Bedbugs are small, elusive, and wingless parasitic insects that feed on warm blooded animals: birds, bats, you.
They are about the size of a grain of rice when full-grown and almost indiscernible at younger stages. The newly hatched are the size of a poppy seed.
They are oval when looking at them from the top-down but are pretty flat when viewing them from the side .Their flatness allows them easily hide.
Because they come out for very short periods [to snack on you], they are hard to catch in action, and they are quick to get out of sight.
It is a MYTH that Bed bugs live in dirty places. In fact, bed bugs are not attracted to dirt and grime; they are attracted to warmth, blood and carbon dioxide. That
means you can find them any place you find humans: from luxurious 5th Avenue apartments to skid row.
National Geographic: Bed bugs in Action
A bed bug can drink 3x it is weight in a single feeding.
They can go days, weeks or even a year without feeding! This makes pesticide treatment almost useless - they will hide from the sprayer & come out days, weeks or months later.
They live as long as 18 months and lay as many as 200 eggs across a lifetime.
Bed bugs can be found in every corner of the world.
After a 60-year absence, infestations can be found in homes, apartments, hotels, motels, bed and breakfast, dormitories, rentals, patient care centers, modes of transport, and elsewhere.
I thought bedbugs were eradicated years ago – how come they are back?
“Experts suspect the resurgence is associated with increased resistance of bed bugs to available pesticides, greater international and domestic travel, lack of knowledge regarding control of bed bugs due to their prolonged absence, and the continuing decline or elimination of effective vector/pest control programs at state and local public health agencies.”
How do I know I have bed bugs? Telltale signs:
On occasion, you or your guests wake up with bites that occurred while sleeping. But how do you know it was a bedbug or something else? Many times, the bite or related itching does not show up for days. Truth is, most doctors cannot tell for certain the origin of the bite just by looking at it.
Catching bedbugs in the act is hard: most feed an hour before dawn but they adjust their feeding to your schedule. Because they can go for long periods [days, weeks, even a year!] in between feedings, it is hard to catch them in the act.
Adhesive-based traps used for sampling insects or rodents are usually NOT effective for trapping bed bugs. However, some claim that carpet tape around the bed can trap them.
Room Inspection: The best way to know if you really have bed bugs is to carefully inspect the bed frame, mattress, headboard and other furniture for signs of living or dead bed bugs, sheds of skin, waste and their eggs:
folds and creases in the bed linens
seams and tufts of mattresses and box springs
behind headboards
in dressers and drawers near the bed
Other favorite places they hide:
pleats of curtains
beneath loose areas of wallpaper or cracks near the bed
on the underside of desks and dressers – look in the corners
in laundry or other clutter on the floor or around the room
How did I get bed bugs?
You will never know for certain, but ...
If you have stayed in a hotel with an infestation, you may have brought them home with you. Here is some advice on how to prevent bedbugs.
Neighboring apartments: bed bugs can crawl in-between walls which makes it hard to treat: unless your neighboring apartments treat for bed bugs, you may never be rid of them. There are many websites that discuss the rights as a tenant.
Students or Frequent Travelers: many think bed bug reinfestation in the U.S. was the result of students returning from European studies or trips. Frequent travelers are also suspects. Currently, it is not surprising to find dorms and university apartments/rentals infested where students bring bed bugs home.
Used furniture or clothing. No matter how tempting, leave the used mattress on the curb where it belongs. Wash and dry in a hot dryer all used clothing.
Inspect all used, upholstered furniture.
Recently in New York City, bed bugs were found in movie theaters, retail stores, and other places you would not expect.
How do you get rid of and kill bedbugs?
Home remedies including massive cleaning with vacuums, bleach, lavender oil, etc. will not work. The vacuuming and cleaning up clutter where bed bugs hid will help, but it will not work.
A single bed bug can live for over a year without feeding and lay 200 eggs in her lifetime. Miss just one bug & your efforts / money are wasted.
Problems with treating bedbugs with Pesticides: Unfortunately, bed begs have no known natural predators or biological methods for control.
Traditional pest control relies heavily on synthetic poisons called pyrethroids.
These chemicals are used to attack the nervous systems of pests and often cause death.
"Pesticide applications alone do NOT eliminate bed bug infestations. Proper use of pesticides may be one component of the strategy, but will not eliminate bed bugs. In addition, bed bugs populations in different geographic areas of the country have developed resistance to many pesticide modes of action. If you are dealing with a resistant population, some products and application methods may only make the problem worse." Link to EPA
For chemical / pesticide treatments to be effective, they must come in contact with bed bugs – which is next to impossible because bedbugs live in the tiniest cracks, inside of furniture, in carpet, on drapery.
Moreover, it is not feasible [nor allowed] to saturate mattresses, couches, chairs, carpet, and other fabrics with poison – the place where many bedbugs live.
Problems with mattress pads & other barrier tricks to treat bedbugs:
Bedbug-proof mattresses, coverings, and other barriers keep insects from living in the mattress, but bedbugs are crafty. They move to other areas, like carpet, cracks in the wall, headboards, electrical outlets, picture frames, nightstands or other places close to sleeping hosts. Although some products stops bedbugs from climbing up the legs of couches, chairs, bedposts and other furniture where people sleep, these bugs will crawl up the wall and drop from the ceiling directly on you after you are asleep.
Besides, barriers are just that – if left untreated, your bedbug problem will multiply into a bedbug nightmare [a single bug lays as many as 200 eggs across her lifetime].
Problem with Poisonous Gas to treat bedbugs:
Prior to heat technology, the only proven method of penetrating every crack and crevice and wall void where the bedbug might harbor was sulfuryl fluoride. Though effective in killing bedbugs, regulations regarding the transport, purchase and application of this federally restricted lethal gas are costly in both time and labor.
Aside from the psychological uneasiness of sleeping in a room where chemicals or poisonous gas were used, chemical treatments/poison have been linked to physical health problems across the United States -- some of which have resulted in hotel guests and tenants filing health claims in court.
What does work effectively is heat. But a DIY with your thermostat will not work. It needs to be over 120 Fahrenheit to kill bed bugs with heat. Even if you can get your house to that temperature, it will not be uniform. So leave that dial alone and leave the heating to the professionals.
Heat as a treatment solution offers these benefits:
a total green solution; we are 100% allergen-free
heat does not compromise the health of our customers, their children, family, guests or pets
unlike pesticides, heat does not have the liability issues because heat is a safe and responsible solution
heat does not contaminate property or the environment
heat takes a SINGLE treatment in as little as 6 hours
Are bedbugs dangerous, can I get sick from bed bug bites?
According to the Center for Disease Control , Bed bugs are not known to transmit infectious disease. So, bed bugs are not considered dangerous. But they are a nuisance/exceptionally hard to get rid of, they tend to creep people out, some are extremely sensitive to bites, and they can destroy your reputation as a hotel, landlord or even home owner.
How do I prevent / avoid bed bugs?
A good place to start is to check if your North American hotel has been infested: bedbug registry
That said, even if your hotel is not in the registry, it can have bed bugs.
Inspect your clothes in your luggage before you leave / do not put your clothes or suitcase on the floor. Use hanger and the luggage rack.
If you are concerned, wash your clothes immediately upon returning home and dry them in a hot dryer
If you find evidence of bed bugs during your stay, take your luggage to a professional cleaner / do not bring in your house.
If your luggage is cheap, throw it away – it is not worth the hassles of infesting your home. If it is expensive, and you have access to a sauna of 130 degrees Fahrenheit, leave it in there for a couple of hours.
Pure Green Systems: Eliminating Bed Bugs with HEAT
We know how to stop, eradicate, kill, exterminate bed bug infestations with eco-safe, 100% allergen-free heat. We use heat because it is safe for humans, it is ecologically sound, and it works. We guarantee it. Here is how we get rid of bedbugs permanently.
Headquartered in New Orleans, Pure Green Systems services all areas of Louisiana. Call your local office for a free consultation:
