Why?

Because heat is a very effective bed bug killer — it can kill all stages of bed bugs including eggs. And you can use heat to treat personal belongings that are otherwise difficult to treat. The PackTite makes the whole process safe and simple. Read the article for more information.

Dogs’ ability to recognize scents is amazing. And it looks like they can be an enormous help to anybody fighting a bed bug infestation. Read more about bed bug dogs here.

The answer, as usual: it depends. Bed Bug Traps Compared shows you the various methods and compares compares pricing and features to help you decide.

If you spend any amount of time surfing the web for bed bug information you will see claims that certain substances are bed bug repellants, meaning bed bugs will avoid them. But do such repellants exist? Are people just mistakenly referring to pesticides as repellants? Are people making claims that aren’t backed up by anything other than personal experience and marketing copy? It’s all a bit confusing so I set out to find some answers.

I won’t spoil the outcome for you. You can read Bed Bug Repellant and draw your own conclusions.

This update includes a bunch of new content. Reading through the emails I received and talking to a few exterminators I realized that the first thing people do when they think they have bed bugs is start to panic. So I wanted to create a page specifically to help you take a deep breath and get your bearing. That page is Help! I think I have bed bugs!

I also created several new pages on getting rid of bed bugs, bed bug bites, bed bug size and how to catch bed bugs.

There is still a long way to go to make this site even more useful to you. I’ll just keep my nose to the grindstone trying to give you more of what you need and want. Please keep the feedback coming.

Luckily I log all of the emails to a database just in case something like this happens. So I will be going through those emails over the next few days and responding.

I apologize for the problems. Thanks for your patience.

The update is going to include several new pages on getting rid of bed bugs. These pages will include information on tackling the problem yourself (DIY) as well as helping you decide if you want to do it yourself or hire a professional bed bugs exterminator.

Another change that I think is going to be helpful is the addition of images along with the text. For a while now I haven’t liked the way pages seem to be nothing but a wall of text. I’m adding images in several key spots to help you get more out of the content.

I think these changes are really going to make the site even more helpful to you. Keep the feedback coming!

Content

I added several new high-level pages based on visitor feedback and restructured the menu. Now the site is much easier to navigate which means you find the information you need as quickly as possible.

Look and Feel

I made several adjustments to the way text is laid out on the site to improve readability and scanability. This should reduce eye-strain as much as possible and allow for faster scanning which means it is easier for your eyes to find what you’re looking for. I updated the blog to match.

So far feedback has been positive. Keep the feedback coming, good or bad and keep sending me your questions. Now that this site update is done I should have more time to respond to individually to reader emails.

What is a bed bug infestation like? is a fictional scenario I pulled together from stories people have sent me through this site. A lot of these stories have a few things in common that you’ll see over and over again when people talk about how they came to realize they were dealing with a bed bug infestation.

Home Bed Bug Prevention Tips helps answer many of the questions a reader will have after reading How do you get bed bugs?.

What is causing the current bed bug resurgence? explains why we are in the middle of a bed bug resurgence.

The articles I add to the site take time to research, write, edit and publish. This is a good model for reference type material. However I see a growing need for something more immediate, in addition to what already exist. Something that lets me:

• Discuss bed bugs in the news. Unless you are strangely curious about bed bugs like I am, there is no reason to follow them in the news. However, news stories provide excellent opportunities to increase bed bug awareness and illustrate identification, eradication and protection in real life situations.
• Quickly answer your common bed bug questions. Sometimes you don’t want to have to dig through an article to get the answer to a question. Other times, I may have an article in the works on a given topic but you need an answer now. Sometimes a question really doesn’t fit into any kind of article but needs an answer anyway. A blog lets me get small bits of information to you quickly.
• Share reader stories and feedback. You’ve been sending me your stories—both good and bad. Many of these are worth sharing with others.
• Give notice regarding site changes. As the site grows I continue to shuffle things around. Announcing new pages and changes helps bring them to your attention.

For these reasons, I’m starting this blog. It gives us an great way to interact with each other. And I hope that it will make BedBugInfo.com even more useful to you.