What Does Pest Control Do Against Bed Bugs?
It sounds unbelievable but bed bug populations were once nearly eliminated in countries such as Australia, the USA, and the UK about 50 years ago. In fact, for a time, it was thought that bed bugs thrive only in developing countries with poor hygiene standards. But with the increase of international travel in the previous years, bed bugs have come to our shores once more… and this time, they’re back with a vengeance! They’re not something people should fear, though. For one, they don’t pose as high a medical risk than, say, fleas.
However, these pests can be rather persistent so using your typical off-the-retail-shelf insecticide spray just won’t work against them. To eliminate a bed bug infestation, you need a professional pest control expert who understands their life cycle and habits.
Getting to Know Bed Bugs
These small, parasitic insects have a dark, rusty colour and they’re often mistaken for fleas. They feed on our blood by piercing our skin and they often feed off us at night. Fortunately, they don’t live in us and don’t burrow into our skin.
Generally, bed bugs are mobile but only move short distances to feed. And with them commonly found near their food source (us!), you’ll likely find them in the cracks and crevices of your bed—thus, their name.
Being nocturnal, bed bugs hide during the day and only come out at night. During daytime, they hide in places like cracks on any bedside furniture, the bed frame, inside picture frames, behind a wallpaper or skirting boards, and even on edges of rugs or in between floor boards. As they come out to feed, they typically take around three to five minutes to do so and they can virtually go unnoticed the entire time.
It’s worth noting that bed bugs spread to adjacent rooms not by crawling but by being transported by our very movement around the house.
Signs of a Bed Bug Infestation
These creepy-crawlies are elusive but they’re not invisible and they’ll leave behind a few clues that should warn you of their presence. Aside from you seeing these bugs crawling under the mattress, take note of these other hints:
- Skin welts and irritation (likely caused by a bed bug bite)
- A sweet, musty smell near the bed
- Blood spots on the bedding (sometimes on furniture pieces and skirting boards)
- Dark spots in some corner or crevice of the bed (bed bug excrement or shedded skin)
As you get up from bed, take a look at your arms and shoulder. Watch out for bite marks that form distinct lines as these are a good sign of an ongoing bed bug infestation.
Pest Control vs. Bed Bug Infestation
What many homeowners don’t know is that vacuuming furniture and bedding won’t solve their bed bug problems. It may remove visible offenders but it won’t rid your bed of their eggs, which will typically be hidden in surrounding areas.
Pest exterminators, however, follow an effective protocol in eliminating these blood-sucking pests.
Isolation
Prior to the pest control team coming over to visit, they may ask you to bag all the clothing, bed linen, etc. in the affected room. They’ll be washed in hot water with a non-enzyme detergent to eliminate the bed bugs and their eggs that are stuck in those items.
Inspection
Once the team arrives, they will inspect the room suffering from an infestation. The inspection will include checking surrounding furniture pieces, the bedding, the carpet edges, power points, skirting boards, etc. If there are undeniable clues of bed bug presence, the team will commence with the next step: treatment.
Non-Chemical and Chemical Treatment
After the existence of those blood-sucking pests is confirmed, the pest technician can do a steam treatment to every part of the infected space. This procedure exposes the hidden bed bugs to lethal temperatures and it has been proven effective when bed bugs are on the surface of items. It’s still effective against bugs hiding a few inches in fabric surfaces as well as cracks and crevices, too.
Although the initial procedure can eliminate a number of live pests, it may not be enough to kill the eggs. They’re mostly hidden and chemical treatment is imperative to destroy them because doing so prevents further infestation.
For the most part, pest exterminators use two types of chemical treatment. One is a special residual pesticide that is used to reach into skirting boards, cracks, etc. The other chemical solution, which is typically the safer of the two, is then used on furniture, mattresses, or areas that generally come in contact with you.
Follow-Up
One thing you have to understand about bed bug treatment is that one visit may not be enough. A singular session of treatment will not suffice in totally eliminating your pest problem, especially in cases of severe infestation. But before a second treatment is recommended by the technician, he or she will discuss this with you during the initial treatment. This helps you set realistic expectations early on.
Professional Bed Bug Removal
Although good hygiene and frequent house cleaning helps in keeping bed bugs at bay, they may not be of much help once an infestation begins. To save you from tackling this tough and annoying problem all by your lonesome, turn to our team of bed bugs removal experts.
We’ll determine the extent of the dilemma then use registered insecticides to get rid of these blood-sucking threats. With our repeated visits, we’ll eradicate bed bugs at various stages of their life cycle so you can enjoy a good night’s rest once more.