Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are a clever bunch of blood sucking bugs and in Bristol, they are on the rise. Getting rid of bed bugs and eliminating their spread without professional guidance can cost you a fortune, disrupt your sleep and even your families health.
Let's imagine for a moment you have a piece of paper - well if that piece of paper can slide into a gap, then so can our little friends.
They like to feed on warm blooded animals like us, and are often brought into our homes in Bristol on clothing, luggage, second hand furniture and ourselves etc, but most commonly of all, on return from trips away from home.
See What Bed Bug Bites Look Like.
What Do Bristol's Bed Bugs Look Like?
This well fed bug was blatantly situated on the wall directly above its host (victim) and as the picture shows is quite distended with a stomach that is very obviously full of human blood.
These bugs were concealed within the head board frame of a bed and had caused significant discomfort to the occupants over a considerable period of time.
Hiding places like this are common sites of infestation harbourage as are the frame joints which need to be stripped right down to be confident of successful elimination.
What Do The Signs Of Bed Bugs Look Like?
Take a look at These images showing some of the most common and obvious signs of bedbug activity. They should give you a valuable opportunity to assess your premises.
If you are being bitten a couple of times a night and you are the only human in the affected room then chances are extermination will be straight forward.
However, lets for a moment say you and the other people in your home or guest house are getting bitten? This could mean the whole property is infested and requires treatment.
Bed Bug droppings and shed skins on a bed, headboard fitting.
Fresh Bed bug droppings On Bed Sheets
These are simply digested blood, so stain sheets like this fitted sheet providing a very simple identifier of activity. It is commonly misidentified as black mould, but no sources of mould are often found like penetrating damp or high humidity.
Blood Stains Caused When Bed Bugs Bite, Puncturing Skin.
Because they penetrate human skin to feed, they are often attracted to areas where blood flow is greatest and is close to the skin surface.
As a result, they often cause penetration into rich vascular areas of skin where blood flow is high and bleeding is an inevitable consequence of direct tissue trauma. On the following image you can see where the victim has bleed following a puncture wound caused by recent feeding.
Are Bed Bugs Dangerous?
Horrifically, they can take so much blood from an infant during a nights feed that over a short time, the child will show signs of iron deficiency or anaemia.
Tests have been carried out that have shown these clever insects crossing a ceiling, then dropping onto a person's bed to feed - so even protecting your bed might not prove enough protection.
Over the past year we have helped Bristol residents to wipe out bed bugs in the home. You can often spot that you have a problem, simply by looking around the edges of your mattress, under the folded Seams.
If you find small, oval, flattened insects and you have dark speckles around them or near by then you need to get things treated. Two huge infestations we tackled last year in Bristol presented a huge challenge, but as usual we succeeded in taking control and eliminating them.
Where Do Bed Bugs Come From?
They are a parasite, naturally found in the environment, and in association with warm blooded animals.
Having bed bugs does not mean you are dirty, it simply means in most cases, you have been unlucky. Most are carried into homes on luggage, so those who travel a great deal tend to be most at risk, which is why September and October are the busiest times for treatments.
You go away on holiday, pick them up on luggage etc, and two to eight weeks later discover they are not alone at night! Another common cause is of infestation is where an adjoining property is affected and the bed bugs migrate through the structure of the building.
This is by far the most difficult situation to manage, as the neighbour who has the problem, often does not care, and ultimately won't pay for a solution either.
When Are Bed Bugs Most Active?
They are most active at night, especially in the early hours. The fact remains however that if it's dark and cool, then your body will produce enough heat and carbon dioxide to promote feeding activity, whatever the time of day.
How Can I Stop or Control Them?
A combined, integrated and professional approach is normally the only thing that will crush active colonies.
Bristol Bed Bug Control: Treatments, when done properly are not cheap because of the level of preparation, planning and time involved.
However, if you decide to suffer in silence, large infestations affecting your entire property and not simply a single room could eventually end up costing a thousand pounds or more to treat effectively and take many months to eliminate completely.
How Long Does It Take To Get Rid Of Them?
It depends on a number of factors, but if you have a very small number of bed bugs carried out properly a single treatment should suffice.
If more than one room is affected, then it will usually take much longer as it means your bedbugs have been given sufficient time to reach maturity, so the rest of the property could now be infested.
Bed Bug Control Bristol - Call 0117 303 5181
Local Service Areas Our Pest Control Service Covers
Bristol - Clevedon - Portishead - St Annes - St Pauls - St George - Sneyd Park - Fishponds - Eastville - Easton - Frenchay - Filton - Westbury - Stoke Bishop - Stoke Park - Southville - Long Ashton - Patchway - Bradley Stoke
