Control Bed Bugs Naturally

Important Facts About Biting Bugs

May 17, 2009 S. Elliott

Understanding how bed bugs bite may mean the difference between bring them home to feast on your family and leaving them out in the cold.

Bedbugs are a growing problem in the U.S. Buildings where people congregate to sleep, like hotels and apartments, are experiencing bed bug outbreaks in numbers unprecedented since WWII. If you've been bitten by the bug, no pun intended, you could probably identify the small red welts that identify a bed bug bite.

The following facts are a few tidbits about bed bugs that you may not know, together with some common sense suggestions for how to deal with them. With respect to concerns about the long-term effects of exposure to pesticides, most of these suggestions are natural or herbal. If you have a major infestation, they may not be a complete solution, but if you have concerns because someone in your family travels, is living in a dorm, or you occasionally bring home garage sale finds that may be harboring unwanted freeloaders, read on:

• Bed bugs can't jump. This means that they can't attack you or your belongings when you enter a room that harbors them. They have to crawl onto you or your stuff.

• If you discover a few bed bugs and decide to shut off the room and starve them out, think again. Bed bugs can survive up to a year without sustenance, blood, so you'll have to try a more active solution.

• They don't just hang out in beds. Bed bugs can breed and hide behind baseboards, electrical faceplates, under or in carpeting, and on your draperies.

• Bed bugs are brown and can be seen by the naked eye. They can be between the size of a grain of rice and the size of an apple seed.

• They leave signs of their presence that you can track, even if you're having trouble finding the bugs themselves. Their feces look like brownish spots, and they'll be visible on walls, baseboards, the backs of headboards, along or under bed frames, anywhere they spend time. Their eggs will look like small white spots. If you see either of these indications, you have a problem.

• You can kill bed bugs in your linens by popping bedding, draperies and clothing in the dryer. Bed bugs don't like heat. Twenty to twenty five minutes in the dryer or an afternoon on the clothesline on a hot day will do it.

• Many strong smelling herbal preparations will work to repel bed bugs. These include: rosemary, lavender, thyme and eucalyptus.

• Black walnut is also a good bed bug repellent. You can usually find it in tea form at your local health food store.

• Bed bugs can be treated with the use of diatomaceous earth and boric acid.

• Bed bugs can be steamed out of your carpeting and mattresses. Vacuum the area thoroughly and then go over it with a handheld steamer. Try three applications over the course of a week. For some added killing power, fill the steamer with a couple of drops of lavender essential oil.

• If you've been bitten by a bed bug, stop the itching by applying a slice of raw potato to the bite. Willow leaves and comfrey (Symphytum uplandica) will help too.

The best solution is to avoid bringing bed bugs home in the first place. When you travel, carry a bed bug repellent sachet in your luggage. This will help protect your belongings, and the aroma on your nightclothes will make the pests think twice before biting you.

The copyright of the article Control Bed Bugs Naturally in Insects/Spiders is owned by S. Elliott. Permission to republish Control Bed Bugs Naturally in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Bed Bug