Commercial and Residential Pest Control Services | Dodson Bros. Exterminating Co., Inc.
There are many reasons why you may discover a bed bug infestation in your home or business. Contrary to popular belief, bed bugs aren’t only attracted by unsanitary conditions. They will go wherever they are taken, to wherever people stay for extended periods of time. Here’s how one bed bug can quickly become an infestation of bed bugs.
Bed bugs don’t travel far by themselves and prefer to live in dark environments, which is why they prefer to live in crevices in walls, behind headboards and baseboards, and in mattresses and box springs—anywhere that would be a good, hard-to-reach hiding place to lay eggs and raise young. They can often hide in clothing, boxes, used furniture, linens, personal carry-on or luggage items and more, which is why they’re so often found in hotel rooms, office spaces and homes. While people typically think of bed bugs living in homes and hotels, bed bugs also frequent movie theaters and public transportation. Bed bugs may hitch a ride from those locations as well.
Once a pregnant female bed bug has taken advantage of an opportunity to escape into a new location and find a hiding place, it can then lay as many as 1-5 eggs each day, up to 541 eggs in its lifetime. When its eggs hatch and grow from nymphs to adults in about six weeks (depending on growing and food conditions), an infestation can easily get out of control.
Bed bugs do not have a specific season and they do not hibernate. However, bed bugs can be more active during months where more people are traveling.
Bed bugs don’t just come out of nowhere, in spite of what an abundant presence may indicate. They’re just tiny and able to find the strangest, most out-of-reach places to live. When they come out for a blood meal, they may come from behind bed frames, electrical outlets, TVs and wall-mounted art. They may also live in mattress seams and upholstered furniture.
Hotel rooms are one of the most common places to find bed bugs because of the number of people from all over the world who stay in them night after night, many of whom won’t be careful about checking for bed bugs or if they brought any with them. Bed bugs will infest any hotel—the main difference among hotels is not if they get bed bugs, but how quickly they identify them, get rid of them, and treat the infested areas for them. The most common place for bed bugs to be found in a hotel is behind the headboards of beds, especially if the headboards are wall-mounted. Thankfully, any reputable hotel should have protocol in place for quickly and efficiently ridding a room or floor of an infestation.
Apartment complexes may also be hubs for bed bug activity if a landlord has not adequately checked for them or treated the area to prevent them recently. This is why it’s so important to check a prospective new apartment for bed bugs while you’re looking at it and/or as you’re moving in. Just like hotels, no apartment is exempt from a bed bug infestation.
If you live in a privately owned home, the best way to avoid a bed bug infestation is to routinely practice some simple preventative measures, many of which can be included in normal home maintenance and cleaning.
If you find a bed bug or get bitten in a hotel or apartment, chances are there are more, so notify your landlord or nearest staff member immediately so they can take care of the problem. If you think you might have an infestation in a home that you own, don’t try to get rid of them yourself. Contact us at Dodson Pest Control immediately for a free inspection!
