Bed Bugs Limited main page

Pictures of BedBugs and their trace signs. See the gallery for more identification Information

The Science of Bed Bug control

Bed bugs are a pest of nuisance. They are transferred through contact in a similar way to nits or fleas can be passed on. In 99% of cases they have nothing to do with your living conditions within the infested property. With a global increase in bed bug incidents in the region of 500% year on year London is currently experiencing a massive influx of bed bugs and early detection is the key to rapid eradication.

Bed Bugs Limited is a specialist pest control firm working at the cutting edge of bed bug control, based in London and solely treating bed bugs since 2005. We have found that in order to develop such a successful treatment program with fast results we have to specialise in the one problem pest, as such we are regularly contacted by the media and other professionals to advise on BedBug issues. If you are looking for a reputable general pest controller in your area please give us a call or an email for a referral list.

Welcome to our web site.

The aim of bed-bugs.co.uk is to offer the best information available on the identification and treatment of bed bugs in the UK. Much of the information on this site has come from our experience in clearing infestations in over 2000 properties in the last 3 years.

We operate from central London in non liveried vehicles and do not arrive at your door step in protective clothing - in most cases we only need to carry a single plain holdall bag for complete discretion. We occupy a dedicated BedBug decontamination facility in central London which is to the best of our knowledge the only facility of its type in the world.

We are regularly approached by TV and the media to explain about bed bugs and some of these articles and interviews can be seen in our links section of the web site. We are happy to help and educate where possible as public awareness is one of the key factors to bringing this increasing problem under control.

Until recently bed bugs were a very uncommon problem outside of the hotel and medical profession. Cases of infestation in private residences was highly unusual and usually associated with one of the houses occupants working in a prone business sector. This is no longer the case and reports of infestations have show a massive increase in the last 3 years. Although more prevalent in London we receive an increasing number of calls from all over the country particularly in association with major transportation hubs.

A survey of pest control professionals conducted by a pest control professor at the University of Massachusetts stated that 68% of all bedbug infestations require three or more treatments, 26% require two treatments, and 6% require just one.

Using our advanced techniques and specialist knowledge we have managed to obtain 60% complete eradication of light to medium infestations in a single treatment and a 98% complete removal record on a course of two treatments - significantly above the industry averages.

We have recently noted a number of significant infestations present for over 6 months, where the occupants of the room showed no signs of reaction to the bites until recently. This appears to support the theory that as many as 60% of people do not respond to the bites until they have been exposed to them for a prolonged period of time. This highlights the need for regular inspections of all sleeping areas for the physical signs of bed bugs, bites alone are not always evidence enough.

Bed bugs are a pest of nuisance that gets brought into your home and decides to nest. They are not caused by living conditions although good house keeping and regular cleaning will limit an infestation. Bed bugs are most commonly introduced to a home by:

• A guest or occupant staying in an infected room

• Luggage from an infected home

• Luggage coming into contact with other infected items of luggage

• Furniture carrying bed bugs or eggs

• Infected clothing or bedding

• Infections from adjoining properties in extreme cases

For various reasons incidences of bed bug infestation have been on the increase in the last few years and what was thought to be a problem of the 1950's has come back with a vengeance. It has not reached the 1930's stage where 25% of all homes were infested but it is on the increase at an alarming rate. A few years ago it was reported that almost every hotel in Sydney had signs of infestation following the Olympic games, highlighting the fact that this is truly a global issue. It has recently been reported that because the Sydney issue was not immediately dealt with that 75% of all hotels and short term accommodation in Australia has at least 1 infested room.

Although there is no definitive reason for this increase it is thought to be due to a number of factors:

• Increasing global travel

• Reduction in the use of residual insecticide treatments

• Non bite responding occupants of infected areas

• Resistance gained through ineffective treatments

• Spread through the reuse of infected furniture which has been incorrectly disposed of.

• Use of central heating and climate control

The first signs that people tend to report with regards a bed bug problem is being bitten. The bites vary from person to person but one of the key differences to other insect bites such as fleas is that bed bug bites have a whitish swelling and no red dot in the centre of the bite. Each bed bug will often bite several times during one night, giving the appearance that an infestation is much worse than it really is. Recent observations have also noted that adult bites tend to develop more aggressively than the bites from juvenile bed bugs which often produce just a low raised reddish bump that lasts only a few hours. To fully develop, bed bugs must take regular feeds on human blood. This is usually done while sleeping although any area where people spend long periods of time in one location may become infested and can include:

• Living rooms

• Offices

• Motor vehicles

Please use the Gallery and Helpful Advice sections of this web site which will help you identify if you have a problem with bed bugs.

There is currently no effective home treatment solution despite some of the claims made, although certain house keeping activities will help reduce infestations. To remove an infestation usually requires the assistance of an experienced and trained pest controller. This is mainly due to the fact that once eggs have been laid in a property they are almost impossible to kill until hatched and increasingly poorly treated properties often drive the infestation into areas that are difficult to treat.

Bed bugs Ltd offer a specialised rapid extermination service based on our experiences of working exclusively with bed bugs for the last 3 years. We currently treat between 6 and 12 properties per day in the London area and are happy to advise people where possible. Our vehicles are not liveried and neighbours are unlikely to be able to identify what we are there to do.

In most cases we aim to be with you within 24 hours of your call although appointments are strictly on a first confirmed first visited basis.

Although your choice of pest controller is completely up to you, we strongly advise that you use a company which is appropriately experienced (at least 6 bed bug jobs per week), is appropriately qualified and adequately insured for both public and employee liability - we are insured and covered up to £10,000,000.

We are experiencing an increase in cases where we have been called in as specialists because home-use solutions and the work of other companies did not eradicate the problem. Although we take on most cases we do require full disclosure of previous work for our own health and safety. If you want some guidance on selecting a pest control professional please refer to our helpful advice section. Selecting an under qualified or inexperienced pest controller can be a costly mistake both in terms of costs per visit and unnecessary duress from having bed bugs longer than you need to.

Home