How to find a nest of bedbugs in an apartment: how to find a home for bed bugs
The appearance of bedbugs in the apartment is an unpleasant phenomenon. Often parasites are found when they become numerous and they settle in secluded places in the dwelling. But in order to find out where the insects settled in the apartment, you need to examine the entire area meter by meter and find signs of their presence. They leave traces of vital activity and you can find nests of bedbugs on them. And immediately take on their destruction, using affordable and effective methods of dealing with them.
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Why is it important to locate bed bugs?
Bedbugs live for more than a year, and during this time one female is able to lay up to 500 eggs. During the day, the female lays up to 5 eggs, 30-40 days pass from the egg to the sexually mature individual.
The number of parasites is growing at a rapid pace, and the more there are, the more difficult it is to deal with them.
Given these facts, it is important for a person to check all possible places where bedbugs can settle. Having found nests of parasites, start fighting them.
What does a bed bug nest look like?
How to detect bedbugs in an apartment or in a private house
In a person's dwelling, bedbugs settle in places closer to the bed where a person sleeps. But as their numbers increase, the bugs settle further across the territory in secluded places where it is warm and dark.
Finding parasites in an apartment or house is difficult, as they are small in size and are nocturnal.
Landmarks for finding nesting bugs
To live, parasites need a source of food, a warm and dark place, out of human access. You can find nests by examining the proposed places suitable for their habitat.
Access to food
Bedbugs feed on blood once every 5 days, appear at night between 3 and 6 hours. Punctures on the skin are made several times, leaving paths of red dots, the distance between which is up to 1 cm. Settling in the bed, the parasites pass the minimum distance to the food source.
Favorite places for bedbugs on the bed are the joints of the frame, the seams of the mattress, gaps in the lining, through which they penetrate into the mattress.
Places hidden from view
Bedbugs are small insects and hide in secluded places, it can be difficult to find them. In the apartment you need to check:
- gaps behind skirting boards;
- sockets and switches;
- behind the pictures;
- under carpets on the floor;
- in cracks in the wallpaper;
- behind and under furniture.
These places have ideal conditions for their stay: it is dark, warm, and it is not immediately possible to notice their presence.
Heat
Ideal living conditions for parasites: temperature +25-+35 degrees and humidity 60-80%. They equip their nests where there are no drafts and heat remains for a long time. Heat is well preserved inside various electrical appliances, and bugs settle in them.
Folk methods for detecting bedbugs
With the invasion of bedbugs, you can detect their presence with the help of improvised means. They are easy to use and do not require special expenses. But these methods will only help to detect insects, but chemicals or folk remedies are used to destroy them.
| Scotch | You can catch parasites using double-sided tape, it is stuck to the floor around the perimeter of the bed in the evening or wrapped around the legs of the bed. The bugs that came out of secluded places at night, moving along the legs of the bed to the food source, will stick to the adhesive tape. |
| Flashlight | Bedbugs travel at night in search of food. The unexpected turning on of a flashlight makes it possible to detect parasites moving towards a person, since they cannot quickly hide in a shelter when light appears. |
| Dandruff | In the daytime, with the help of a magnifying glass, the places of the alleged residence of bedbugs are examined. Insects leave traces of vital activity in places of residence: feces, the remains of a chitinous cover, empty egg capsules. With the help of a magnifying glass, you can even see bedbugs that settled in secluded places before nightfall. |
The main causes of the appearance of bedbugs
No one is immune from the appearance of bedbugs in a home. They can get there in a variety of ways. But knowing the main reasons for the appearance of parasites in the apartment, if you are careful, you can prevent them from entering the home.
If the neighbors have bedbugs, then when their number grows, they will look for ways to enter the neighboring apartment. Insects can get through vents, gaps around sewer pipes, cracks in walls, through a gap under the front door. Through sockets and switches, if they are located on the same wall, but in different apartments there is a through hole. All cracks must be sealed, meshes must be placed on the ventilation holes, the cracks around the front door must be sealed. So you can protect your apartment from the penetration of insects from neighbors.
An old sofa, armchair, or bed may have bed bugs. At first glance, their presence in furniture may not be noticeable, but parasites can live inside. Old furniture, before being brought into the apartment, is checked for the presence of bedbugs. In the presence of parasites, it can be steamed, or left to freeze outside for a couple of days.
Pets, returning from a walk, can bring bed bugs into the house, or their eggs, clinging to wool. It is difficult to detect a parasite or its eggs on a cat or dog. It is better to walk pets in specially designed places for walking.
Bed bugs can live in cheap hotels where sanitary standards are not observed. Returning after a rest in a suitcase with things, you can bring the parasites that have climbed there. There may also be bed bugs in the train car. After the trip, it is necessary to inspect things for the presence of parasites, and if they are found, wash things, steam the suitcase.
Inside household appliances, there are favorable conditions for bedbugs to stay in the daytime, it is warm and away from humans. Bed bugs can hide in both used equipment and new ones. And you can only detect them if you carefully examine the inside of the mechanism. The spines of old books that have been on the shelf for a long time can have bed bugs. You can only notice their presence by the presence of excrement, because the parasites hide inside. Books on the shelves need to be moved and inspected from time to time, bedbugs crawl into secluded places and make nests there.
How to destroy a bed bug nest
The nest of bedbugs can be destroyed independently, using a mechanical method of action, chemical or thermal.
- Mechanical method: insects in the nest can be crushed, burned. Under no circumstances should they be thrown alive into the trash.
- Treatment with chemicals: insecticides are diluted in water, according to the instructions, and the nest is treated.
- Thermal method: the nest of bedbugs is poured with boiling water, treated with a steam generator, things or furniture are left outside at sub-zero temperatures.
35 easy ways to get rid of bed bugs.
Prevention of the emergence of new nests of bedbugs
After destroying the nests of bedbugs, it is important to prevent the emergence of new ones. The apartment needs to be treated, and to prevent the re-penetration of insects:
- check all things, furniture, household appliances that enter the home;
- close the ventilation holes with nets;
- seal all cracks;
- fill the gaps in the doorway;
- try not to contact people who have bedbugs in the apartment.