I have spent quite a bit of time researching 'bedbugs'...and I remembered that old MI5 horror code 'sleep tight and hope the bedbugs don't bite'...so this is all tied up with 'intelligence'...I then remembered MARK R and MCDONALD having ensured that the CHINESE natural insect repellent wasn't allowed to be sold outside of CHINA...mainly because it is cheap, natural and effective and the petro-chemical pharmaceutical companies want us to buy their deadly chemicals (my students told me all about it)...MARK R then set up his own company to sell it on at a much more elevated price...

Anyway, i finally put this email together for my mum - as my bit of research this morning:

Is this the type of bite as in small red bumps? (photo)

You might have both fleas and ‘bed-bugs’ - who knows? Those beetles might have been harmless…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flea

On the other hand you might have bed bugs but as far as I can see upon the internet upon an ‘images’ search - you cannot distinguish between flea and bed bug bites - by appearance.

So I had a look around at natural remedies upon the web for BED-BUG control and I found that ‘acetic acid’ watered down in a ‘sprayer’ seemed the most sensible - remember how you got rid of all of those infestations around the windows of the chateau with vinegar?

You could also use LEMON (buy a jif lemon squeezer) in a sprayer…I also found out that ‘91% rubbing alcohol’ could be used…to dry them out…and CEDAR OIL came up a lot but I really don’t know how effective that might be…nobody has proven that it works as yet…

People also suggested PETROLEUM JELLY up bedlegs to prevent the bugs from climbing up…

Here is a list of possible natural insect repellents:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_repellent

I also thought about that CO2 element…and how in the Middle-East, they used to fumigate by burning FRANKINCENSE…I mean - you create CO2 atmosphere which draws them out because they need oxygen to survive…then the ‘odour’ sends them packing - something like that?

I remembered that after one room at the Imperial Hotel had become insect-infested, the Muslim hotel owner burnt incense throughout the hotel and Frankincense as far as I can recall.

I’ll post more thoughts later…but there are no hard and fast answers upon the internet as yet.