Monthly Archives: August 2010

Farewell To Bed Bugs – Exterminating Every Last One Of Them…

August 22, 2010

Bed bugs are the most persistent of parasites that have ever graced this planet. As they are very tiny, they creep into the smallest of crevices and cracks. It is useless to scrub surfaces or apply pesticides and try getting rid of them

Hence, you must not take any risks while treating bugs. Professionals, who actually know what they are into must be sought for, while treating or controlling infestations of bed bugs.

Bites of Bed bugs and diseases

Health organizations across the globe confirm that there are no diseases that are caused or spread by bed bugs. However, a little bit of the saliva of bed bugs are left under host’s skin, but they don’t cause or transfer diseases.

This is the difference between bed bugs and other insects like mosquitoes that suck blood and also transfer dengue, malaria and other diseases.

But, the bites of bed bugs because irritation in the skin and leaves itchy marks that are uncomfortable. The bites of bed bugs, most often, look like that of any other insect.

Though bed bugs don’t cause health hazards, the irritation and itchiness caused by the bed bugs on your skin will make you seek a treatment for the bed bugs that have infested your house.

It may cause blemishes or itching wounds in the skin if the bugs keep biting continuously. Other people may develop allergies which can cause serious skin problems at a later date.

Planning an attack

If the bed bugs are to be removed from your home, you must plan it thoroughly. A strategy that is well thought upon must be formed.

Before pest control operators in your area are called for, you ought to be ready to throw or discard many things in your house, which may pose as a possible habitat for the bed bugs inside your house.

Mostly, bedbugs that infest beds cannot be treated as they are so very tiny that they creep into the beds through the tiniest of holes in the bed. Even pesticides are not completely effective when it is a bed bug infestation that is to be treated.

Still, things that are infested by bed bugs cannot be discarded easily too. Just because you wish to rid your house off those parasites does not meant that you need not consider the welfare of those around you that is your neighbors.

Hence, things infested by bed bugs must be disposed with utmost care. Mostly, the things are burned or even isolated from other things by enclosing in an air tight bag so that the bugs do not get transferred onto another thing or area that can play host for them.

As adult bugs can live without food for a year, the infested thing must be burned, or else they must be isolated from everything and mostly from other things that can be a host like the bodies of human beings or animals.

Also, the room that was once infested ought to be cleaned thoroughly so that the eggs that could have been laid by the adult bugs that were exterminated are removed.

Better be safe than sorry:

It is said that it is better to be safe than sorry. The best way to prevent accumulation of bed bugs is maintenance of hygiene and cleanliness.

If you travel a lot, make sure that there are no bed bugs in the hotel rooms you stay in. Else, they will stick to your bags and baggage and return with you to your house, which will not be a pleasant experience.

Regular check ups of rooms and visits from professionals is advisable as they know more about infestation of pests than you can possibly know, ever. Their help and advice must be sought if you wish to determine if bed bugs have infested your house or if you wish to get rid and banish them from your house.

If bed bugs have infested your room, transferring the infestation is not the proper solution, because the chances that the bed bugs go along with your furniture to your new house are very large.

Hence, finally, the bed bugs’ infestation must be treated only by you. You must be hygienic and well informed about bed bugs. Keep researching about them and look for professional help if you feel that there is a bed bug infestation in your house.

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How Does the Bees Use Nectar

August 21, 2010

Plants have a glandular secretion, called nectar, which usually collects at the base of the flowers. Bees depend on this nectar for their source of energy. Honeybees dehydrate nectar to produce honey because it contains a low to moderate concentration of sugar. If a little pollen is incorporated into it, there can be barely measurable amounts of proteins, vitamins and other nutrients in the nectar.

There is two different ways bees use nectar. The nectar will work as a substitute for water, used to dilute brood food and air condition the hive. The bees can also ripen the nectar to become a stored resource for carbohydrate. The nectar substitute can also be used in either one of those ways, but the beekeeper use different sugar concentrations for different purposes.

Inspections of the colony should be conducted about every ten days during early and late spring. A beekeeper must stay aware of the conditions of the colony and the inspections will accomplish this. During the early spring the beekeeper must be aware of the food supply and if it is enough. During the late spring the beekeeper must be attentive to the possibility of swarming to keep it under control.  Every inspection should inform the beekeeper if the bees have adequate food to get them through the times of bad weather. If they have enough to get them through until the next inspection, the beekeeper will again check their supply. If not, then the bees will have to be fed.

In the spring beekeepers will always feed the bees a pollen substitute and if the bees need to be fed sugar syrup. The sugar syrups fed early in the season are used for brood rearing. Feeding sugar usually stimulates egg laying and the syrup is usually a “light” syrup mixed with 1 part sugar and 1 par water. A heavy syrup, a mixture of 2 parts sugar and 1 part water, is fed late in the season to ensure adequate winter food supplies. They are stored as ripened syrup. If a medicated treatment is needed in the fall, feed for weight first, and then top off the colony with medicated syrup. There are beekeepers who use high fructose corn syrup to feed their bees, but they do not usually dilute the syrup regardless of the season. There are some levels of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) that will increase over time, especially with heat. HMG is toxic to honeybees at high enough concentrations.

It is best to feed the syrup to each colony individually. Every colony should receive its full share regardless of the size of the colony. It is best to feed in the evening, after the bees have settled down for the day. If there is a sudden abundance of syrup, bees will interpret this as an opportunity for robbing, by feeding after flying has ceased; the potential robbers find a source at home. Don’t spill any on the hive, this will attract ants and robbing bees.

Information on honey bee hive can be found at the Bee Facts site.
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Information About Nosema With Adult Honey Bees

August 21, 2010

Nosema is the most widespread of the adult honey bee diseases. A single celled animal named Nosema apis, a small, unicellular parasite specific to the honeybee, causes it. Nosema cannot exist in a laboratory culture, as with most bacteria and fungi. It will only thrive and multiply in the epithelial cells of the honey bee ventriculus which causes dysentery.  Queens, drones and workers are all susceptible to Nosema. The spores of the Nosema must be ingested for the bee to be infected. The spore takes root in the midgut, where they will penetrate a midgut cell and grow by absorbing nutrients from that cell. The parasite will increase in size until it is large enough to divide in half. Each new parasite will continue to feed on the nutrients of the cell until they are depleted. In a matter of time, about 6 to 10 days, 100 new spores are formed in the infected cell. The infected cell when depleted of all the nutrients ruptures releasing all the newly formed spores into the midgut to start the process again. The damaged intestinal tissue is susceptible to secondary diseases. Dysentery is a common symptom of this disease.  You will be able to spot the dysentery on the outside of the hive by the little brown spots, but the diseased bees will also defecate inside the hive. contaminating combs with millions of infectious spores. The disease is spread to other colony members through fecal matter.

Nosema having infected one bee will be spread to others in the colony. The disease lowers the life span of the bees. If you have a colony of bees infected with Nosema in late fall, come spring it is likely that most of the colony will have died off.

Nosema is a difficult disease to diganose without using laboratory equipment. Decapitating a bee and pulling out the last abdominal segments usually will remove the intestinal tract while still intact. An infected midgut will become swollen, whitish and lose its visible constrictions. However, other causes of dysentery, such as ingesting honeydew, fermented syrups, etc. can result in similar intestinal changes.

Treatment for Nosema is based on the most appropriate times to prevent comb contamination and to prevent the development of disease in bees that clean up fecal deposits from combs while they are still trying to expand the brood nest. A few bees are always infected, but the diseased late season bees are the only one of any concern. If they develop high levels of infection, they defecate on the combs in October, November, and December, and then they die. The use of fumagillin has been field tested by some beekeepers with acceptable results. When treating use the manufacturer’s instructions.

Visit the Bee Facts website to learn about mason bees and bees disappearing.
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Bed Bugs In The Big Apple

August 20, 2010

Unlike the struggling Mets and Knicks, bed bugs have again made headlines in New York City. In 2004, bed bug violations in New York City totaled 377 in 2004, up sharply from only two in 2002 and 16 in 2003. Reports of bed bug infestations continuously come from different parts of the US but those coming from New York are seemingly the most disturbing.

Hordes of bed bugs were found in a duplex apartment in Park Avenue, while residents of a Riverside Drive co-op spent $20,000 to get rid of these pesky insects. The comeback of bed bugs has been attributed by entomologists and pest control groups to the continued entry of immigrant settlers coming from third world countries, increased travel activity and use of less effective insecticides.

A new mattress bought from a department store may have been stored in a truck carrying a bug infested couch disposed by its owner. Bed bugs are not choosy on what type of place to dwell, as long as there is a warm body available nearby. Even a well-cleaned and maintained home will be good for them, unlike roaches or mice, which prefer to move in a filthy environment.

Once they enter a home, bed bugs can attach themselves to pants and crawl into neighboring apartments. Anybody that stays in a hotel has a chance of bringing home bed bugs and even some of New York’s best places to stay in have infestations.

Bed bugs have been found in private schools, hospital maternity wards and even in the waiting room of a local hospital in downtown New York. Bed bugs were almost an afterthought shortly after World War II by using DDT. However, concerns over the possible effects of the chemical to human health eventually resulted in the banning of its use.

Bed bugs have the scientific name “Cimex lectularius”. They don’t have wings unlike most insects and have a brownish color. Bed bugs move the similarly to nocturnal parasites whereas they are active in hunting for human hosts. They are normally inactive during the day and only come out during nighttime. Given this behavior people will only be able to discover them when their population has risen to hundreds or even thousands.

Human blood is the favorite meal of bed bugs but they can also feed on cats and dogs if they are left with no option. Bed bugs have highly developed mouthparts to bite and suck blood. The insects usually come out to attack when the person occupying the bed has dozed off to dreamland.

Bed bugs eat for as short as less than a minute to as long as 10 minutes. They can expand three times their original size once they are filled with blood. However, humans will have a hard time detecting that he is being victimized by a bed bug, as its bite is painless.

However, bed bugs do not transmit disease and the bite only results in an orderly trail of red wheals that dermatologists mistakenly identify as scabies or hives. The lifespan of an adult ed bug can last for as long as a year and a female can lay as much as 500 eggs.

Bed bugs prefer beds with many holes and tears and can even occupy egg foams, sleeping bags, cardboard stacks and even waterbeds. Waterbeds feature nooks and crannies and normally kept warm.

Insecticides bought from the local hardware have become ineffective in fighting bed bugs, as they have become more resilient over the years. Using a cockroach bomb will only scatter them in different areas of a room.

Pest control groups in New York have advised those with beg bug problems to wash and bag every piece of clothing in an infested room, as part of a pre-extermination procedure.

Garments or beddings badly infested should be thrown out, as these cannot be sprayed with insecticides based. Cleaning clutter is also a requirement, as spaces filled with belongings will just delay the inspection and treatment process.

In addition, bed frames and bureau drawers need to be taken apart, as various chemicals will be used in the treatment. Processes need to be done multiple times if the infestations are of the worst kind.

Despite various ways to fight bed bugs, people need to accept the fact that they are back and will continue to stay in the Big Apple.

For tips on pincher bugs and common household bugs, visit the About Animals website.

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Bed Bug Facts

August 19, 2010

Bed Bugs are small pest – the adult is smaller than a quarter of an inch in size – that feed on the blood of animals and, most disconcertingly humans.

Although not equipped with wings the bed bug does possess the ability to move very quickly and is prone to rapid infestation as a result.

The Bed Bug concern is a common one, as these tiny mites are known to have traveled from their place of origin in the Asian continent to the rest of the globe.

It is far from unusual to find an infestation of Bed Bugs, but what is essential is that we know where they live, how to find them and what to do about them.

The female Bed Bug will lay eggs any day; as she can exist for vast lengths of time – over a year – this results in a rapid explosion of the Bed Bug population.

The bed bug is in action at night – when we are sleeping – and the primary clue to the infestation of Bed Bugs is the presence of marks on the skin in the morning.

The bed bug will feed during the night, and as it feeds on the blood it leaves behind marks of its presence.

A bed bug feeds by spearing the skin and inserting a tube with which it pulls out the required blood, and hence the victim will rarely be aware they are being bitten as they are normally asleep.

After feeding – which could be as long as ten minutes – the Bed Bug leaves behind a red mark which could swell and will irritate continually, bringing irritation and discomfort to the patient.

The problem about diagnosis is that the indications of Bed Bugs are often similar to many other skin infections.

Scabies leaves behind very similar indications to bed bug infestation, and other insect bites such as mosquito can also leave behind a similar tell tale mark.

Bed bug bites will usually appear on skin that is exposed while we sleep – the arms and legs, face and neck are all commonly bitten – and it is to these areas we should turn when looking for indications of the creatures.

The Bed Bug is a night feeding mite and it likes to dine on our blood; it also likes to hide and this is why it is found in our beds and furnishings.

While the Bed Bug does not nest like lots of other insects, it does fall to suitable places, hence many will hide together in the crevasses of a mattress, the inside of covers and linings and many dark and secure places.

Bed Bugs are frequently introduced into the home by persons who have been elsewhere and have possibly slept on a number of varied and frequently used beds.

A Bed Bug problem is not necessarily a case of dodgy hygiene, however, as a lot of hotels and guest houses have also been the source of the problem.

Bed Bug infestations increase very fast; with one female creature laying around five eggs per day it is easy to see how rapidly the colony can grow.

Nadeeka Johnson is an experienced article writer with over a 1,000 articles covering a wid variety of topical written at www.deadbedbugs.com

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