Report on the bed-bug.

  • Great Britain. Ministry of Health.
Date:
1934
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the bed-bug. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ceiling of an infested room and the ants were observed attacking the Bed-bugs and taking them to their nest. The Bed-bugs rapidly decreased and the subsequent disappearance of the ants was attributed to the fact that the Bed-bug population was so diminished as no longer to afford a sufficient food supply to the ant colony. In a subsequent experiment the ants rapidly disappeared, and to ensure success it seems essential that a complete nest should be transferred if the ants are to remain in the site selected for any Jength of time. C. THE ELIMINATION OF BED-BUG HARBOURAGES IN New HOvSEs. We think that in the designing of new houses much could be done in the direction of eliminating harbourages and rendering disinfestation a far simpler matter with the minimum of structural disturbance. Harbourages may be classified as due (a) to the methods of construction employed and (6) to weakness or defects in the structure itself. | (a) Harbourages Due to the Methods of Construction. The chief harbourages under this heading and the ways in which they can be eliminated are as follows :— (i) Ceilings and partitions—Wall boards with wood cover fillets over the joints afford a most effective harbourage for Bed-bugs in the space between the fillets and the boards. (ii) Wall decoration.—A distemper or paint finish to walls is suggested in lieu of wallpaper. (iii) Picture rails—Should be eliminated wherever possible, especially in bedrooms. In living-rooms a metal rail, with a wide rather than narrow groove, embedded in the plaster might be used instead of a wood rail. Alternatively small dovetailed wood plugs might be fixed flush with the plaster in suitable positions to take heavy pictures. For light pictures a thin wire nail is all that is required and this need do no damage to the plaster. (iv) Skirtings—Wood skirtings might be eliminated. A. skirting of cement plaster with a one-inch cover mould nailed to the floor boards at the junction of skirting and fioor is a suitable alternative. A cover mould of the kind suggested is easily removed and re-fixed if this should become necessary. (v) Architraves—Wood architraves might be eliminated. To cover the crack which is bound to develop between frame and plaster some Local Authorities have employed a strip of linen tape about three inches wide, which, if painted, has the appearance of an architrave and is less liable to become detached. |