Bed Bugs treatment & removal
Verminate bed bug pest control team based in Dorset provides a service for the treatment of bed bugs.
If you have bed bugs in your home or property please call Verminate to speak to a trained technician for free advice and an instant quote to quickly and safely treat the affected areas.
Verminate takes pride in serving local people and price fairly and competitively ensuring our customers always return to verminate.
Bed Bug pest guide
Treatment consists of an application of insecticides with Insect Growth Regulaters and Insecticide powders, in and around the infested areas. The insecticides that Verminate use are the safest available and do not pose any risk to people or pets.
You will, however, be left with an information sheet about the insecticide used by the operative. The pest control officer will be able to give on site advice about any precautions that the occupant needs to take before and after treatment. It is sometimes necessary to treat more than one room if there is a severe infestation.
The only way to remove bed bugs properly is to have a 3 part treatment over a month period. Using three different insecticides this will stop each stage of the life cycle if not they only appear to disappear.
Also by increasing the internal room temperature to 22 degrees the eggs hatch within 4 to 10 days. This makes sure we manipulate the insect into a faster cycle whilst carrying out the treatment.
It is important as with all parasites to stop there life cycle or they will never truly go away just appear too, then slowly increase in number again. At verminate we have dealt with many failed treatments.
After the treatment you will usually notice a reduction in the number of bed bugs within two to three days. It will take longer to kill off all the insects as their eggs will continue to hatch out. This pest is showing considerable resistance to many cheaper ordinary insecticides. Be aware of any pest control company who says one treatment application will eradicate these tiny pests it is almost impossible.
There are two main types of bed bug. The most common bed bugs are the Common bed bug, found in dwellings, and the Martin bug, which normally lives in birds' nests but can bite people. Common Bed bugs (pictured) are oval wingless insects, approximately 5mm long, with six legs and two antennae. They are red-brown in colour and flat in shape. Their colour turns to red/purple after a blood meal and they become more rounded in shape.
Where do they live?
Bed bugs hide themselves in mattresses, within bed frames, under bed bases, within bed headboards, behind loose wallpaper, within paintings, wall sockets, and telephones. Also behind wall partitioning, suspended ceilings, skirting boards, on clothing or furnishings, and anywhere with a dark crack/crevice/seam providing harbourage. They like to stay close together. With frequent feeding, adults can live for up to 18 months.
They breed by laying eggs that usually hatch after about 4 to 10 days at 22 degrees or up to 45 days at 12 degrees The bugs then grow through a series of stages. At each stage they need to feed on blood, until they become adults after about 9 to 18 weeks. A female can lay between 150 and 345 eggs in her life.
The presence of bedbugs in a room can be detected by the following:
- blood spotting on bedding
- brown excrement spots close to where they live and on bedding
- whitish/opaque un-hatched and hatched eggs
- in heavy infestations, a sweet almond smell is common
- bed bugs are not normally seen during the day
Bed bugs will not travel too far from their host, but can move into adjacent rooms via interconnecting ducting/spaces. They are most likely to be transferred from place to place via infested linen, clothing, furniture and other articles. In hotels and hostels, housekeeping staff can unknowingly transfer bed bugs around the premises on all of the items mentioned above and guests can take bed bugs with them from hotel to hotel and eventually to their own home.
Are they a health hazard?
Bed bugs are not known to carry disease. However, they feed on human blood, usually at night whilst people are asleep in their beds. They inject a fluid into their host to help get their blood meal. These bites cause irritation and itching. Some people are particularly sensitive to the bites and experience an allergy and inflammation, especially to the arms and shoulders. This can be quite severe and require medical attention.
How can I get rid of them?
High standards of hygiene and housekeeping ensure that the presence of bed bugs is revealed at an early stage. Bed bugs can thrive where hygiene standards are poor and housekeeping sloppy.
In hotels and hostels housekeeping staff should be trained to identify the signs of bed bug infestation and whilst cleaning rooms should be alert management to the possibility of infestation. Infested bedding and furnishings should be laundered in a hot wash, and care should be taken not to aid dispersal of the infestation via laundry baskets. Washing machines 60 degrees wash & tumble dryers 40/45 degrees also dry cleaning kills all stages.
It is difficult to treat bedbugs yourself and you should seek professional help.
If you have a problem with bedbugs, Verminate can help you! Contact us today for more information.
