Bed Bug Removal

What Are Bed Bugs and Why Are They Dangerous?

Bed bugs are a group of parasites that live in our surroundings, especially where we sleep or take rest. The feeding behavior of these bugs makes them a specific problem. Bed bugs are pretty annoying, but what about them makes them so bad?

By living near humans, bed bugs can wait to feed when the person is not likely to see, and then they return to hiding to avoid getting noticed. Bed bugs usually bite people when they are sleeping, resting, or sitting for long periods of time. Hungry bed bugs will come out from their hiding places of your home, in search of their food, when they find the person is distracted. To find a feeding site, these creepy bugs may also move into folds of clothing or under sheets.

Once fed, bed bugs will get back to their specialized behavior of hiding, and this behavior is what makes bed bugs completely different when compared to other parasites. If bed bugs bite any individual, itching will start at site of the bitten area. After some time passes, the people who did not initially react may develop a response to the bites, but it will vary with person and the number of bugs.

The most common health issue is related to the itching that often comes along with bed bug bites. Many people experience red bumps on their skin within a few days of the bed bug attack. Some individuals react to infection within a week or two, and some people do not react at all. The bumps look very similar to a mosquito bite but tend to stay with the affected person for a long duration of time.

These bites can create an itching sensation on that affected area, one that you cannot resist from scratching. That is where the danger comes in. Because scratching can cause damage to the skin that may allow for the introduction of organisms of infection into human blood, some of them very dangerous.

Identifying Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are around 5 mm long. Bed bugs are light brown and are a flattened oval shape but become rounder and darker after feeding. They appear at night and are attracted to the warmth of our bodies and the carbon dioxide in our breath. The most common place where the probability of finding bed bugs increases is in the seam of mattresses, in the bed frame, behind furniture surrounding the bed, or where the wall meets the floor.

The following are the signs that you can look for to identify if your home has become a breeding ground for these bed bugs:

Bug bites are the most common way to know that your home is infested. If you find mysterious bite marks on your body. The marks are usually found around the face, neck, arms, and legs, and may cause serious itching and redness.

Spots: Rusty or uneven spots on your walls, mattresses, sheets and bed clothing can also be a sign.

Bloodstains: Bloodstains on pillowcases or bed sheets are a telltale sign.

Odors: Offensive and foul odor in your room can be a dead giveaway that bed bugs are present.

Sheddings: Bed bugs shed skin and even leave their eggshells behind, which may even serve as an indication of them hiding away.

Where To Look For Bed Bug Infestation

Bed bugs can occur in many different areas by being carried on clothing or inside furniture. The most common places where chances are high for bed bugs to survive are hotels, lodges, auditorium, and overnight buses. Adult Bed Bugs, or their eggs, enter clothing or suitcases and are then carried away to our homes. If you feel any symptoms of bed bugs when staying at a hotel, specifically being bitten while sleeping, take great care when bringing your personal belongings home.

We can’t see or smell bed bugs with the naked eye, but we do pick up their alarm pheromone when they are disturbed, which smells like coriander. If there are a huge number of live bugs, there may be smell of blood, which is similar to that of rusty iron. If you are traveling, you should look at the headboard in your hotel room prior to unpacking.

Take care at regular intervals; inspect the following areas of all rooms:

· Mattresses

· Bedding

· Underlays

· Between timber floorboards

· Under skirting boards

· Inside electrical plugs, and fittings

How To Treat and Prevent Bed Bugs?

Prevention:

The best prevention is being diligent in inspecting anything that comes into your home for the first time. This means furniture, timber materials, new clothing, even stuffed animals for the kids, could all be infested with bed bugs. Always check your bed thoroughly each time you change the bedding. Bed bugs can feed and go undetected for months in some cases.

When you return from any overnight trips, or from any places where you may have contact with pests, leave your suitcase in the garage or in any other area away from the places you spend most of your time. For further protection, wash travel clothes immediately when you get home and blow-dry the clothes for 20 to 30 minutes. The clothes dryer gets hot enough to kill all stages of bed bugs including their eggs.

Treatments:

Just when you think your home is free of all pests, there you will be, struck by this mischievous menace called bed bugs. You may notice, bed bugs are tiny pests that will hide away in the corners and wreak havoc for your place. These sneaky bugs can be found in your furniture, mattresses, cardboard boxes and pillows in your house or business place.

So, if you too are facing the mysterious bite marks on your body as well as stains on your furniture, it's likely that bed bugs are festering. You might need some expert help to fight the bed bugs, and our team at Bug Busters pest control company can help you do so with top of the industry methods:

1. Hot Treatments/ Thermal Heat Treatments:

Heat treatments, as the name suggests use an exponentially high temperature to deal with the problem of bed bugs. There are a few ways a bed bug exterminator Richmond, Va would carry out this treatment.

Using heat: A thermal treatment is regarded as one of the most effective methods of treating bed bugs. Under this method, the room temperature of the affected area is increased beyond the level that can be sustained by the bugs. It is usually kept at 45 degrees Celsius or 113 degrees Fahrenheit. This method is always conducted by the professionals, for it can be risky to play with temperature if you are not trained in it. Preferably it is performed in an enclosed area or an entire building. If you are wondering why it is so popular, it is due to the fact that this treatment method is capable enough to kill the entire population at once, riding them for good.

Using steam: Steam is yet another effective method to remove bed bugs. Here, the temperature is pushed to 65-75 degrees Celsius, so as to generate steam for a longer period. All the affected areas and articles are subjected to steaming, such as the mattress, bed covers, bed framing, carpets or even curtains to eradicate the bugs residing in them. This method is a little tricky as it can get difficult to reach distant places or depth of the materials, enough to kill them all.

Hot boxes: Hot boxes are quite similar to the thermal heat method, but here instead of bringing the heat to the place of infestation, the articles are taken to heat. All the infected belongings are placed in a box that provides sustained heat, for a period that is enough to kill all the bed bugs.

Clothes dryer: This method is suitable for killing the bugs from your clothes or blankets. Under this method, firstly the clothes are thoroughly washed with detergents and then subjected to a drying process for over 20 minutes at extremely high heat.

2. Cold Treatment:

The cold treatment, or freezing treatment as it is popularly called, is yet another effective treatment for bed bug control. It is a relatively new method but is appropriate for killing bed bugs. The bugs cannot survive in low temperatures and using this, the affected articles are subjected to a temperature as low as -16 degrees Celsius, or 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit, for over an hour. This effectively kills all the bed bugs, making the home free of any threat.

Professional Storage Unit Treatment for Bed Bug Infestation

Storage units can be a breeding ground for these little bugs. The best and effective way to eradicate bed bugs in your storage facility is to employ the help of a pest control professional like Bug Busters. We provide specialist solutions, such as heat treatments and targeting bed bugs at every stage of their life cycle.

Bed bugs are an annoying and creepy pest, and one of the toughest to eradicate. High levels of hygiene such as deep, regular cleanings will help to keep bed bug numbers under control. However, professional help will be required to eradicate the infestation correctly and ensure they don't return. If you are concerned that you may have a bed bug problem in your storage spaces and would like to arrange a visit from a bed bug exterminator regarding bed bug removal services, call Bug Busters today at (434) 392-7814. If you own a reputable storage facility, we also provide commercial storage unit pest control solutions!