Lifestyle and habitat of bed bugs

As soon as bed bugs appear in an apartment or house, household members immediately call a pest control service to clean them up. This solution is certainly effective, but also expensive. It is not uncommon for bedbugs to disappear for a while after cleaning an apartment, but after a few weeks or months the problem returns. Bedbugs are once again beginning to drink blood from household members, causing them a lot of trouble and health problems.

How to destroy bedbugs in an apartment

In addition to calling special teams, you can fight bedbugs using more adequate methods. In addition, such methods are tens of times cheaper, and their effectiveness depends rather on the correctness of the disinfestation work. Each person, thanks to the variety of methods and options for fighting bedbugs, can choose the most optimal one for himself. Now the question of how to destroy bedbugs in an apartment is much easier to solve, and also cheaper.

Having visited a specialized store, you can simply get confused by the variety of species and methods of combating these nocturnal bloodsuckers. Naturally, to find out which insecticide is the most effective, you can ask the seller. But sometimes sellers do not always know about the effectiveness of a particular product, since they themselves have not encountered the above-mentioned problem. Therefore, the most reliable option remains to familiarize yourself with all possible means and insecticides that allow you to overcome night bloodsuckers in the form of bed bugs.

15) Book spines or edges

The list should start with places where find bedbugs only if their number becomes very large. In such a situation, insects use any secluded corners of a house or apartment as a daytime shelter. A typical example is book spines pointing inside a cabinet. In this case, detecting the parasite becomes extremely difficult, especially if there are a lot of books. Looking inside each volume is a difficult and time-consuming task, which will still have to be solved.

Where do bedbugs live in an apartment and where do they hide?

To begin with, it’s worth listing all the places where bedbugs are found, because if you don’t have them yet, you can easily move them from there to yourself.

Hierarchy of the most common causes of bedbugs:

• hotel accommodation (even 4-5 stars)
• accommodation in dormitories
• accommodation in shelters
• accommodation in hospitals
• holidays in exotic countries (but not only)
• guests who have bed bug problems and stay overnight with you
• transportation of furniture (this happened during the transportation of new or used furniture, since new furniture and old furniture are transported during the same transport)
• used furniture
• moving from neighbors between apartments along the vertical building (this happens often, so we recommend sealing the apartment - cracks in the heating pipes that run vertically from floor to ceiling)
• transition from neighbors on the facade of the building (there are neighbors who have such numbers of them that live bedbugs are thrown out from under the bed from a dustpan directly into the toilet)
• public transport
• trains
• buses
• movie
• theater
• from work, if you work as a security guard, in a hotel, hospital, nursing home
• from the apartments of friends where you slept
• and other places where you sleep or stay in one place for a long time may have bed bugs

14) Computer system unit

household appliances any habitat for bedbugs. Much more it attracts other unpleasant neighbors of humans from among insects - cockroaches. However, there are many cases where parasites were found inside various household equipment. Most often, in such a situation we are talking about either a microwave oven or a computer system unit.

These types of household appliances heat up during operation; there are quite a few dark places inside the structure; in addition, the devices are constantly used by humans, who emit carbon dioxide during breathing, which bedbugs really like. The result of all these factors is that the parasite chooses a system unit or a microwave oven as a hiding place.

13) Curtains and drapes

The presence of bedbugs on curtains and curtains is difficult to explain logically. But for some reason these objects attract insects. Most of all, parasites like to sit in the daytime on the upper zone of curtains and drapes, preferring poorly lit folds and, especially often, seams. The small dimensions of the bug allow it to effectively hide even in thin fabric.

In this case, it is possible to detect insects thanks to traces of their vital activity in the form of dark dots or small blurred spots. They are especially noticeable on fabrics of light colors and shades. In any case, when preparing for disinsection, you should definitely inspect all the curtains, drapes and drapes used in the apartment or house.

Destruction of bedbugs using folk remedies

There are people who do not recognize modern chemistry. They only believe in natural folk remedies to control bed bugs. You can argue on this topic, but it is impossible to convince them. If you are one of them, then we are telling you home remedies that have been tried more than once, and in some cases produced a positive effect. But you should keep in mind that folk remedies work well at the stage of initial bedbug infestation, and if the scale of insect reproduction in your home has reached disaster proportions, then it is better to invite a specialist.

Scented plants

Bedbugs can be repelled by a strong smell. They have a rather primitive nervous system, so strong odors irritate them. Bedbugs will try to get away from the source of the stench unless they are very hungry. You can try taking bouquets of wormwood, tansy, lavender and scattering them throughout the apartment, putting them under the bed, hanging them at the head and foot. Probably, bedbugs will find your apartment not the most pleasant place to live, and they will no longer become active.

It also makes sense to place bouquets in the corners of rooms, on window sills, and on tables. For variety, you can use Fragrant Geranium.

Herbs can be collected in the fields in the summer, and if you find bedbugs in the winter, you can buy dried wormwood at the pharmacy. It is sold in crushed form. This powder can be very well scattered along the walls along the baseboards in all rooms. There are disadvantages to this recipe: you and your entire family will have to endure these same smells, and if you don’t like them, then you will experience some discomfort.

Kerosene, turpentine and solvent

A very old-fashioned way - it's smelly kerosene. It will be quite difficult for you to get it. Alternatively, you can go to the store and buy vinegar, thinner or turpentine. They can also be suitable for repelling bedbugs. All these liquids are very odorous. Dampen cotton pads with them and scatter them into the most inaccessible places where you think insects are hiding.

Ammonia

Ammonia is another option. With its help, it is also easy to create a repellent barrier that will be unpleasant to your uninvited residents. Every time you wash floors or wipe furniture surfaces, you can add a tablespoon of ammonia to the water. It forms a thin, sharp-smelling film on all surfaces you wet.

But if you have a pet in the house, then you absolutely cannot repel bedbugs with any strong odors; your pets will suffer.

Double sided tape

There is another popular way to get rid of bedbugs: double-sided tape! The principle is the same as Velcro for flies. You can stick a strip of tape around the perimeter of the bed, along the baseboards, on the door threshold and remove the protective film from it. When bedbugs crawl towards your bed, they will stick to this tape. Then you will need to remove the tape and throw it away. If you are not disgusted by looking at dead bedbugs, but on the contrary, it makes your heart happy, thinking about how cleverly you got rid of your nightly enemies, then this method will suit you.

12) Switches and sockets

Engineering communications and their exits to the surface of walls, ceilings or, less commonly, floors are favorite habitats for a wide variety of insects. Bedbugs are no exception to this rule. They especially often choose sockets and switches, which in most cases are made of various plastics, as daytime shelter. The design features of the electrical fittings provide for the presence of free spaces, and the loose connection to the wall allows parasites to easily crawl and hide inside.

It is especially unpleasant to find bedbugs inside sockets and switches if the electrical installations are placed on the same wall, but in different apartments. This provides parasites with a convenient opportunity to move around the house, delivering unpleasant surprises to residents.

Features of insect life

Insects mainly feed at night, although for them the time of day is not important, the main thing is that there is no bright light. Most often, their habitat is beds and other places where people spend a lot of time.

Here are the characteristic features of these insects:

1. An adult pest is approximately the size of an apple seed.
2. The body is oval and flat in shape (after being saturated with blood, it swells and elongates).
3. A hungry bug is rusty-brown in color and can take on a deep red-brown hue after eating.
4. All indoor bedbugs, including newly hatched ones, are easily visible to the naked eye.

Here are some more interesting facts about insects:

• The life expectancy of the parasite is 2-2.5 years;
• they can easily go without food for several months;
• throughout her life, an adult female can lay up to 300 eggs;
• The bug hatches from eggs within 1-2 weeks, they need another 3-10 weeks (the time depends on the availability of food and ambient temperature) to reach sexual maturity;
• It is not known for certain whether these bloodsuckers are carriers of various diseases, however, in many people, the bites of indoor bugs cause allergic reactions.

As mentioned above, the favorite habitats of insects are places where a person sleeps. These could be beds, sofas, especially small cracks in the wooden bases of furniture, holes in the mattress. Often insect eggs can be found behind the wallpaper, under the baseboards near the bed. The insects emit a faint almond-shaped odor, which can be felt if the infestation has reached an impressive scale.

Where else can you find bedbugs?

• any furniture;
• electrical outlets;
• tapestry fabrics;
• curtain folds;
• peeling wallpaper;
• plaster cracks in the wall and ceiling.

These places should also be checked if you suspect that there are uninvited guests in the house.

What do house bugs eat? Their favorite food is human blood, but in its absence, they can be content with the blood of your pet. As a rule, parasites feed mainly at night, i.e. when a person is in an inactive state. Their peak activity occurs between 2 a.m. and dawn. However, if such an opportunity presents itself, the bug may well feed during the day.

The insect pierces the skin with two tubes. With one he injects saliva containing an anesthetic under the skin, and uses the second for sucking. The time of biting and sucking blood lasts from 3 to 10 minutes.

Fact: About 70% of people do not feel a parasite bite.

The effect of the anesthetic lasts about an hour, after which the person will definitely feel itching, and redness of the skin will be observed at the site of the bite.

11) Paintings and carpets

In one of the previous paragraphs, the “love” of bedbugs for fabric materials that are used for sewing drapes, curtains and curtains was described. All of the above fully applies to carpets and paintings, in which parasites hide no less willingly. In the vast majority of cases, they are located on the back side, but they can also be located outside if the total number of insects becomes large.

As a rule, it is quite easy to detect parasites in these places. To do this, you need to peel back the carpet or move the picture away from the wall, and then look at the inside of the object. Particular attention should be paid to those that are located in close proximity to the bed or sofa that a person uses to sleep. This type of shelter is used most often by parasites, as it provides them with the opportunity to quickly reach the object of their “hunt” after dark.

10) Decorative elements and finishing

Bedbugs willingly use any building structures that have depressions and cracks or are loosely adjacent to the wall, floor or ceiling as hiding places. First of all, in this situation we are talking about baseboards - floor or ceiling, false coverings, suspended ceilings, door and window frames and other similar decorative and finishing elements, found in large numbers in any residential premises.

Even peeling wallpaper or peeling paint can unpleasantly surprise the inhabitant of an apartment or house with dozens of bedbugs located inside. Joints, cracks or other defects in the flooring also often become a favorite place for the parasite to spend the day. The easiest way to combat insects in such a situation involves not only pest control, but also high-quality repairs that eliminate or reduce the likelihood of a recurrence of the problem in the future.

Aerosol insecticides

How can you quickly destroy bedbugs in an apartment using special preparations? If you decide to kill bedbugs yourself, then aerosol insecticides are the best option. Due to its principle of action, an aerosol insecticide is quite effective, but not safe for humans. The aerosol must be sprayed onto those types of surfaces where bedbugs primarily live or crawl. The aerosol method of combating parasites gives the fastest results, therefore it is the most popular and in demand.

By spraying an aerosol, the likelihood that the poison in the air will reach its target is very low, unless the spraying occurs directly on the bedbugs themselves or their colonies. After spraying, the poison settles on the surface, over which an insect can crawl over time. It is at this moment that the likelihood of infection with an insecticide is highest, so after some time the parasite dies out.

The disadvantage of all types of aerosols is the possibility of human poisoning with these insecticides. The poison is dangerous not only for humans, but also for animals. In order to properly exterminate bedbugs using an aerosol at home, you must follow these recommendations:

Remove all food products from the kitchen, as the poison may settle on them during spraying. You should also hide utensils and personal supplies, which will increase safety. All family members and animals should be removed from the premises where disinfection will be carried out. It is necessary to close all doors and windows, as well as ventilation ducts. The person who will perform the aerosol spraying procedure must wear goggles, a respirator, gloves and a gown. Clothes must be washed after disinfection is completed.

Before spraying the can, you need to shake it thoroughly, which is often indicated on the product itself. Spraying should be done in a direction away from you, holding the can at arm's length. The approximate distance to the object is about 20-30 cm. It is prohibited to spray the aerosol on electrical appliances, as well as open fire. It is necessary to spray in those places where the presence or habitation of parasites has previously been identified. At the end of the spraying procedure, you should open the windows for ventilation and leave the room for 2-3 hours.

To completely destroy bedbugs, it is necessary to thoroughly treat with insecticides all places where bedbugs can make their nests

Now we’ll find out what aerosols exist to control insects at home.

Raptor. The basis of an effective remedy for bedbugs is the poison of the peritroid group, due to which it has a paralytic effect on parasites. The maximum effectiveness of this drug is due to its local effect on bedbugs and their nests. The cost of such a drug is about 200 rubles.

Raid. This aerosol is intended for treating upholstered furniture, for example, if you need to kill bedbugs in a sofa or bed. The raid is due not only to the effectiveness of the effect, but also to the absence of an unpleasant odor, which quickly disappears. The cost of such a product does not exceed 200 rubles.

Mikrofos +. If the first two preparations have practically no odor, then Mikrofos + has a powerful aroma. This aroma gives high performance indicators, but finding Mikrofos Plus is quite difficult. The cost of a Mikrofos canister will cost 1,500 rubles.

Battalion commander Another effective drug, which is additionally equipped with various types of attachments. These attachments allow you to disinfect hard-to-reach areas, which increases the likelihood of fighting parasites. The best effect is achieved by direct action on bloodsuckers, their nests and eggs. The cost of Combat is about 150 rubles.

Bed bugs live in cracks in walls, in parquet floors, and near heating systems, so when using an aerosol, be sure to spray poison in these places.

Using aerosols, you can also destroy bedbug eggs by spraying any of the above drugs on them. In addition to aerosol preparations for killing bedbugs, there are also powder types.

9) Wardrobes

Cabinet furniture rarely attracts bedbugs and is rarely used as daytime shelter. But it is necessary to take into account the possibility that the parasite gets inside the closet along with bedding or clothing. Another common option in which the parasite chooses this type of furniture for permanent residence is if the closet is located in close proximity to the bed or sofa used by residents for sleeping.

In addition, do not forget that as the number of bedbugs increases, they can be found almost everywhere. This equally applies to cabinet furniture in the form of wardrobes, sets or separate cabinets. Especially often, insects hide in the joints of individual parts or on the back surface of the cabinet, facing the wall.

What do house bugs look like?

Many have heard about such bloodsuckers, and those who have had to deal with them know what they look like. It is difficult to spot an insect for several reasons. Firstly, it is very small. Secondly, it is nocturnal.

The body length of a hungry bug is only 3 mm. The body is flat and almost transparent, with a brownish tint. Consists of separate segments that are able to expand as food arrives. Thanks to this, a well-fed insect changes shape - it becomes round and increases to 8 mm. Look at the photos and videos to see what home bed bugs look like

Pierces the skin with a proboscis. The small jaws have two canals. The first is for the injection of poisonous saliva with an analgesic. Thanks to this, the person does not feel the bites, and the insect eats calmly. The second one is intended for eating.

The body is covered with villi and protected by a durable shell. It is simply impossible to crush a hungry bug, even if you press hard on it. A well-fed one can be destroyed with the slightest effort.

Females are always larger than males. In the photo the female is located at the bottom.

The behavior of a hungry and a well-fed bug is very different. The first one is very fast and agile. Able to climb onto the ceiling and from there dive onto a sleeping person. A well-fed insect is slow and clumsy.

Body color depends on the time of food consumption. The hungry bug is dirty yellow in color. Recently fed - scarlet. The dark brown color indicates that the parasite has been eating for a long time. The photo shows an insect that drank human blood quite recently.

Bedbugs amaze with their fertility. One female is enough for your home to be filled with insects in 2 weeks. In a couple of months you won't know how to get rid of them. The female lays an average of 5-12 larvae per day and 300-500 throughout her life.

The eggs are white, 1 mm long and look like grains of rice. The picture can be clearly seen in the photo.

Bedbug eggs are found in one place and are easier to detect than adults. The ripening period is 1 week. They are not afraid of temperature changes and are insensitive to most chemicals.

Immediately after hatching they are able to drink blood. To start the mechanism of maturation, the larva needs to taste blood at least once. This explains the activity of insects in the first week of their appearance. Unlike an adult bedbug, they are unable to release an analgesic when bitten. Therefore, bites are felt immediately and the bedbug can be killed quite easily.

It takes 1 month to turn into a full-fledged bug. During this time, the insect changes its chitinous shell 5 times. It increases in size and darkens. Because of their transparent color, they are often called nymphs.

See the photo for the process of turning a larva into an adult bedbug.

The larva of a bed bug leads the same lifestyle as an adult. It differs in the volume of food absorbed and the number of bites made.

The insect lives for a year or a year and a half. When the temperature drops below 18 degrees Celsius, it goes into hibernation. It exists in a hungry state for six months. During this time it turns into a transparent, flat bug. Looks like he's dead. When the temperature is optimized, it comes to life and leads a normal life. They are afraid of low temperatures from – 15 ⁰С and high temperatures – from + 49 ⁰С.

Soft chairs

Armchairs are not often used for sleeping when compared to a sofa or bed. However, this type of upholstered furniture often serves as a place for a person to relax in the evening, and therefore is extremely interesting for bedbugs. The design of the chair allows for many secluded corners where it is easy for a parasite to hide. These are numerous folds in the upholstery fabric, and the joints of individual elements of the product, and all the surfaces located below are unlit and inaccessible to humans.

You should especially carefully inspect upholstery defects in the form of tears and cracks in the fabric. It is in such places that it is easiest to find bedbugs. Often, to detect the parasite, you have to remove the back trim of the chair, since the insects are hiding inside.

7) Nightstands

Almost always, next to the bed or sofa on which a person sleeps, there is a bedside table or chest of drawers. Bedside furniture is a favorite place for bedbugs to hide during the day. Insects quickly move there directly from the bed or sofa, comfortably placing themselves in the unlit interior space.

You can find a bug anywhere on the bedside table, but you should especially carefully examine the joints between the individual parts of the product - shelves, walls, ceiling and floor. In order to find parasites, you will need to remove all the objects located inside the furniture and carefully inspect all the listed places.

Features of life activity and habitat of bedbugs

When the war against these parasites begins, we forget that they lay eggs, and after a while the problem will repeat itself when new individuals emerge from the clutch. They grow their colony very quickly, so depending on what stage of reproduction you find them at, the time of destruction will vary.

Bedbugs can remain unnoticed in an apartment for a long time, because they crawl out only at night and for a long time can feed on parts of the skin epithelium that remain in the upholstery of the bed. For bedbugs to live a full life, certain conditions must be met: temperature, habitat, food. Bed bugs usually live in mattresses. They adapt very quickly. But if the factors listed earlier do not meet the requirements, they can do without them. True, their movement slows down significantly.

On average, the lifespan of a bedbug is up to 1 year , but in rare cases it can be longer. Bed bugs do not like sunlight and hide under baseboards, carpets, in cracks and furniture. The most favorable place for bedbugs to live is next to a person, so that they can refresh themselves at any time. Most often, as scientists prove, greater activity of bedbugs is observed between 3 and 7 am . Insects, like other living beings, try to avoid difficulties, so their victims are often children and young women, because their skin is more delicate.

According to average estimates, for a bedbug to survive normally, it is enough to feed once every 5 days . Depending on the temperature regime, the lifespan of insects can decrease or increase, but the most optimal is 25 degrees . Please note that as temperatures rise, not only does the life span of bedbugs decrease, but the larvae also develop more slowly and maturation is slowed down.

If you consider that an individual of this insect generally lives for 12 months , and during this period the female lays approximately 500 eggs , then just imagine what kind of horde a colony of bedbugs can turn into a year after they appear in the apartment.

6) Chairs and tables

Wood, especially untreated and not coated with any varnish, is rightly considered one of the most “favorite” materials for bedbugs. Tables and chairs are often made from it. In this case, they can and are highly likely to become places where insects hide. Especially if a chair or table is installed next to the bed.

In addition to the joints of wooden parts, parasites also use the upholstery as a hiding place, as well as the places where the fabric joins the chair frame. It is also necessary to carefully inspect the furniture for defects in various surfaces and the structure as a whole - potholes, cracks or crevices. These places also often attract parasites and are used by them for daytime stay.

The best modern chemicals for bedbugs

Bedbugs are very difficult to control. The problem is that they adapt very well to any new poisons. Therefore, before deciding how you will remove bed bugs, it makes sense to research all the best chemical treatments currently offered on the market.

Karbofos

Karbofos is one of the most famous products on the market. Acting on the nerve-paralytic principle of action, it quickly kills bedbugs and helps eliminate them forever. Once on an insect, the substance immobilizes its muscular system, which leads to the death of the parasite. Karbofos is a long-acting agent, so after applying it to interior items, the paralytic effect of the poison lasts for several months. This is both a minus and a plus. It's good that cockroaches will continue to die. It's bad because it's dangerous for children and animals. Before using Karbofos, be sure to carefully read the instructions.

Dichlorvos

Dichlorvos is an insecticide in aerosol form. In other words, it comes in cans. Many people prefer sprays because they find that they are the easiest way to get rid of bedbugs: just spray on the bedbug and it will die immediately. According to the instructions, you need to spray the surfaces and the insecticides will remain active for some time. In order to increase the effectiveness of this drug, it makes sense to repeat the treatment several times a week. You need to spray first of all those places where there is a concentration of insects, as well as where they possibly live. After you spray Dichlorvos, you need to urgently leave the room for at least an hour, and be sure to check the apartment upon your return. Dichlorvos is poison! Therefore, you need to follow safety precautions.

Hot fog

Hot mist is one of the best remedies available today. This is also a chemical, a poison, but to treat it with this product you will have to call a special service. The removal method is that destruction occurs with the help of hot steam heated to 80-90 degrees. The poison that is added to the fog can be any one: the one that specialists have. When the fog generator is running, the temperature in the apartment heats up to 50 degrees. This temperature is detrimental to bed bugs, which begin to die at a temperature of 45 degrees.

The entire disinfection procedure takes no more than an hour, but you will be able to enter the apartment no earlier than 7 hours later, because during this entire time suspended particles of poison will continue to settle on things.

It will not be possible to defeat bedbugs right away; for at least 4 hours, the fallen particles will still affect the eggs and larvae, and only after that the population will be destroyed.

It is best to start cleaning the room the next day, at least 12 hours should pass after the procedure.

Xulat Micro

Xulat Micro is a professional remedy for home use for anyone who is tormented by bedbugs. They advertise that it can actually kill both bedbugs and cockroaches. Its main advantage is that you can use it yourself. Microencapsulated drugs belong to the latest generation of drugs. After the liquid dries, it forms a film on the treated surface. When insects run across this film, the microcapsules stick to them, and then poisoning occurs.

5) Bedding

A variety of bedding - linen, pillows, blankets - are rarely used by bedbugs for daytime shelter. Typically, parasites are found on these objects at night during the active phase of their lives. They prefer to hide in more secluded and inaccessible places.

But it is important to take into account the fact that this applies to cases where there are relatively few bedbugs. If the situation becomes dire and the number of parasites goes off scale, they can be found literally everywhere, including bedding. Naturally, in this case, emergency measures are required, and the main task is not to detect insects, but to choose the most effective methods of exterminating them.

4) Sofa

This piece of furniture is quite rightly considered the second most popular, of course, after the bed, as a hiding place for bedbugs. Parasites hide both in the upholstery and on the surface of the back wall, pushed towards the wall, and in any joints of individual parts of the product. They are often conveniently placed on the bottom of furniture, where light does not reach, and climbing is not difficult. Another favorite hiding place for parasites is folds of fabric on the armrests and sides, as well as the interior of the sofa.

In a situation where bedbugs are found in an apartment or house, you will almost certainly have to not only inspect the sofa, but also disassemble it during the search and subsequent treatment. An alternative option is to simply throw away the furniture if it is worn out and of no particular value. Often this method of solving a problem becomes faster and cheaper. Naturally, it does not relieve you from the need to treat your home with any effective means to kill parasites.

How to remove bedbugs from an apartment. 4 ways to solve the problem

Removing bedbugs yourself or with the help of professionals is a frequent dilemma among apartment residents who, by chance, got bedbugs and decided to live in the same room with them. Bed bugs are the insect parasites closest to humans, who cannot imagine their life except being closer to humans, their flesh and blood.

The main life task of these little bloodsuckers is to penetrate a person’s home, thoroughly settle in it, occupying all the most inaccessible places and begin their endless feeding on blood every night and reproduction.

How do bed bugs get into our home?

Bed bugs are tiny insects with a flattened body, which means they can seep through even the narrowest cracks, up to the thickness of a credit card, which means bedbugs can literally get into an apartment through the walls from an infested neighboring apartment.

Let's highlight 3 main ways bedbugs get into an apartment:

1. Through cracks in the walls, through ventilation from a neighboring apartment, in which there are already so many of them that they are forced to seize new territories;
2. With the belongings and clothing of a person who has been in an apartment or room infested with bedbugs. For example, after a business trip, you can bring parasites to your home in your suitcase, or after guests in an apartment where bedbugs already live, a couple of individuals, clinging to your clothes or things, came with you;
3. In purchased furniture. Especially if the furniture is purchased second-hand, for example, an old sofa, bed, bedside table, wardrobe, old large TV - all these are potential sources of bedbugs; they could make their nests in these things.

Removing bedbugs from the apartment cannot be put off

How to get these little hateful parasites out of your apartment or house? Under no circumstances should bedbugs be tolerated, even if they rarely bite, which usually happens only at first. Bedbugs, like any other insects, once in a favorable environment, begin to feed intensively and reproduce, which means there will be more and more of them, and each individual will strive to quench its thirst for blood at your expense. Therefore, if you do not take any measures to eliminate bedbugs in an apartment or house, then soon there will be so many of them that it will simply be unbearable to spend the night in an infested apartment.

Bed bugs are primarily parasites that can transmit dangerous diseases that can lead to serious consequences for human health if infected . Sleep disturbances caused by itching and unpleasant sensations accompanying bedbug bites are also unpleasant and over time can lead to bad consequences for the human nervous system due to lack of healthy sleep.

Damage to furniture and linen. Often, while sleeping, you can accidentally crush a bedbug that is saturated with blood and a characteristic bloody mark will remain on the bed linen . In addition, bed bugs leave brown marks from their excrement on mattresses and furniture. And furniture infested with bedbugs without professional treatment poses a threat to humans as a source of parasite infestation.

How to get rid of bedbugs in an apartment - 4 ways to solve the problem

The problem of bed bugs in the home has tormented people from the very beginning, so our ancestors became concerned with the problem of removing bed bugs from apartments . And since the problem has existed for a long time, there are proven ways to solve it.

1. Physical destruction of bedbugs;
2. Thermal destruction;
3. Getting rid of bedbugs using folk remedies;
4. Chemical removal of bedbugs in the apartment .

Let's look at each method of getting rid of bedbugs in more detail to understand which one is best suited in your case.

1

Physical destruction of insects . The simplest and most ancient way to combat parasites is to catch and crush them. Even our distant ancestors began to fight insects with simple and effective mechanical crushing. Of course, in this case it is quite difficult to remove all the bedbugs, but at least it is possible to control the number of insects by constantly destroying adult individuals.

Currently, modern methods of physical extermination of insects are coming to the aid of people, for example, vacuum cleaners and steam generators , with which you can suck out and smoke parasites from secluded places and finish them off .

Nevertheless, it is quite difficult to remove all bedbugs from an apartment in this way, since cleaning must be done very carefully and you need to know all the places in the apartment where they can hide. It is important to be careful not to damage the furniture.

2

Thermal method to remove bedbugs from the house . Bedbugs love warmth and have difficulty withstanding very low and very high temperatures, so long ago in villages people practiced an effective method of freezing their houses from bedbugs . When in winter, in severe frost, people opened the windows and allowed the apartment to cool completely or took the furniture outside. It was important to allow a few hours of frost to kill the insects. Nowadays, you can also “burn out” bedbugs in an apartment using industrial fan heaters that can heat the room to +50 °C, which also has a detrimental effect on the well-being of insects.

It’s easy to guess about the disadvantages of this method - it’s very difficult to freeze an apartment when bedbugs are infested in the summer or spring, especially in St. Petersburg , taking all the furniture outside is also quite difficult. Well, creating an oven in an apartment using fan heaters is also a dubious task, at least in terms of energy costs and possible damage to things from such overheating.

3

Folk remedies . Our observant ancestors discovered long ago that insects, and bedbugs in particular, really do not like strong and pungent odors that some plants or liquids leave behind. It will be difficult to completely drive away bedbugs with odors, since sooner or later they can get used to it, and hunger will take its toll, but then most likely the person himself will begin to go crazy from the aromas in the house. Therefore, this grandmother’s method in modern realities raises many doubts about its relevance.

4

Chemical destruction of bed bugs in the apartment . The most modern method of combating parasites, which appeared quite recently relative to the above, is chemical baiting of insects - this method of removing bedbugs has proven to be the most reliable, fast and effective .

100% destruction of bedbugs in an apartment and house is possible only with the use of modern drugs.

Disinfectants created to remove bedbugs are proven over the years and are ultra-modern preparations that do not leave parasites a single chance of survival, while being completely harmless to humans and pets, therefore they are widely used in the fight against insects.

Thus, the chemical method involves removing bedbugs from the apartment when it is treated with disinfectants , and such treatment can be done independently or you can seek help from professionals.

When treating an apartment yourself, you should buy a professional anti-bedbug remedy in a store in St. Petersburg or a ready-made kit , then read the instructions for its use, and also do not forget to take care of personal protective equipment - gloves, a respirator.

With a professional approach, it is enough to call a specialist to exterminate bedbugs in the apartment . The apartment will be , after which the problem with parasites will be successfully resolved.

The most effective way to remove bedbugs from an apartment is to contact a specialized SES service.

3) Mattress

The most popular place bed bugs use as a hiding place is, without a doubt, the bed. Moreover, you can consider it as three separate subjects, describing each of them in more detail. The first is the mattress. It is there that bedbugs hide first, since this ensures the reliability of the shelter and the proximity of its location to the “hunting” grounds.

Parasites are especially often located on the lower edge of the mattress and in all seams of the product. The only advantage of such a bedbug shelter, if their presence can be accompanied by any advantages at all, is ease of detection. In the vast majority of cases, mattresses are upholstered with light-colored fabric, on which traces of insect activity are clearly visible. In order to identify them, simply remove the bed linen, turn over the mattress and carefully inspect it.

How to independently detect the presence of bedbugs in a room?

In the event of a possible bed bug infestation, always check:

Where to look for signs of bedbugs? What signs of bedbugs can be found there?

Bedbug eggs are very small, whitish, oval-shaped balls. They are usually found in small groups in cracks or gaps between furniture or fittings. Rarely are eggs right in your bed. They love to hide in the seams of your mattress.

Bed bugs tend to excrete excrement immediately after each meal. You will find them on the mattress, they are made of dried blood.

Shedding Sheds – Bed bugs must shed five times during their life cycle. Where to look for them? There are often several layers of stripped skin behind the headboards of beds, along baseboards, or in the seams of a mattress.

Blood stains are tiny red spots. Where? These remnants of the night's bloody feast are found on the mattress and sheets. These are tiny spots.

Sickly sweet smell. People often notice a foul odor in their home caused by a heavy bed bug infestation.

2) Bed frame

As a rule, wood is used to make a load-bearing bed frame. The design is a set of individual parts and provides for the presence of numerous joints, fastener locations and other secluded places where bedbugs like to hide during the day. Often, various boxes, shoes and other items are stored under the bed or inside the furniture, which are also used by parasites for shelter.

Finding insects in the bed frame will require removing bedding and removing the mattress, and in some cases, turning over or disassembling furniture into individual parts. In most situations, finding bedbugs will be possible without problems, although it will require a lot of time and effort. In any case, when parasites are detected, the bed in general and the frame in particular must undergo protective treatment.

1) Bed box spring

Topping the list of places where bed bugs like to hide is the bed spring unit. The reasons for this situation are obvious - a quiet and secluded shelter, warm and comfortable, moreover, located literally a stone's throw from the source of food in the person of a person. Given the extremely secretive lifestyle and low speed of movement, such a place is best suited for parasites to stay during the day.

Additional advantages for insects are the complete absence of light, visual inaccessibility to humans, and the frequent presence of wooden parts, which for some reason are extremely popular with bedbugs. Almost always there are cracks or other defects in the bed covering, which make the journey there and back even shorter, more convenient and faster for the parasite.

To detect bedbugs in a spring unit, you will need, as in the case of a bed frame, to remove bedding, remove the mattress, and sometimes disassemble some of the furniture parts. Carrying out the described measures takes time, but is mandatory in any situation where there are suspicions about the presence of parasites in an apartment or house. It is from the bed, as the most common hiding place, that you should always begin your search for insects, moving on to the next places only after carefully studying this.

Lifestyle, nutrition and period of activity of the bug

• Bed bugs can wage nightly wars on your family, so you better know your enemy. Learning bed bug behavior is your first line of defense, even before you call a pest control professional. Prevent these creepy home invaders by knowing their lifestyle, feeding habits, and when the bedbug is active.
• Household bugs are mainly nocturnal. Therefore, on your body you can find traces of their meal according to the “breakfast, lunch and dinner” bite pattern. This means that the bed bug will first feed where your bare skin meets the bedding, then come up for a “lunch” and then move on and dine again, thus creating a distinctive line of bites.
• You may also receive a single bite or a larger group of bites as dozens of bed bugs feed on your blood while you sleep.
• Thanks to the anesthetic in their saliva and the extremely sharp sting they use to pierce your skin and suck blood, you won't wake up while bed bugs are feeding. The saliva also contains an anticoagulant that prevents clotting, so a typical meal takes three to 10 minutes before the blood-sucking insect becomes engorged.
• After feeding, bed bugs return to hiding places in baseboards, floorboards, box springs, carpeting, picture frames, books, etc. Studies of bed bug behavior tell us that they typically hide within eight feet of their victims. After digesting the blood, they mate and lay eggs before heading back to their bed to feed again five to ten days later.
• Oddly enough, it is not the smell of people that whets the appetite of these pests, which are drawn from every corner of your house to your bed. High doses of human aldehydes actually repel bed bugs. Instead, the CO2, heat and humidity your body emits can lure bloodthirsty monsters to your bed, all of which they can sense from one meter away. They also search for bloody food randomly.
• Bed bug behavior is based on invading, reproducing and completely taking over your bed. After feeding, they return to their hidden trenches to digest the blood meal and begin the mating process.

Conclusion

The above top 15 places where bedbugs prefer to hide during the day clearly shows the preferences of parasites. They love secluded places where it is dark, warm and there is minimal likelihood of contact with a person at an inappropriate time for the insect.

Using the rating, you can carry out the most effective and quick search for parasites in an apartment or house, which is a mandatory preparatory step before protective treatment of housing. Moreover, knowledge of the actual habitats of bedbugs will allow disinfestation to be carried out with maximum efficiency, guaranteeing relief from an unpleasant neighborhood for a long time. Before treatment, be sure to check where bedbugs are hiding in your apartment.

How long do bedbugs live?

The average lifespan of an adult bed bug ranges from four months to a year under favorable conditions. It spends all this time feeding, mating and expanding the infestation.

What we know about bed bug behavior tells us that this cycle of feeding and mating will continue tirelessly. That's why you need a professional. Bed bugs are very difficult to control for several reasons. They can live a full year without feeding, can withstand any temperature from freezing to 50°C, and even adapt to resist standard pyrethroid insecticides.