Daily Archives: December 3, 2013

There are lots of "Do It Yourself" products and protective items promoted to take advantage of the bed bug panic.Do It Yourself treatments for bed bugs have much lower chances for success than professional treatments. We advise using a professional, licensed pest management company with detailed knowledge of and experience with solving bed bugs.

Some bed bug victims try vacuums, buy mattress covers, throw out their mattresses and other furniture, buy bed bug detectors and heaters, or make their own dry ice and carbon dioxide devices as solutions. Some consumers try various sprays, ionic, ultrasonic, and electromagnetic products with little success. In fact, university research shows that ultrasonic solutions do nothing to drive bed bugs away.

Recent news accounts discuss different bed bug victims who started fires while unsuccessfully trying to solve their pest problems.

Bug bombs do not solve bed bug issues.Virginia Tech entomologist Dr. Dini Miller, inspected a residence where a victim "set off ten bug bombs in his apartment, and when that didn't work, he followed up with 30 more.... The walls were so sticky with the residue, and yet live bedbugs that had fed the night before are crawling around while we're standing there talking."

None of these approaches are appropriate, comprehensive enough, or adequate for solving bed bug problems. Media reports have misrepresented some helpful tools as complete solutions. At best these techniques can provide a sense of security. Makeshift treatments might even make a bed bug problem worse, and in some cases can be very dangerous to you and your family.

Weve seen chemical companies advertise pyrethroid products to consumers- and list bed bugs among the several insects their sprays can kill, but bed bugs are not just another insect and are highly resistant or outright immune to pyrethroids.They also warn if you have an infestation, you should call in a professional, and not rely on their products. If you read the fine print on these consumer marketed chemicals, the manufacturers of point out that the products cannot be used around electronic products, which you also need to treat as bed bugs live, for example, in clock radios next to beds.

Natural sprays and unregulated solutions for bed bugs are also available. Many of these products contain alcohol, which can kill bed bugs on contact, but alcohol has no residual effect, doesnt harm bed bug eggs, and can stain furniture, floors, and fabrics. Dr. Changlu Wang of Rutgers University points out that these sprays, often derived from plant-oils may kill the bedbugs you actually hit, but arent likely to do anything about the potentially hundreds you don't. Furthermore, an investigative report on television station WNBC-4 New Yorkshowed that a natural spray didnt kill bed bugs even after 15 hits at point blank range.

We often are called to treat bed bug problems in homes that residents have already tried to solve themselves. These self treatments often serve to scatter the bugs from their original hiding places and make the solutions more difficult.

Bell Environmental sells a do-it-yourself home-kit for bed bug elimination, but bed bug elimination is hard and you must follow the instructions for applying the licensed products very carefully. The National Pest Management Association and Bell Environmental both believe the better choice is to hire a licensed professional pest control company that is highly skilled in eliminating bed bugs.

Contact us online or call 877-376-1775 today to speak with our expert staff and learn how Bell can help with your bed bug or pest infestation.

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It's Best Not To Try “Do It Yourself” Bed Bug Treatments