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How to Bug Proof Your Home from Bed Bugs

Blood filled bed bug on human skin.

Introduction

A single bed bug on human skin.

Bed bugs feed on the blood of humans, rodents and other animals. These insects are capable of transmitting certain disease causing organisms. They also inject saliva during feeding which can produce large itchy swellings on the skin, and these areas may become infected when scratched. In addition, bed bugs have stink glands that create odors and they also leave fecal spots on bed sheets.

Prevention

  1. Launder all bedding routinely (even comforters and
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How to Bug Proof Your Home

Pests or Beneficial Insects?

More than 95 percent of insects that have been identified are either harmless or beneficial to humans. They live in an environment that is delicately balanced ecologically.

The term pest is not the name of an ecological niche, but is more of a misunderstanding on the part of the human species, who sometimes disrupt the balance of nature. For example, the termite is much maligned. Its role in nature is of the utmost importance. Termites feed …

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How to Keep Crickets Out of Your Home

Cricket Management

There is no single, perfect solution for the management of crickets, but a combination of the following suggestions will help to reduce populations.

First determine if there are enough crickets currently present or damage apparent to warrant management; everyone has a different tolerance and only you can determine how many crickets are “too many”. Vacuum up cricket frass (poop), and monitor how rapidly it accumulates in corners and sheltered areas outside. This will allow you to assess the …

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How does Integrated Pest Management work?

IPM is not a single pest control method but, rather, a series of pest management evaluations, decisions and controls. In practicing IPM, people who are aware of the potential for pest infestation follow a four-tiered approach.

  1. Set Action Thresholds
    Before taking any action to control a pest, IPM first sets an action threshold, a point at which pest populations or environmental conditions indicate that pest control action must be taken. Sighting a single pest does not always mean control is
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