Bed Bugs & Diatomaceous Earth

DIATOMACEOUS EARTH FOR BED BUGS 

Kill Bed Bugs Naturally – Safe For People and Pets

Diatomaceous Earth and a couple of plastic applicators (one to sprinkle powder and the other to puff powder) is all you need to get rid of bed bugs and be family safe. No toxic chemicals. No exterminator fees. No need to move out of the house during the process. Full instructions for use of diatomaceous earth to kill bed bugs are on this page, and ordering is easy and inexpensive.

To Start: You can start with Diatomaceous Earth, one refillable PD-001 plastic dispenser used to sprinkle the powder and one Pest Pistol Powder Duster to puff the powder into crevices. When transferring the diatomaceous earth from the original container, do not try to pour it. Use a large spoon or scoop. Being a fine powder, DE shakes well from the shaker, but does not pour like sand or sugar.
Diatomaceous Earth will not only kill the bed bugs you have, but will do it safely without chemicals. General Application Introduction: Bed bugs cannot fly, so make sure bed is away from the wall and there is no bedding touching the floor. Surround each of the 4 legs of the bed with DE–this will kill them as they try to get on the bed the only way possible. Dust some DE on the mattress and bedding especially in the creases. Dust Diatomaceous Earth in the carpets and in corners of the room. Remove electrical outlet covers and puff some DE inside the walls. The “Pest Pistol” works great for this. Keep this routine up for several days until there are no more bed bugs.

“HOW TO” INSTRUCTIONS FOR BED BUG APPLICATION DOWN-PAGE.
Remember –  Bed bugs are not your fault.  You can pick up bed bugs from hotel rooms and infected places and innocently bring bed bugs home. To kill bed bugs naturally, eliminate bed bugs organically and get rid of bed bugs safely, use our diatomaceous earth. You can spend hundreds of dollars on exterminators to get rid of Bed Bugs with dangerous chemicals and poisons, or you can protect the health of your family and pets with Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth.

Our Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth poses no harm to the environment, pets or people. Diatomaceous Earth is not actually an “earth” but it is the fossilized remains of microscopic shells created by one celled plants that called DIATOMS. Mother Nature at work.

The microscopic DE particles are deadly to the Bed Bug. The particles attach themselves to the bed bugs body and physically “scratch them to death!” Because DE kills them mechanically, they cannot become immune to it like they do with so many of the chemicals today. Because it’s a mineral, once you put it down it stays there and keeps working. You may sweep it up as you get rid of the dead Bed Bugs, but diatomaceous earth doesn’t loose power over time.

HOW TO APPLY DE TO KILL BED BUGS

1. Wash all bedding in hot water—add a little Clorox with the soap. Dry in dryer on the highest heat setting. If you can, use a steam cleaner on your mattress and box springs.
2. Make sure bed is not touching any walls. Also make sure there is no skirting or any thing other than the 4 legs touching the floor.
3. With your hands or an applicator, dust some food grade Diatomaceous Earth into the mattress and ridges on the outside of the mattress. Dust some DE between the mattress and box springs also.
4. Spread some DE all over the room, working into the carpets and corners of the room. You may have to remove the bottoms of furniture and dust some in them also. Put a large pile around each of the 4 legs – since bed bugs cannot fly, the 4 legs are the only way the bedbugs can get to you. Repeat this once a week for 4 weeks.
5. You can also take off the outlet covers and using a plastic dispenser, like our pest pistol, puff some DE into the walls. Bed Bugs love to live there and are the main way they spread from room to room. Be very careful – use nothing that would conduct electricity and shock you.

   
   
   Some Interesting Bed Bug Facts:

1. Bed Bugs are usually no more than 1/4 inch in length in their adult state and can engorge themselves with human blood in less than 15 minutes causing their bodies to fill to as much as three times its usual size. Fully engorged bed bugs bear little resemblance to their original state and are often thought to be a different insect altogether.
2. Bed bugs can lay between one and five eggs per day with an incubation period of 10 days in warm weather (slightly longer when cool). These newly hatched bed bugs will require five significant blood feedings to reach adult size. They will molt in between feedings by shedding their exoskeleton. Once mature they will begin the process of laying new eggs.
3. Adult female bedbugs can lay more than 200 eggs during their lifetime and the new generation of bed bugs will immediately seek a blood meal and they might be looking at you through hungry compound eyes. When they are finished eating they leave tiny sores to remind you of their midnight binge.
4. There are other types of bed bugs including the bat bug, the chimney swift bug, and the swallow bug. All of these relatives survive on blood feeding, however these secondary parasites thrive on either bats or birds as their primary victims.
5. Bed bugs feed on the blood of human beings, but can suck blood from other animals as well. Birds and mice are the most common animals. Bed bugs most often feed at nighttime when people are asleep. When they feed, they inject a salivary secretion into the wound to prevent coagulation. The fluid can cause a person’s skin to itch and even become swollen. Scratching can cause sores which often become infected. Bed bugs are not known to transmit any human blood-borne pathogens.
6. An adult bed bug is about 1/5-inch long, oval in shape and flat. They’re generally brown except after sucking blood. Their body then becomes swollen and the color changes to a dark red.
7. Bed bugs like to hide in the cracks and electrical outlets in walls, behind wallpaper, base boards and picture frames, between beds and around the creases of mattresses and in bedding materials. They have a rather pungent odor which is caused by an oil-like liquid they emit. Bed bugs are often carried into houses by clothes, luggage, furniture, and bedding. Or sometimes even by humans.
8. Bed bugs seek harborage in cracks and crevices. Common harborages in hotel rooms and cruise ship cabins include: folds and creases in bed linens, seams, tufts and under buttons on mattresses, in drapery pleats and hems, beneath loose wallpaper, in headboards, desks, entertainment centers and nightstands, behind base molding in wall-mounted artwork, etc.

 

Bed Bug Bites
The words “bed bugs” are enough to send most of us running with skin all aquiver at the thought of little blood-sucking creatures crawling all over us as we sleep. These little bugs are pests, to be sure, and they can be difficult to get rid of once they have decided to make your house their home, hiding during the daylight hours in cracks and crevasses where they are almost impossible to excise.

Because of this, you may not realize right away that bed bugs are the source of the annoying sores on your legs when you wake up in the mornings. Bed bugs are attracted by both warmth and the presence of carbon dioxide, which is what we exhale in breathing. The bugs climb up onto your skin and pierce you with two hollow tubes, one of which injects anti-coagulants and anesthetics. The other tube is used to withdraw your blood, feeding for about five minutes before returning to their hiding places.

There may be a cluster of bites instead of singular ones when you awake, and this is typically caused by disturbing the bugs while they feed, causing them to detach and return to feed momentarily. A well fed bedbug can live anywhere from four to six months, while a dormant one might live without feeding for up to 18 months.

The bites can be found just about anywhere on your body, with exposed bits of skin being the preferred feeding ground for the bugs, making your face a target along with arms and legs. The bites cannot be felt at first, but as the anesthetics wear off and the skin begins to react to the injections, the bites can make themselves felt minutes or even hours after the bedbugs have returned to hiding.

If you have bedbugs, your infestation can get worse very quickly since a female bedbug can lay up to five eggs per day, and up to around 500 eggs in her lifetime. Since it takes only five weeks for hatched nymphs to grow to maturity, your problems could expand exponentially within a relatively short period of time, and infestations can be hard to control.

The History of Bed Bugs:
Bed bugs have been around for centuries. Documentation reaching as far back as the 17th century has told about infestations of bed bugs. In the United States, bed bugs were very common until about World War II. With the introduction of such pesticides as DDT, a great decrease in infestations occurred. It was not until the last decade that reported cases gave an indication of a possible rise in bed bug infestations.

Authorities believe that the rise in reports can be attributed to the extermination tactics of pest control today. Today, many pest control experts use baiting tactics for in-home infestations of such things as ants, roaches, and spiders. These baiting tactics work well for their intended subjects, but since bed bugs are blood feeders, they do not fall for the baiting tricks used. This change in exterminating technique has contributed to the rise in reported bed bug infestations.
Identifying a bed bug:
Adult bed bugs are generally flattened and reddish brown in color. They resemble apple seeds in appearance and size. Newly hatched nymphs look very much like adults. Although they are almost colorless, they gain their reddish brown color as they mature. The adult bed bug may lay up to 5 eggs daily. These eggs are almost impossible for humans to see with the naked eye, and resemble a flake of dust on a dark surface.

A quick look at the facts:
Bed bugs are small bloodsucking insects that feed on humans and other warm-blooded animals. Bed Bugs often hide in mattresses but they can also survive in furniture, behind wall coverings and pictures/paintings. They will crawl and nest inside tiny crevices anywhere indoors, as long as there is a source of food (blood).While bed bugs do not transmit any pathogens or diseases, their bites usually result in swollen red, itchy welts. Bed bugs are typically nocturnal insects (they creep about at nighttime).

There are other types of bed bugs including the bat bug, the chimney swift bug and the swallow bug. All of these relatives survive on blood feeding.  However these secondary parasites thrive on either bats or birds as their primary victims.

Small reddish or brownish spots on one’s linens are often the first sign of an infestation. These spots are the bed bug’s droppings. Another sign is swelling where you’ve been bitten.

Bed bugs are not necessarily a sign of unkempt/dirty homes or buildings.

A female bed bug can lay as many as 500 eggs during her lifetime.

Bed bugs are less than 1/4 inch in length, flat, and oval-shaped like; a bit like a sunflower seed.

Bed bugs can go up to a year without a blood meal.

A bed bug’s saliva features an anesthetic to numb the pain as it’s biting. It also contains anti-coagulant to keep the blood of its meal host flowing.

Furniture that is inspected should be inspected thoroughly. Remove “pull out” drawers and inspect any and all small creases and openings.

Taking apart furniture is often advised if you want to get at the source of the bed bug infestation. Doing this in a garage or outdoors is preferred, if possible.

The covering on the bottom of a box spring bed should be taken off for inspection and treatment measures. If the infestation is severe, you may want to dispose of the mattress.

Bed bugs are many times also found underneath the edges of carpets, where ceilings and walls meet, behind light switch covers and outlets, in clothes, inside appliances, and behind baseboards and carpet stays.

Itching:

There are a number of things you can do to stop the itching.

1. Apply a calamine lotion to each bed bug bite or area of bites.
2. Apply one of our natural healing and anti-itch salves or Use a paste of the Diatomaceous Earth and colloidal silver.
3. Do not scratch the bed bug bites. Everyone will react differently to bed bug bites.  Some people may not even notice them. Others will have a very intense itching sensation.  Scratching only makes the itching worse and can actually cause an infection.

Bed bug dangers:

When a bed bug bites, it injects an anti-blood clotting chemical into the skin.  Some people may actually be allergic to bed bugs, and the degree of itching is determined by how allergic a person is.  If you notice any signs of infection, call your physician IMMEDIATELY.  Scratching the bites can also result in an infection.  If you do not get an infection, the bites are simply an irritating nuisance. It may take a few weeks for the itching to subside and for the welts to disappear.  BED BUGS DO NOT CARRY PATHOGENS as mosquitoes or ticks do!