Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite

Don’t even let them get in the bed! According to an article I read in the newspaper you can keep them out of your bed by using kidney bean plant leaves. Apparently there are microscopic barbs on the leaves of the kidney bean plant that snag the bedbug when he walks across. Science and industry have not been able to successfully imitate this natural bedbug preventative phenomenon, though they have been trying. Their synthetic copies of the kidney bean plant leaf and even a hybrid of the actual leaf barbs and a synthetic leaf don’t work like the real thing.

If you have ever awakened scratching at itchy red bumps (bedbug bites) that somehow appeared beneath your PJs overnight you can appreciate the news that there is a way to confound the little buggers. Bedbugs are easily transported to your home in your luggage from places you might visit (hotels or homes of other relatives) or they can come home with your kids when they return from overnights with friends. Bedbugs have the seemingly miraculous ability to hide in the day time and then in the dark of night find their way to a blood source (you) for a feast. Bedbugs like head lice and ticks their fellow arachnid friends, are notoriously hard to kill and know no social boundaries. They are equal opportunity bugs that aren't true insects at all.

And since I have had good success with green beans in my garden, I am thinking I just might give planting some kidney beans a go this spring too.