Bed Bugs Infestation – Worse During Holiday Travel Season
Bed bugs are dreaded pests that are hard to detect and hard to get rid of. Now is the worst season for these pests, with lots of holiday traveling going on there is an increased risk for bed bugs. If you have family coming in from out of town, you are going to want to make sure they are not bringing any unwanted guests with them (bed bugs). If you are staying in hotels during your travels, there is a huge risk of bed bugs exposure as well. You just can’t be too careful when it comes to preventing contact with these pesky little critters.
If you notice bites on your body and find yourself doing a lot of scratching after traveling, you might have bed bug bites. The common bed bug, (Cimex lectularius) can induce a serious systemic reaction in people bitten by bed bugs. Allergic reactions to the bites can produce numerous welts on the body that are red and feverish, resulting in incessant itching and are potentially very dangerous.
Traditionally bed bugs were associated with ‘seedy’ hotels and run-down apartments, but that is actually not the case today. They are somewhat common in ‘nice’ hotels, leading to a rise in the transporting of bed bugs in luggage or clothing. They don’t like spacious, cool tile floors in bathrooms because there is no place to hide, so if you’re staying in a hotel, place your luggage in the bathroom first, and then check out the bed and the rest of the room for signs of bed bugs. They are attracted to the human odor that clings to the clothing. By leaving worn clothing exposed in sleeping areas when traveling you invite bed bugs to snuggle in and they go with you when you leave.
To check for bed bugs in your own home, keep an eye on cracks and crevices around sleeping areas – bedrooms or sofas. They prefer to hide where people sleep – in mattresses and box springs, on bed frames and head boards and in piles of dirty laundry if they can’t find a human host. Keep soiled laundry separate from clean clothes and bedding.
There are several options used to treat for bed bugs. Home remedies don’t usually work with any great effectiveness. Many pest control companies use whole-room heat treatments, using specially designed equipment to raise the temperature in the home for a sustained period of time, which can kill the bed bugs and their eggs.
A very effective treatment is with the use of insecticides. Expert Pest Control Solutions have had great success with this type of treatment. There are many different brands of insecticides: Fast-acting, contact insecticides for use on surfaces that humans frequently touch, i.e. sofas; residual insecticides for inside furniture, cracks and crevices and the underside of surfaces we touch, and dust insecticides for cracks, crevices and voids, such as electrical outlets and baseboards.
A thorough insecticide treatment can consist of 2-3 visits; it is unlikely all the bed bugs will be killed in the initial treatment. It typically takes from 30 minutes to 2 hours for each room, depending on the size and condition of the room. Once the treatment is completed you should wait until all the insecticides have dried before it is safe to re-enter. Controlling bed bugs with insecticides is a challenging and time consuming process which requires expertise and in many states a license is required to apply the insecticides which kill bed bugs.
Expert Pest Solutions has the training and experience to offer expert bed bug control solutions to eradicate current infestations and help prevent future infestations, serving Springfield, Ozark, Nixa, and surrounding Missouri communities. For your Free Inspection call 417-413-4776, or visit us online.