Strongly smelling household chemicals: kerosene, turpentine. They are applied to cotton pads in 1-2 drops, spread in the corners. The disadvantage of the method is the smell, which is unpleasant not only to vermin, but also to people.
- Essential oils: geranium, eucalyptus, tea tree oil. You can spray a solution based on these substances into the air. As it settles, the fine particulate matter will cover all surfaces and emit an odor for a long period of time. Repeat as needed throughout the day.
- Boric acid powder. This measure has a major disadvantage - the low probability of contact with the exterior of the parasites. Given that bed bugs will not be interested in the bait, it is difficult to attract them to the powder. For this reason, it is necessary to scatter the product over a large area. This method of bed bug prevention is not suitable in cases where there are pets. The powder will quickly spread around the apartment and be eaten by pets.
Bug-catching devices
Given that human food traps won't help catch bloodsucking insects, consider other methods:
- Strips of duct tape, glue pads. The latter option is more expensive, because the price of high-quality glue, which does not immediately harden, is higher than that of duct tape. Such pads are placed inside furniture, along baseboards, under the bed. On the inner surfaces of the sofa, you can glue a double-sided adhesive tape. He will not spoil the material, after removing the strip will not leave traces. On the other surfaces, spread regular tape. A bedbug will stick when trying to cross such strips.
- Tanks of liquid. The legs of a metal bed are placed in them (a wooden bed has a different configuration of the base frame). When the bedbug tries to go up to its victim, it will fall into the trap.
What you need to know about bed bugs to successfully control them
Recommendations that will help in the elimination of insects of this species:
- You should simultaneously carry out prevention of house bugs (using folk methods) and treatment of the house with chemicals that will kill most of the pests and scare away the remaining individuals, creating unsuitable conditions for their existence;
- It is recommended to use a variety of products: sprays, powders, crayons, spraysand insecticide-based preparations of different classes;
- After treatment, you should wait a few hours before opening windows.
Use of insecticides to prevent
The most effective preparations that are recommended for use against blood-sucking insects:
- Tetrix - The two-component drug, the concentration of toxic substances in its composition is high, so you need to handle the product with care, it comes in the form of a liquid solution;
- Hector - powder, used against various insects, contains a component that damages the outer covers of the pests, but the product has disadvantages: you have to scatter it on many surfaces, as well as noted low speed of action;
What are the signs that your apartment is already infested with bed bugs and it is too late to prevent them?
Traces on the body do not always suggest the appearance of parasites. A number of signs are noticed:
- specific smell in the apartment - appears when the number of insects increases;
- husks inside upholstered furniture: light-colored empty shells from bedbug eggs, brown shells of young individuals;
- insect excrement (black round formations, when they get into the upholstery of a sofa or a mattress, just dark stains remain);
- red dots on the bed;
- bed bug eggs are detected.
Breaking Myths: What Bedbugs Aren't Afraid of
Insect control at home will not be effective if the rules are violated:
- lights are constantly on at night or are turned on frequently, as a result, bed bugs will stop responding to them as a source of danger, will attack at any time of the day;
- Chlorine-containing products are not suitable for destroying this type of parasites;
- strong smells discourage insects, but this is only a temporary measure: if the parasites are hungry for a long time, they can overcome the discomfort, will continue to attack people.
Video tip (photo + video): effective prevention of bed bugs in the apartment at home
Reviews
Expert tips
- If you buy preparations with the intestinal principle of work, the result of treatment will be disappointing, because the parasites do not eat anything but blood;
- Prophylaxis is one of the most effective methods of fighting such parasites, because it creates conditions when the insects are physically unable to penetrate into the object (all access ways are blocked).
Conclusion
It may seem that prevention is only an auxiliary method of pest control. In fact, it is the main way to prevent the spread of bed bugs to neighboring areas when treated with insecticides, and also eliminates the risk of re-emergence of insects. Features of parasite control:
- Exclude all causes that contribute to their entry into the object: from neighbors, with belongings, equipment, furniture, pets and birds. When you move to a new place of residence, you should check all the hidden areas, and it is not recommended to bring old things, equipment that stood in the infected room for a long time.
- Bed bugs can leave eggs everywhere. Even if the room seems to be insect-free, larvae will appear in two weeks.
- For prevention, folk remedies against bed bugs and chemical preparations are used. At the same time it is necessary to make cosmetic repairs. This will not allow domestic parasites to move from the neighbors through the cracks, ventilation, windows or doors.
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