Can Bed Bugs Travel From One Apartment Unit To Another?
If there is anything worse than discovering a bed bug infestation in a hotel room, it would be discovering a bed bug infestation within your own home. When bed bugs are discovered within an apartment unit, the victimized residents tend to become confused concerning the origin of the infestation. Although bed bugs may seem to magically appear within people’s homes, experts would insist that bed bugs are accidentally transported into a home by latching onto people’s clothes when they are out and about. While this scenario may likely be the cause of most in-home bed bug infestations, bed bugs can find their way into your home in other ways. However, very little research has been conducted concerning the route bed bugs take to gain entrance indoors. Recently, researchers conducted a study that investigated the traveling patterns of bed bugs. This study is the first of its kind to explore this topic, and it has proven to be quite revealing.
When it comes to understanding why bed bugs are often discovered by surprise in people’s homes, there are a few bed bug facts to keep in mind. For example, one single blood-meal can nourish a bed bug for at least ten days. In fact, bed bugs can live for many months without consuming anything at all. Bed bugs can crawl distances of one hundred feet in one night, and they typically crawl within eight feet of people while they are sleeping. When considering these factors, bed bugs can easily travel from one apartment unit to another. Also, a home that has been vacant for months can still contain bed bugs since they can survive long periods without food. A new study conducted by scientists in New Jersey confirms these scenarios as real possibilities.
Researchers gathered numerous bed bugs and proceeded to mark them by painting their backs. These bed bugs were then released near an apartment building in order to see where they wound up after several months. The researchers proved that bed bugs can easily move from one apartment unit to another and they can survive for months in empty apartments that are bereft of any food sources. Bed bugs could even travel to apartment units that were located several doors down from where they were released. No matter how many bed bugs exist within an apartment unit, they can always manage to infest nearby units.
Do you believe that you have ever fallen victim to a bed bug infestation that originated from a neighbors apartment unit?