What do I do if I have bed bugs in my home?

Introductory History

After years of dormancy, bed bugs have made a comeback. Reduced reliance on residual pesticides and increased international travel are thought to be the reasons for their reemergence.

Bed bugs were a major and common pest up until World War II when the development of new pesticides such as DDT helped combat infestations. Although earlier pesticides and treatment methods could cause harm to our food chain and environment, they did succeed at limiting bed bugs to a nuisance pest found mostly in developing or third world countries.

Increased international travel for both business and leisure, combined with relaxed quarantine efforts by most foreign governments, has also contributed to the increase in bed bug activity. Add to that Americans’ tendency to travel with pets and the trend away from hard plastic luggage toward ballistic fiber luggage and you have given bed bugs a pressurized cargo hold to survive in and luggage to hide in. Certainly, South Florida, which sees millions of international travelers by land, sea and air, is an area prone to high bed bug activity.

Finally, for the first three to five years of their reemergence, most people did not know how to identify, prevent or handle an infestation. There was just not enough information available about bed bugs. Today, it seems like everyone is an expert and there is a lot of misinformation out there.

How do I know if I have bed bugs and how do I find them?

If you answer yes to two or more of these questions, you may want to take a close look at your bed and surrounding area.

• Has someone living in my house traveled in the last six to twelve months?
• Did I move in to a new home (especially apartment) in the last six to twelve months?
• Am I waking up with red marks that look like mosquito bites?
• Do I have blood stains on my sheets?
• Do I have small marks on the mattress that look like they were made with a lead pencil?

Chances are that you will see the signs of a bed bug infestation before you actually see the bed bugs. The adults are about ¼ of an inch long and the newly hatched nymphs are smaller than half a grain of rice and are transparent until they take their first feeding. They prefer to hide in warm vs cold places. For example: They prefer wood and paper over metal and plastic.

So, get a good flashlight, strip your bed and take a close look at the following places:

• Mattress or box spring seams (both top and bottom), especially the corners. Also under the mattress tag.
• Behind the headboard, especially in the corners where wood meets wood on three sides.
• Under the drawers and under the bottom of the night stand.
• Under cloth furniture coverings placed on top of bed room furniture.
• In the seams and under cushions of couches, sofas, love seats, sleepers, recliners, plush chairs and ottomans. Especially cloth ones.

A bed bug is brown to reddish brown in color, oval shaped with ridges going left to right along the top of the abdomen, no more than ¼” long, crawls (does not fly or jump) at about the speed of a fast moving ant. Like all arthropod insects it has six legs and two antennas. It is visible with the naked eye…

Now that I know what to look for, what do I do if I find bed bugs in my home?

Properly removing a bed bug infestation from your home is not a do it yourself project.
It can quickly turn from a project to a mission. Here are some do’s and don’ts while we bust some myths.

• First thing, don’t panic. The good news is that they do not spread diseases and at the end of the day are more creepy than dangerous. Having said that, I am sure you want them out of your home as soon as possible.
• Bed bugs are not a sign of poor hygiene or sanitation. Don’t feel like this is something you did wrong or brought upon yourself. Many bed bug infestations are accidental and due to factors that you were not aware of.
• Bed bugs do not live on people, nor do they attach themselves or travel with people. They travel with our belongings. Never place your open luggage on the bed in a hotel room when traveling.
• Do not use an insect fogger to kill bed bugs. While it does kill many adult bed bugs in a room, it does not kill the eggs. Additionally studies show that it spreads them to adjoining rooms as they move away from the fog.
• Steam kills each bed bug and egg it comes in contact with, however it is impossible to apply steam to every nook and cranny where the bed bugs can hide.
• Don’t waste time before taking action. Each adult female can lay up to 500 eggs in her lifetime. Their numbers can grow exponentially fast.

What is the best way to eliminate bed bugs from my home?

There is no “silver bullet” or quick fix when dealing with bed bugs. The first step is a thorough and COMPLETE inspection. Every area has to be inspected. The one spot we do not inspect and treat is the one spot where they were hiding. So please take everything out of your naughty drawer before we arrive…

Once they are found, the best solution is an integrated one. Using several methods that work together to resolve the problem. We use vacuum cleaners, steam cleaners, heat and/or chemicals as needed. The methodology and use of one solution over another depends on several factors; level of infestation, amount of clutter, type of furniture and flooring. There is always a follow up visit which usually turns in to a follow up treatment within ten to fourteen days. This assures that we eliminate any newly hatched eggs before they live long enough to reach adulthood, killing their life cycle.

Our expertise comes from over five years experience in the front line against bed bugs where we started at the first places where they were found, hotels. Since then, they have spread to many other unsuspecting places like apartments/condos, single family homes, dorms in schools, nursing homes, hospitals, and even movie theatres.

Fell free to call us in Miami Dade at 305.829.9911 or Broward at 954.920.1911 if you have any questions or want to schedule a consultation. We are 100% discreet and understand all aspects of this type of work. Our solutions are guaranteed to be effective and cost less than doing it yourself or using a company that does not have the experience and expertise to do the job right the first time.

We’ve all heard the phrase: “Good night, sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite.” The first two parts of the phrase are up to you. Let us make sure, the last one does not happen.

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