Category: Bed bugs

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The History of Bedbugs

ANCIENT ORIGINS. Bed bugs have been biting people since the beginning of recorded time. Studies suggest the bugs first parasitized bats and then humans inhabiting the same caves in the Mediterranean region where civilization began. Most likely, relations between bugs and people were intermittent back then since hunters and herdsmen moved around a lot, making it harder for bed bugs to become established.

Life became easier for the bed dwellers with the formation of villages and cities. Fossilized bed bugs have been unearthed from archaeological sites dating back more than 3,500 years — a time when they were considered both pest and potion. The Egyptians, for example, drank a bed bug cocktail as a cure for snakebite.

Ancient mattressIn a cave in South Africa, archaeologists discovered the layered remains of ancient mattresses from around 77,000 years ago—and if that isn’t interesting enough, it turns out modern humans aren’t the only ones concerned about bugs between the sheets! The ancient sleeping mat’s top layer was made with insect-repelling leaves that scientists believe were used to ward off bed bugs.

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5 Ways to stay safe when traveling

Bedbug

Check for Complaints

Before you book any hotel, go online and check for bed bug complaints from other travelers. Trip Advisor, the Bedbug Registry and Bedbugger.com. Just keep in mind that researching a property before your trip won’t guarantee you a pest-free stay since many infestations go unreported.

Inspect the Room

Once you get your room key and step over the threshold, it’s time to get to work. At a bare minimum, you should inspect the mattress (you’ll need to remove the sheets and carefully check the seams), headboard (try removing it from the wall if you can), and side tables by the bed. If there’s a sofa bed, you’ll need to open that up too.

Keep Luggage Away from the Bed

The biggest mistake you can make is to lay your suitcase on the bed and start unpacking your clothes. In fact, you don’t even want to store your bag on the floor. Instead, use the luggage stand. Just make sure to inspect the wooden legs and cloth straps before doing so.

Use Plastic Bags for Laundry

Anything you wear in the hotel room, especially your pajamas, could come in contact with bed bugs. The smartest thing to do is to place all of your dirty laundry in a sealed plastic bag so it doesn’t contaminate your other clothing or your suitcase.

Wash Everything

Once you get home, you should wash and dry (preferably on hot) all of your dirty laundry. For your clean clothing, you can skip the washer and just pop it in the drier.

 

From more information contact: info@aardvarkpestmgmt.com