Bed Bugs 101: Bed bugs are an enormously costly problem in university housing, SROs, military barracks, group homes and any other housing facility where many people are coming and going on a regular basis. Bed bugs feed on people while they are sleeping and then search for a hiding place to lay eggs and stay out of harms way. When there are just a few bed bugs introduced into a room, they will likely stay very close to the bed such as behind the headboard or under the mattress. However, as they begin to multiply, the chances increase quickly that the bed bugs will find other hiding places in furniture, walls and closets.

Bed bugs have been known to crawl up to 30 feet at night to feed on people. Therefore, it is rare that a bed bug infestation is limited to only one bedroom. Inspecting rooms that have had no occupants for a number of days is not very useful since the bed bugs will have had no reason to come out of hiding and leave their tell-tale signs. When a new infestation is suspected, it is important that surrounding rooms on all four sides are also inspected for signs of bed bugs. Treating just one room rarely solves the problem since bed bugs will go from room to room so easily.

Unfortunately, there are no safe pesticides on the market today that have the ability to kill bed bugs reliably unless they are sprayed directly on the bugs. Additionally, pesticides do not kill any bed bug eggs waiting to hatch. Absent using very expensive vikane gas or thermal treatment, which do kill eggs, treatment for bed bugs will usually require multiple visits from a pest control professional. Visits are scheduled about two weeks apart since that is about how long it takes for any eggs to hatch that weren't found during an initial visit. Using encasements and bed bug monitors will foster early detection so that bed bugs can be removed when they are small in numbers, still confined to one or two rooms and still undetected by your guests.

The reason that a bed bug infestation can spread undetected for weeks is that many people do not react to bed bug bites initially. Everyone has different sensitivites to the bites. Some people will itch right away, some people will itch a few days later and some people will not itch at all until the bites become very frequent. When two people share a bed or bedroom that is infested, it is common that only one will notice itchy welts even though both people are getting bitten each night. For this reason, bed bugs frequently get misdiagnosed.

Monitors are also useful after treatment when occupants are back in a room so you will know for sure if any bed bugs survived and catch them as they attempt to feed on people at night. They will be caught in the trap before entering the bed so your residents are more protected. Using these simple prevention measures will significantly reduce your pest control and furniture replacement costs. Constant vigilence and proper training of housekeeping personnel will foster early detection to minimize the impact of bed bugs on your business.