Bed Bugs in Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and Cheshire

March 5, 2010 · Posted in Bed Bugs On The Rampage, Pest & Vermin Control · Comment 

Bed Bugs in Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and Cheshire

Harrier Pest Control 0800 019 8382

Bed Bugs in Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and Cheshire – One of the most hated and misunderstood pests known to man is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us dozed off to sleep at night as children with the words of our parents in our ears ‘sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite’?

Manchester Bed Bugs

Manchester Bed Bugs

Bed bugs may have started to feed on man at about the time we moved into caves, the ‘bat bugs’ Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella primarily feed on bats and it is probable that bat feeding species of bug evolved to feed on human blood when our ancesters started dwelling in bat infested caves.

Until the arrival of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were common non-paying guests in much low quality dwellings.

The later part of the 20th century has seen pest control companies dealing with very few bed bug calls indeed, their presence being largely restricted to cheap vacation camps and student lodgings etc.

Many people confuse dust mites, which aren’t visible to the naked eye, with bed bugs which very definitely are.

Adult bedbugs are reddy-brown, about a quarter of an inch in size and greatly swollen after a meal of our blood.

They have an incomplete metamorphosis which means that the young are just smaller copies of the adult, they don’t have a pupal stage like fleas or a fly.

Bed bugs typically feed on human blood every 7 – 10 days, coming out in the hours before dawn and sensing their prey by detecting the exhaled carbon dioxide from breath and when close in on their target, infra red body heat.

In the absence of a convenient human to feed on they can stay dormant for periods of up to 18 months.

Indications of a bed bug infestation are spots of blood on bedding and on the base of mattresses and some people can react badly to their bites.

The early 21st century has seen bed bug numbers increase across the planet, the cheap availability of world travel and economic migration have both been blamed for the increase.

What is certain is that thet are now making a major return not only in poor quality homes but high class hotels, schools and often hospitals.

One London borough reported a doubling of bed bug call-outs every year from 1995 – 2001.

One night away in an infested hotel is all it takes, they catch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control firms are also now reporting cases of transport related bug infestations on tubes, trains and buses so a single journey to work on an infested tube or train can be enough to spread the infestation to your home.

Bed Bug Bites

Bed Bug Bites

They are an expensive pest to deal with as contrary to popular opinion they don’t just live in beds. They infest any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping human being, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed-side telephones etc and dealing with them is both difficult and time consuming. They have even been found living beneath the toe-nails of infirm people and in the creases of flesh on grossly over-weight people.

They are not a pest that can be eradicated by an amateur and a professional will almost certainly be needed.

Bed Bugs in Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and Cheshire

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Destroying Wasps’ Nests In Manchester, Cheshire and Lancashire

June 10, 2009 · Posted in How To Kill Wasp Nests · Comment 

 

Destroying Wasps’ Nests In Manchester, Cheshire and Lancashire

 The early warm spring has caused the wasps’ nests in Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire and Liverpool to be very early this year.

 

Harrier Pest Prevention destroy wasps’ nests at a fixed price of just £29.95, seven days per week. 0800 019 8382

 

Manchester based Harrier Pest Prevention reports treating wasps’ nests in mid-May, a full moth earlier than usual, and the early start means that in 2009 the wasps’ nests will be larger and more numerous than in is usual.

Although 11 species of true wasp are found in Europe, only two, the Common Wasp (VESPULA VULGARIS) and the GERMAN WASP (VESPULA GERMANICA) are important as pest species. Both species overwinter as queens. The Common Wasp usually hibernates in buildings and the German Wasp typically overwintering under the bark of trees.

 

In spring the overwintering queens leave their hibernating quarters to seek nesting sites which could be in a hole in the ground, a hollow tree or artificial structures such as eaves, lofts and attics, garden sheds etc. The queen starts to build her nest with a papery material that she makes by chewing small pieces of wood mixed with saliva; this is known as Wasp paper. She will raise the first few workers by her own efforts and those workers will then commence the enlargement of the nest and caring for the immature Wasps to follow. Nest construction starts in earnest in June and will reach it’s maximum in size in September, when 5 – 10,000 workers may be present. These workers will forage for food up to 400 metres from the nest. The size of wasp colonies will vary from year to year, the severity of the previous winter is probably the key factor. In the Autumn the young queens mate and leave the nest to hibernate, the rest of the nest dies out and the nest is never used again.

 

Individuals react differently to being stung by wasps; some are hardly affected, others suffer considerable pain and swelling and a few become seriously allergic to being stung, which in some cases results in sudden death due to anaphylactic shock.

Control

It is always advisable to let a professional Pest Control Officer deal with a Wasp nest for the reasons mentioned above. An insecticide will be used to cover the entrance to the nest. Returning wasps will carry the insecticide into the heart of the nest and within a few hours all wasps should be dead.

 

It is inadvisable to allow a wasps nest to remain untreated as the resultant queens produced by the nest will invariably nest nearby in the following spring resulting in many more nests the following year. For this reason several nests are often clustered together in a locality.

 

 As a rough guide you should not expect to pay more than £45.00 – £75.00 to have a wasps nest treated unless it is located in an area which is particularly difficult to access.

 

 

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