Pest & Termite Control Blog

Bed bugs seem to be a national problem that almost every person deals with at least once in their lifetime. But it’s not like our homes came with bed bugs already living there, so how do the little pests even get into our homes in the first place?

One misconception is that homes that get infested with bed bugs must be dirty and unclean. But a home’s cleanliness and the number of stars belonging to an expensive hotel will not save them from getting bed bugs. Bed bugs are attracted our body heat and the carbon dioxide we exhale, due to their need to feed on warm-blooded animals’ blood. This is why they tend to hide and chill out where people sleep, staying by beds and focusing on mattresses, bed frames, and box springs for the most part.

An infestation of bed bugs could come from a variety of sources. One common way for bed bugs to make their way into a person’s home is by hitching a ride on an animal, your beloved pet. This is especially possible if the animal lives inside and outside. The animal might spend part of the day outside, during which bed bugs can hop on their back, surviving on animal blood until the pet comes inside for the night. The bed bugs will live off of the animal until they can make their way to a human. However, if your pet is aloud to get on your bed and sleep with you, that will definitely make their job much easier.

Another common way bed bugs are able to get into your home is when you return home after you’ve traveled. You might catch the pests while staying at a hotel, especially if you have traveled abroad to a country with minimal access to hygienic supplies. Bed bugs will stow away in your luggage, often hiding amongst your dirty clothes, where they live without sustenance just long enough to make it back to your home and settle in.

The first clue that you have a bed bug infestation is finding itchy, inflamed red patches on your skin. While they are feeding from you, the bed bug’s saliva, which contains anesthetic and anticoagulant properties, you don’t feel a thing, and so don’t notice their bites until hours later when you find the itchy, red, swollen site of the bite. The smartest thing to do at this point is to call your local pest control company and get them to take care of it.

Have you ever had to deal with a bed bug infestation? How awful was the experience, and what did it take to get rid of them for good?

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Bed bugs have become such a nuisance that multiple government agencies are working together to find a solution to the bed bug epidemic. The defense department is included in this collective effort to fight bed bugs, and has its own task force to fight bed bugs called The Bed Bug Interagency Task Force.

Since an international summit of bed bug experts presented their bed bug knowledge to world leaders in 2009 there has been a global push to prevent the bed bug proliferation from getting out of hand. Since then many interesting facts have come to light. For example, a significant contributing factor to the bed bug epidemic has involved the way pesticides are used. A while back experts in the field of pest control switched to a different type of insecticide that focused more on ants and roaches than bed bugs. So during the last few decades bed bugs have proliferated due to the prolonged use of insecticides that do not kill bed bugs very well.

Which proposed method of bed bug control is the most realistic and promising?

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Bed Bugs are the new hot thing being discussed among bug enthusiasts. Despite bedbug complaints becoming less numerous, bed bugs are mutating in such a way that their exoskeletons are becoming more durable.

The thicker protective coats that bed bugs are now sporting is making it more difficult for traditional insecticides to penetrate their outer layer, and as a result they are growing in numbers. A study conducted in Australia reported that the new and improved bedbug can only be killed with a cocktail that includes four different insecticides, whereas before the mutation changed their physiology, just one insecticide would normally suffice to put an end to infestations.

One suggested reason as to why bedbugs have become more resistant to traditional insecticides is because over the counter insecticides have been used with great frequency to combat bed bugs. As a result of having insecticides as a part of their environment for such a long time, bed bugs are now becoming resistant to them. For this reason a professional exterminator should be notified immediately in cases of bedbug infestation.

Have you ever experienced a bedbug infestation and could not identify the source of the infestation?

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