Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
It is often necessary to remove the fabric
from the underside of divan beds and sofas
to gain suffi cient access.
designs that fi t around the legs of the bed.
Most of these rely on a slippery or sticky
surface and consequently require some
maintenance to assure that they are not
rendered ineffective by a buildup of dust/
debris.
Good housekeeping practices play an
important role in any proactive strategy.
Simple procedures such as bagging dirty
laundry in the room rather than dumping it
in the corridors can dramatically reduce the
likelihood of spreading an infestation
throughout the building. Training hotel staff
on what to look for means that if signs of
bed bugs are seen they are not immediately
dismissed.
Proactive Bed Bug Management
Strategies
It is virtually impossible to completely
eliminate all risk of bed bugs entering a
building, but a proactive approach to bed
bug management can dramatically reduce
the likelihood of an infestation establishing
and spreading. The fi rst step in any
proactive strategy should be to create a bed
bug unfriendly environment. Removing
clutter from under and around the bed
eliminates potential hiding places, aiding
detection as well as simplifying treatment
in the event of an infestation. Sealants and
caulks can also be used to eliminate cracks
and crevices in and around the bed. Filling
around pipes that connect adjoining rooms
can limit migration routes, restricting the
spread of an infestation should one arise.
Purpose-built encasements can be pur-
chased to put around divan bed bases and
mattresses. These fi tted bags with zip
closures are designed to prevent bed bugs
from entering or exiting. If installed as a
proactive measure, they eliminate many of
the potential hiding places, a step that in
turn simplifi es future inspections. If installed
during an infestation, the encasements can
be used to trap the bed bugs inside the bed
where they will remain until they die.
The bed design can play an important
role in reducing susceptibility to bed bug
infestations. Divan beds have numerous,
inaccessible hiding places for bed bugs and
are notoriously diffi cult to treat. Wooden
frame beds also offer plenty of hiding places
for bed bugs, but, if necessary, they can
generally be disassembled to gain access for
treatment. Metal frame beds are much more
diffi cult for bed bugs to infest, both because
the smooth legs are diffi cult to climb and
because metal beds generally have fewer
suitable harbourages for the bugs to hide in.
A range of products is available to restrict
the access of bed bugs onto the bed. These
include sticky tapes and simple dish-like
Bed Bug Control
A wide variety of measures are used to
control bed bugs. In the following sections,
these are divided into non-chemical and
chemical techniques. In practice, several
different techniques are likely to be used in
combination to control a particular infest-
ation.
Non-chemical techniques
Laundry of infested items
In general, bed bugs tend not to live on bed
linen or clothing. None the less, there will
be times when bugs become inadvertently
entangled within bed sheets, or harbour
within clothing in drawers or a wardrobe.
To avoid the risk of such insects spreading
or continuing infestations, it is usual to
recommend that linen and clothing are
laundered when bed bug treatments are
carried out.
Research has shown that bed bugs and
their eggs are able to withstand temporary
immersion in water and that to ensure that
all stages are killed washing at 60°C is
required. Alternatively, tumble drying the
items at the hottest setting for 30 minutes
will also kill all stages. For items that cannot
be processed via either of those two routes,
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