For this chapter I would suggest hiring a professional if you have a bed bug infestation, but I will cover some areas on how to prevent and treat them.

Treatment

First and foremost pesticides will not work in a proper treatment for bed bugs,  two of the most effective and safe ways to treat is extreme cold and extreme heat, heat being the preferred method as it's more cost effective. Any pest control company who knows how to treat bed bugs will charge anywhere from $500 up to $1200 per room,  and most will not offer any guarantees. So treating yourself is something you will need to decide on, the proper equipment can be purchased for a few hundred dollars.

Using the heat method you will need to buy or rent a dry steam machine, a regular steamer will not work as it will put a lot of moisture in areas you don't want it.

With the dry steam you will get the intense heat needed without the moisture.

Before treating it is important to be prepared to spend at least 4-5 hours per room and have the bed broken down and all draws emptied and removed from your dressers.

Bed bugs can be harboring any where in the room, not only the bed but behind pictures, switch plates any and all crevices etc... and treating MUST be thorough

Prevention

Many homes I treated belonged to airline pilots, they stayed in hotels where the bed bugs were picked and luggage being stored in the captains closet would cause other luggage to become infested and so on, like most people returning home from a trip the first place you put your luggage is on the bed or floor and forget about it for a day or so.

Staying in hotels and motels that have an infestation and bringing them home with you.

A good idea is to buy a mattress cover, this will also help with dust mites.

How bed bugs work

In most cases they will emerge in the early morning hours, 3-5 am as your sleeping they pick up on the carbon you emit and come out for a meal, you! They will feed on your blood until they are gorged, many times you will see blood smears on your sheets, this is caused from them discarding excess blood

If you have any questions regarding the treatment or hiring a pest service let me know

WARNING: TREATING YELLOW JACKETS CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS

If you are allergic to bee stings I strongly suggest calling in a pest control specialist

Treating a yellow jacket nest is rather quick and easy as long as you follow these few basic steps to protect yourself

Wear a long sleeve shirt and a hat for basic protection. Always treat the nest first thing in the morning, the hotter the day becomes the more aggressive they will become.

Treatment

One of the best products on the market is called “Wasp Freeze” and is available at all home improvement stores.

Before you begin treating shake the can for at least 20 seconds as this will not only mix the product but help build up pressure, when walking up to the nest stay to the left or right or whatever opening is available other then directly in front, as you can see from the video yellow jackets will follow the same flight path when coming and going.

Make sure to walk softly and quietly when you get close, otherwise you will be running around flapping your arms and screaming like a little girl while being embarrassed in front of your neighbors.

When you are about 5 feet from the nest begin spraying directly into the opening DO NOT STOP spraying, the can will empty within seconds and the stream is strong enough that it will reach several feet. Once empty just walk away confident knowing you didn't get stung and will live to see another day.

After 24 hours check the activity of the nest, it's not unusual to see some activity around the opening as the bees out foraging have no idea home was destroyed, as long as enough product reached into the colony and the queen met her demise then you succeeded. If after 48 hours you still see high activity then a second treatment is needed.

Wasps

Although not nearly as aggressive as yellow jackets the same method and product can be used to treat them, spray the carton or nest accordingly. In most cases you will find them building a nest in corners near your soffits or in thick bush type trees.

If you are using wasp freeze on your home try to avoid spraying it on windows, it will leave an oil based residual on your glass.

A side note,

if your yard has chipmunk activity it's a good idea to walk your yard if you plan on mowing your lawn, the vibration from the mower really irritates yellow jackets!