The longer you delay addressing an
Once bed bugs have been confirmed in the living area of an individual or family, there may be good reason to move them to a different area or apartment while the infested one is treated. However bed bugs may be transferred with personal belongings, causing more trouble in the new living space.
Leaving an infestation untreated will only exacerbate the problem and make it more difficult and expensive for a pest control professional to eliminate the bed bugs. There are some pests that a homeowner has a reasonable chance of abating by themselves.
In most situations, even situations where a house is left unoccupied for extended periods of time, we still recommend exterminating bed bugs as quickly as possible to prevent a larger infestation and damage to furniture, and to ensure that they are gone for good.
Bed bugs can live 3 to 5 months without a host.
However, during that time they will be mating and laying eggs, ensuring new generations of bugs for years to come.
It's best to keep the infestation localized to as few rooms as possible. This will also make remediation easier. Do continue to sleep in your bedroom after identifying a bed bug infestation. If you move rooms or start sleeping on the couch you run the risk of contaminating these other areas of your home.
A bed bug treatment using heat kills bed bugs immediately, but there is no residual. A chemical bed bug treatment can take a few weeks, but it leaves a residual which provides continued protection from bed bug re-infestation.
Bed bugs are generally considered to be nocturnal and prefer to forage for a host and take a blood meal during the night. They also will come out in the daytime or at night when lights are on, in order to take a blood meal, especially if there were no human hosts in the structure for a while and they are hungry.
A truly hungry bed bug can come out during the day time. They can also come out if you spend most of your hours at home. So they can feed on humans when perfectly still, even if it isn't at night. Bed bugs have been known to feed while people work on their laptop or watch a TV program.
While bedbugs are a nuisance and can be upsetting, they aren't known to transmit disease (their biology is a little different from bloodsucking insects that do transmit disease).
Treatments for bed bugs
The best way to get rid of bed bugs permanently is to work with a pest control professional to come up with a plan that combines home remedies and professional pesticide solutions.
Travel – Bedbugs may find their way onto luggage in hotels and motels with a high number of occupants. If you have stayed at a hotel or other home recently, leave bags and clothes in the garage or somewhere far from upholstered surfaces, suggests Allan Bossel, to avoid unintentionally transporting them to your home.
If One Room Has Bed Bugs, Do They All? Bed bugs are one of the worst pests when it comes to the spread of infestation. Bed bugs can move up to 25 feet per day, so if they really wanted to, so it's safe to say that you have a high risk of bugs in every room of your home.
In most cases, bed bugs thrive inside a home whether it's cold or warm outside. In fact, they can be extremely active in the winter months, especially if you keep your home nice and warm to combat the cold. So if you notice bed bugs in your home, don't wait for the cold outdoors to scare them away.
Extreme temperatures are the best way to kill bed bugs. Washing your clothing and bedding in a high heat wash should effectively kill off any bugs, as well as any eggs they've possibly laid. It's important to exercise caution in moving infested linens during the process to avoid spreading the bed bugs to other rooms!
Mattresses and pillows make potential habitats for bed bugs. Pillows may also be host to bed bug eggs, making them a potential point of bed bug infestations. A possible sign that bed bugs have infested pillows may be the appearance of bites.
Bed bugs live throughout the year, but there is a particular time during each year when bed bug infestations become more common. In normal years, bed bug “season” peaks in the months of August and September when most families have returned from their travels, and bugs have a chance to gain a foothold.
Light Bed Bug Infestation
Few sightings and blood stains noted if any, 1-2 caught as specimens for identification, minimal irritation from bites.
It has been shown that bed bugs in all stages of life die at a minimum dryer temperature of 113 degrees Fahrenheit — as long as that temperature is consistent for at least 30 minutes.
#3: Use Heat
Try heating your bed (or any infected area) with a… … to bring the bed bugs out of hiding. But be aware, these heating methods are not hot enough to kill the bed bugs, just warm enough to trick them into thinking a human host is near.
Rubbing alcohol kills the bed bugs instantly if applied directly because it's dissolvent and a desiccant that will dry out the exoskeleton of bed bugs, and dry them out.
Bed bugs are easy to kill using heat. Their thermal death point is reported to be 114-115° F. Putting infested clothing in a hot dryer is an excellent way of killing bed bugs and their eggs. Heat can also be used to kill bed bugs and their eggs in furniture and carpeting.
Diatomaceous earth is a great chemical-free option for getting rid of a number of pests, including bed bugs. This natural powder contains properties that can dehydrate bed bugs, absorbing their fat and oil, and killing them dead as a doornail. Spray or sprinkle in infected areas and allow it to sit for at least a week.