Historically, insecticides have been the principal means of controlling bed bug infestations. In the 1800s and early 1900s sprays for bed bug control were mainly based on arsenic, mercury and pyrethrum, the first two being highly toxic to humans [1,2].
Early treatments for bed bug infestations included smoking them out with peat fires, sterilizing furniture with boiling water, sulfur or arsenic, or scattering plant ash around the home. Cyanide fumigation was also a popular treatment in the 1920s, but was linked to many human deaths, as well.
Bed Bug Treatments Before Modern Insecticides
To keep bed bugs from climbing into their beds, folks set the legs of their beds into shallow cans of kerosene, coal oil, or axle grease. They also sprayed their bed frames with kerosene or benzene to kill bed bugs hiding there.
Another common remedy in this period was dusting bedsheets with pyrethrum powder, a natural insecticide made from the crushed heads of crysanthemum flowers, according to a paper by bedbug researcher Michael F. Potter. Pyrethrum is safer than most insecticides, but still toxic to humans.
The ancient Greeks first mentioned their experiences with bed bugs around 400 B.C. and archaeologists have found fossilized evidence that supports this. A common method of ridding bed bugs involved hanging a hare or stag at the foot of the bed.
How can bed bugs get into my home? They can come from other infested areas or from used furniture. They can hitch a ride in luggage, purses, backpacks, or other items placed on soft or upholstered surfaces. They can travel between rooms in multi-unit buildings, such as apartment complexes and hotels.
Most experts believe that humans were first widely exposed to bed bugs via bats in the Middle East, as there was a time when bats and humans presumably occupied many of the same caves there. As civilization developed and spread, humans brought bed bugs to new regions with them.
Bedbugs are a relatively common pest across Australia. Bedbugs can be difficult to remove because their eggs are difficult to see, have a significant incubation period and can quickly infest new sites. A combination of multiple non-chemical and chemical treatments is typically needed to control a bedbug infestation.
The early colonists brought bed bugs with them to the Americas in the 1700s. By the 1800s, these insects were in abundance. In an effort to combat the problem, early Americans made their beds out of sassafras wood and drenched the crevices with boiling water, sulfur and arsenic.
Pyrethrins are botanical insecticides derived from chrysanthemum flowers. Pyrethroids are synthetic chemical insecticides that act like pyrethrins. Both compounds are lethal to bed bugs and can flush bed bugs out of their hiding places and kill them.
No chemical insecticide is immune to resistance, particularly if it is overused. Today, roughly 90% of bed bugs have a genetic mutation that makes them resistant to pyrethroids, a class of insecticides commonly used for bed bugs that work in a similar way to DDT.
Bed bugs want to be near their food source, so they're most commonly found in homes. But long before humans started sleeping in cushy beds, bed bugs lived in caves with healthy bat populations. They fed off bat blood and gradually evolved to feeding on human blood.
No, baking soda will generally have no effect on bed bugs. They will not ingest it, and if they do walk through it, it will not cause them any problems. 'Bed bugs may avoid areas with baking soda, but they would just relocate to hide in cracks and crevices or find another path to get to the occupants of the bed.
Bed bugs are hard to control, but you can do it! Using insecticides alone to control bed bugs is not the best solution. Cleaning, getting rid of clutter and taking a few other steps are just as important as applying insecticide when you're trying to control bed bugs.
Bed bugs can live for as long as 4.5 months or more in an empty house before completely dying off. The two primary factors that determine how quickly or slowly the bed bugs could die off are the existence of a blood meal host, and the temperature of the house.
The bugs, Potter said, disappeared from about the mid-1950s to the late 1990s. They became so rare people could no longer identify them and a new generation of pest control professionals weren't equipped to fight them, noted University of Florida research scientist Roberto Pereira.
Since these pests prefer to live close to where they can easily find a blood meal, mattresses make the perfect hiding place. The small, flat shape of bed bugs allows them to work their way into seams and holes where they remain out of sight until it is time for feeding.
Where Do Bed Bugs Hide on Your Body? Bed bugs do not typically hide on the body. They prefer to feed, then move back to their hiding place until they are hungry again. In some cases, they may hide in your clothes or the soles of your shoes.
Reality: Bed bugs are not attracted to dirt and grime; they are attracted to warmth, blood and carbon dioxide. However, clutter offers more hiding spots. Myth: Bed bugs transmit diseases. Reality: There have been no cases or studies that indicate bed bugs transmit diseases between humans.
Sprinkle talcum powder around the bed bug hotspots such as underneath bedroom furniture. Similar to baking soda, it is believed that talcum powder will get rid of bed bugs by causing them to dehydrate. Create a trap by putting some talcum powder in a bowl and placing it underneath your bed.
Although bed bugs certainly prefer living in mattresses, they can infest carpet, too! Instead of burrowing into the carpet, the bugs will stay close to the surface. This makes it easier to vacuum them up!
Around the bed, they can be found near the piping, seams and tags of the mattress and box spring, and in cracks on the bed frame and headboard. If the room is heavily infested, you may find bed bugs: In the seams of chairs and couches, between cushions, in the folds of curtains.
The life span of a bedbug most commonly ranges from four to six months. Some bedbugs may live for years and can go months without feeding.
To lure bed bugs out of their hiding spots, you can use a steamer or a hairdryer to heat areas such as mattresses. Neither of these is hot enough to kill the bed bugs, but it can trick them into thinking a human host is near. You can also keep an eye out at night to locate their nests when they are most active.