Bed bugs are common throughout the UK and abundant in the South of the country. They are commonly brought in on the luggage of travellers. They lurk in all sorts of hiding places, all parts of the bed, headboard, mattress, buttons, behind peeling wallpaper, cracks and crevices, light fittings, electrical sockets, folds and creases in clothes, carpets and floor joints.

Their numbers peak in autumn and breeding slows down as it gets colder. They feed on a body at night and can detect body heat. They like to feed in an area of carbon dioxide and thus commonly attack the head, neck and shoulders of a victim. They will also feed on the legs or feet if exposed from beneath the bedclothes. The bites are normally in small clusters.

They are now showing signs of resistance to several types of insecticide and two or even three treatments using different insecticides have been required by some operators to deal with them. We have found that by using one powerful insecticide which has several different components along with a few other ones for specialist purposes, treatment has been effective in one go, thus resulting in a cheaper bill.

Bed bugs are becoming a major problem in some countries, particularly in parts of the United States.

Over the past year pest controllers in this country have been called out more often to deal with them and it looks as though numbers of cases will grow even more.