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(2) Bed-bugs are unlikely to penetrate into the brickwork of an outside wall
to any great distance as it is too cold. They may, however, follow the nail hole
into the structure.
(3) Bed-bugs will take advantage of cracks in the plasterwork, more especially
where the moulding of a ceiling is cracked.
(4) Bed-bugs are mostly found behind wallpaper which has come slightly away
from the wall and woodwork. They may also be found in the supports of the mantlepiece
which get nicely warm but not too hot.
(5) Taking the habitats in the structure of a house as a whole, irrespective
of the furniture, I should put them in the following order :—
(a) Behind wallpaper.
(b) Behind woodwork, such as architrave round door, moulding round
window, gas bracket, picture rail, wainscoting, floorboards (relatively in that
order).
(c) In plaster work.
(d) In nail holes going into brickwork and so on.
As a general conclusion, it seems that the woodwork is more likely to be a
disseminator than anything else in the house."
This is a very valuable report and it is, I believe, the first time that such an
investigation has been placed on record.
In reporting on bug-infestation last year I said that people did not like their
neighbours to know they had bugs, and suggested that a bug campaign might
lead to a change in public opinion with regard to bugs. I also suggested that the
average housewife would pay more attention to the eradication of bed-bugs by the
usual household methods. It is interesting to record, therefore, that, after
17 months work, it is more difficult to find really badly bug-infested houses compared
with what it was when the scheme started.
It looks, therefore, as if the public conscience is being awakened to bug infestation
and housewives are taking more interest in keeping their numbers down. In proof
of this we find that bed-springs have frequently been treated, not by the useless
method of sprinkling one of the so-called insecticide powders on them, but by taking
them to pieces or by pouring boiling water over them. The springs look cleaner
and there is much less dirt and dust about than was formerly the case.